ANG6530 Studies in Genre

Winter 2017

Vampires in Film and Literature

Description:

This course will consider the development of Vampire literature, from its early manifestations in the nineteenth century, most notably Bram Stoker’s 1897 Dracula, to Laura Hamilton’s 1992 Guilty Pleasures, and Justin Cronin’s 2012 The Passage.

Students will be introduced to a diverse array of texts and films which will allow for a wide-ranging discussion of issues at play in Vampire literature. Indeed, Vampire lore offers a rich and varied focus for textual analysis, including themes surrounding sexuality, race, disease, social class, and death. The spectrum of works under consideration will broaden the students’ perspective on the Vampire theme and its literary and sociological influence on other works and on contemporary society at large.

Requirements:

• One critical question on Matheson’s novel (6 February): 10%;
• Three 500-word papers on the films under consideration: 30% (3 x 10%)
• Two 20′ / 2,800 words / 10 pages double-spaced (excluding notes and works cited) in-class presentations on one of the works studied: 60% (30% each) [Final versions of the presentations must be emailed to the instructor no later than 6pm the night before.] Presentations should be on any aspect of the work under consideration on the day selected by the students. Students should bear in mind that the grade will be based on the written essay, not on the oral delivery.

Bibliography:

• Justin Cronin, The Passage (2012) ISBN 978-0345504975.
• Laurel Hamilton, Guilty Pleasures (1993) ISBN 978-0515134490.
• Charlaine Harris, Dead until Dark (2001) ISBN 978-0441008537.
• Stephen King, Salem’s Lot (1975) ISBN 978-0671039745.
• Richard Matheson, I am Legend (1954) ISBN 978-0765357151.
• Kim Newman, Anno Dracula (1992) ISBN 978-0857680839.
• Bram Stoker, Dracula (1897) ISBN 978-0141439846.
• Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque, American Vampire (2010) ISBN 978-1401229740.

Schedule:

• 10 January: introduction
• 17 January: Stoker
  • David Seed, “The Narrative Method of Dracula“, Nineteenth-Century Fiction 40, 1 (1985)
• Film on Monday 23 January (The Fearless Vampire Killers) (room B-4255)
  • Brenda Gardenour,  “The Biology of Blood-Lust: Medieval Medicine, Theology, and the Vampire Jew“, Film & History 41.2 (Fall 2011)
• 31 January: Matheson
  • Mathias Clasen, “Vampire Apocalypse: A Biocultural Critique of Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend“, Philosophy and Literature 34, 2 (2010)
• Guest-Lecture by Maureen-Claude LaPerrière on Monday 6 February @ 10am (room B-4255)
  • Janani Subramanian, “Alienating identification: Black identity in The Brother from Another Planet and I Am Legend“, Science Fiction Film and Television 3, 1 (2010)
• 14 February: Hamilton
  • Agata Łuksza, “Empowerment, submission, and female desire in contemporary vampire fiction“, Journal Feminist Media Studies 15, 3 (2015)
• 21 February: No class
• 28 February: Reading Week
• Film on Monday 6 March (Blade) (room B-4255)
  • Kimberly A. Frohreich, “Sullied Blood, Semen and Skin Vampires and the Spectre of Miscegenation“, Gothic Studies 15, 1 (May 2013)
• 14 March: Harris
  • Xavier Aldana Reyes, “‘Who ordered the hamburger with AIDS?’ Haematophilic Semiotics in Tru(e) Blood“, Gothic Studies 15, 1 (May 2013)
• 21 March: Newman
  • Tanya Pikula, “Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Late-Victorian Advertising Tactics: Earnest Men, Virtuous Ladies, and Porn“, English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920 55, 3 (2012)
• 28 March: Cronin
  • Angela Tenga and Elizabeth Zimmerman, “Vampire Gentlemen and Zombie Beasts A Rendering of True Monstrosity“, Gothic Studies 15, 1 (May 2013)
• Film on Monday 3 April (Let the Right One In) (room B-4255)
  • J. M. Tyree, “Warm-Blooded: True Blood and Let the Right One In“, Film Quarterly 63, 2 (2009)
• 11 April: King
  • Steven Bruhm, “On Stephen King’s Phallus; Or the Postmodern Gothic“, Narrative 4, 1 (1996)
• 18 April: Snyder
  • Renae Franiuk and Samantha Scherr, “‘The Lion Fell in Love with the Lamb’: Gender, violence, and vampires“, Feminist Media Studies 13, No. 1 (2013)

This content has been updated on December 18, 2018 at 23 h 33 min.