What—and who—is a monster? How—and why—do monsters in literature and film terrify and entertain us? This course uses the figure of the monster as a lens for interrogating the boundaries of the human. How are “we” manufactured, naturalized, policed? We read and watch with an eye toward how monstrous figures—grotesque, excessive, opaque—stage cathartic and disturbing crises in identity, unsettle the fantasy of bodily coherence, and mark the boundaries of the foreign and the disposable. Drawing on ambitious theoretical frameworks but grounded in pleasurably horrifying case studies, we investigate what can be seen, said, and understood within cultural texts, and how monsters expose the limits of legibility itself. Through close readings and film analysis, the class reveals how the monstrous operates not only as a figure of fear but as a powerful tool for rethinking power, representation, and the boundaries of knowledge.
Enrollment limited to first-year students. Students enroll concurrently with HUMS 0299, Six Global Perspectives Lab