32113
Graduate Course
SoSe 16: Dystopian Visions of America
Kathleen Loock
Comments
The rise of fascism, consequences of socialism, global nuclear warfare, overpopulation, genetic engineering, climate change, and pandemic diseases – dystopian fiction projects a dark future for mankind. Distant settings and shocking scenarios serve to de-familiarize the dystopian world from the known world, thereby foregrounding and commenting on the social, political, and cultural conditions of the present. In this sense, many dystopias are cautionary tales that imagine possible futures on the basis of contemporary preoccupations and in response to Utopian ideals and modern critical thought.
This seminar explores the concept of dystopia and traces its historical development in North America from the late-nineteenth century to today. We will first address a number of theoretical concerns and examine the cultural work dystopias perform. Then, we will study influential literary and cinematic dystopias in historical context, and analyze and discuss their forms and themes in class. Among the primary texts are novels by Sinclair Lewis, Margaret Atwood, and Cormac McCarthy as well as the Terminator film franchise. An entire workshop on May 13 will be dedicated to climate-fiction. close
14 Class schedule
Regular appointments
Wed, 2016-04-20 14:00 - 16:00
Wed, 2016-04-27 14:00 - 16:00
Wed, 2016-05-04 14:00 - 16:00
Wed, 2016-05-11 14:00 - 16:00
Wed, 2016-05-18 14:00 - 16:00
Wed, 2016-05-25 14:00 - 16:00
Wed, 2016-06-01 14:00 - 16:00
Wed, 2016-06-08 14:00 - 16:00
Wed, 2016-06-15 14:00 - 16:00
Wed, 2016-06-22 14:00 - 16:00
Wed, 2016-06-29 14:00 - 16:00
Wed, 2016-07-06 14:00 - 16:00
Wed, 2016-07-13 14:00 - 16:00
Wed, 2016-07-20 14:00 - 16:00