COLI 381YThe Uncanny in Lit and Film

Catalog

The course explores the uncanny, a state of strangeness that pervades everyday life and threatens to disturb our views of reality. We study the theoretical concept through psychology and literary theory, and distinguish it from related, but distinct, concepts such as the fantastic and magical realism. Most of the course will focus on the manifestations of the uncanny in literary works and films across languages and cultures. We look at the ways authors and artists use the uncanny for their aesthetic and purposes, as well as intellectual and social concerns. We examine works by authors from Charles Dickens and Nathaniel Hawthorne to E. T. A. Hoffmann, Clarice Lispector, Alifa Rifaat, Samanta Schweblin, Mona Awad, and films by David Lynch, Luis Bunuel, Darren Aronofsky, among others, as well as TV shows such as Black Mirror and Inside No. 9.