Monstrous Narrative

Catalog description

This course will examine how monster stories are told, from medieval tales of giants and dragons to modern horror films. We will discuss why these stories are often monstrous in their form, disorient the reader with disorderly narratives. What are strategies the authors deploy to unsettle us, rhetorical strategies like silence, euphemism, hyperbole, and chronological and perspectival disruptions? We will examine the complex meanings of these tales, often torn between acceptance of radical difference (corporeal or cognitive) and rejection of the other. Texts will include: Le Chevalier au Lion, Le Fantome de l'Opera, Les Revenants, and horror stories by Maupassant.