ENG10240 Speculative Fiction: Gothic, Science Fiction and the Apocalypse

Academic Year 2020/2021

Describing her novels, Toni Morrison writes, ‘My books are always questions for me. What if? ... what would it look like if you took racism out? Or what does it look like if you have the perfect town, everything you ever wanted?’ This course will examine the major literary tradition of speculative fiction, which asks just such questions. As a tradition, speculative fiction developed concurrently with realism from the late-eighteenth century onwards, and is often understood as its shadow or unconscious form. While realist writing strives for the faithful representation of the everyday world, speculative fiction instead imagines things that cannot or have not yet happened in our reality, giving form to the potential, the implausible, and even the downright impossible. Speculative fiction is thus a broad, inclusive term, and our reading will cover a variety of genres and modes – from gothic and supernatural fiction to science fiction to utopian, dystopian and apocalyptic tales. Throughout, attention will be given to the potential of speculative fictional forms to imagine other worlds, or other versions of this world, and thus become a means of articulating alternative social and political aspirations.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the module students will be able to:

- demonstrate a critical understanding of the key speculative genres covered on the module
- demonstrate an understanding of the impulses behind and the narrative strategies used within speculative representations
- engage in close textual readings of the core module texts
- relate the texts to their historical and cultural contexts
- demonstrate the critical ability to analyse key theoretical debates and apply theoretical concepts and frameworks related to the module
- construct creative and analytical responses to major questions raised in the module in one of a range of formats

Indicative Module Content:

Indicative content:

Introduction to speculative fiction
Overview of speculative genres, including science fiction, gothic and dystopian
Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)
H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds (1898)
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Herland (1915)
Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987)
Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake (2003)
Omar El Akkad, American War (2017)
Conclusion - the fascination of the dark side of the literary imagination

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

12
Specified Learning Activities

36
Autonomous Student Learning

52
Total

100
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module takes a dynamic, active-learning approach to teaching and learning. In each interactive lecture questions are posed and discussion topics highlighted at the beginning, with time allowed for Q&A and discussion at the end. Some lectures will offer the opportunity for reflection and practice - e.g. hands-on close-reading exercises and group-work. A creative element is allowed for in the choice of mid-term assignments offered. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Essay: End-of-semester essay (1700 words). A wide variety of essay topics will be available. Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

70
Assignment: Mid-semester assignment: a group exercise to write a short creative piece in the style of one of the module genres, demonstrating an understanding of the conventions of the genre. Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

30

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn Yes - 2 Hour
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Students will receive individual post-assessment feedback on their formative mid-term exercise. Prior to their final essay, students will have the option to receive informal feedback on their essay proposals. Should they wish it, students will have the opportunity to receive individual post-assessment feedback on their final essay.

Indicative Primary Reading

Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)
H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds (1898)
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Herland (1915)
Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987)
Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake (2003)
Omar El Akkad, American War (2017)

Recommended Secondary Reading

Atwood, Margaret, In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination (New York: Anchor. 2011).
Bacon, Simon ( ed.), The Gothic: A Reader (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2018).
Baker, Brian, Science Fiction (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).
Bright, Amy (ed.), “Curious, if True”: The Fantastic in Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars, 2012).
Byron, Glennis (ed), Globalgothic (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2013).
Claeys, Gregory, Dystopia: A Natural History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017).
Clarke, I. F., Voices Prophesying War: Future Wars 1763-3749 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992).
Gunn, James E. & Matthew Candelaria (eds), Speculations on Speculation: Theories of Science Fiction (Toronto & Oxford: Scarecrow Press, 2005).
Horn, Eva, The Future as Catastrophe: Imagining Disaster in the Modern Age (New York: Columbia University Press, 2018).
Hume, Kathryn, Fantasy and Mimesis: Responses to Reality in Western Literature (London: Methuen, 1984).
Hughes, William and Andrew Smith (eds), Ecogothic (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2013).
Hughes, William and Andrew Smith (eds), The Victorian Gothic (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2012).
James, E. and F. Mendlesohn (eds), The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003).
Jones, Darryl, Horror: A Thematic History in Fiction and Film (London: Arnold, 2002).
Luckhurst, Roger, Science Fiction (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2005).
Punter, David, The Literature of Terror, 2 vols (London: Longman, 1996).
_________, A New Companion to the Gothic (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012).
David Seed, A Companion to Science Fiction (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005).
_________, Imagining Apocalypse: Studies in Cultural Crisis (Macmillan, 2000).
Smith, Andrew, Gothic Literature, 2nd edn (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2013).
Spooner, Catherine and Emma McEvoy (eds), The Routledge Companion to Gothic (London: Routledge, 2007).
Vogelaar, Alison E., Brack W. Hale & Alexandra Peat (eds), The Discourses of Environmental Collapse: Imagining the End (London: Routledge, 2018).