Serial Sensations
ENGL 338
Spring 2022 not offered
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Regardless of their medium or period, serial texts are often associated with sensationalism. Not only do they frequently feature sensational plots, but by virtue of producing intense fan cultures the texts themselves become public sensations. From Bleak House to Marvel comics, and from Game of Thrones to the podcast Serial, serials have produced vibrant if not fanatical fan forums and fan cultures. This course will examine the aesthetics and politics of serial texts ranging from didactic novels to gory and racy ones, and from television shows to podcasts and audio books. Throughout the course of the semester, students will engage in forms of serial reading, listening, and writing, and will discuss the effect of the serial format on plot, characterization, and genre. Moreover, they will examine the ways in which the serial format shapes narrative desire, and the ways in which it molds reading and viewing habits--that is, the mechanisms and logics through which a serial reader, listener, or viewer is produced. Texts we will read/watch/listen to include: Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone, Pauline Hopkins' Of One Blood; Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Herland; Herman Meliville's Benito Cereno and excerpts from Charles Dickens' Bleak House.
This course asks you to engage with the long history of serial forms from the nineteenth century to the present, and in so doing, examine the continuities between Victorian reading practices and our reading and viewing habits today. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Discussion | Grading Mode: |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (ENGL) |
Major Readings:
* Wilkie Collins, THE MOONSTONE (text + audiobook from librivox )
* Charles Dickens, BLEAK HOUSE (excerpts + audiobook from librivox)
Pauline Hopkins, Of One Blood
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, HERLAND
Herman Melville, BENITO CERENO,
George Schyler, BLACK EMPIRE
Harriet Beecher Stowe, UNCLE TOM'S CABIN (excerpts)
*TV shows: PENNY DREADFUL, THE WIRE
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly 200-word blog posts; 1 Presentation, 2 short papers; Final 8-pp paper |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Class of '22: This course fulfills the Literary History II requirement of the English major.
Class of '23 and beyond: This course fulfills the Theory and Literary History II requirements of the English major. |
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