Module overview
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- Utopianism and dystopianism in film and fiction.
- Key psychoanalytic concepts useful in the analysis of fantasy such as the uncanny and abjection;
- the ways in which the module texts operate as a space in which sexual, racial and other forms of difference are interrogated;
- The critical relationship between filmic and literary texts, including theories of adaptation;
- Some important fantasy and horror sub-genres, such as body horror, the children’s fantasy film, gothic/supernatural horror;
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- analyse complex written texts, and work effectively across and between fictional, filmic and theoretical texts;
- structure an argument in written form over 2000 words.
- present the findings from your reading in class discussion;
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- describe the primary qualities of various fantasy sub-genres
- deploy key film theories and methodologies in the analysis of both filmic and literary texts;
- evaluate and put to work relevant psychoanalytic and gender theories;
Subject Specific Practical Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Close textual analysis
Syllabus
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Independent Study | 123 |
| Teaching | 27 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
General Resources
Brazil (Terry Gilliam, UK 1985). Film
B ra m St oke r’s Dra cula (Francis Ford Coppola, US 1992). Film
The Others (Alejandro Amenábar, US 2001). Film
Ginger Snaps (John Fawcett, US/Canada 2000). Film
Orlando (Sally Potter, UK 1992). Film
The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, US 1939). Film
Twleve Monkeys (Terry Gilliam, US 1996). Film
Shrek (Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, US 2001). Film
Ros e ma ry’s Baby (Roman Polanski, US 1968). Film
The Fly (David Cronenberg, US 1986). Film
A Matter of Life and Death (Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger, UK 1946). Film
Toy Story 2 (John Lasseter et al, US 1999). Film
Textbooks
Barbara Creed (1993). The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis. London: Routledge.
Carol J. Clover (1992). Men, Women and Chain Saws: Gender in the modern horror film. London: BFI.
Virginia Woolf. Orlando.
Annette Kuhn (ed) (1990). Alien Zone: Cultural Theory and Contemporary Science Fiction Cinema. London: Verso.
Bram Stoker. Dracula.
Angela Carter. The Bloody Chamber.
Assessment
Assessment strategy
Assessments designed to provide informal, on-module feedback • short presentation each seminar on the reading/viewing you have done in preparation for that class; • individual consultation in preparation for essays, and feedback when the essay is marked.Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Essay | 60% |
| Essay | 40% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Resubmit assessments | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External