2023
Contemporary North American Literature I
Name: Contemporary North American Literature I
Code: LLT11300M
9 ECTS
Duration: 15 weeks/234 hours
Scientific Area:
Literature
Teaching languages: Portuguese
Languages of tutoring support: Portuguese
Regime de Frequência: Presencial
Sustainable Development Goals
Learning Goals
Through the works of certain contemporary American gothic writers, students shall perceive the inherent
duality to the creative process, in order to consider the creative literary act as an aesthetic and ethical act of
self-reflection. To recognize that the dark side of the genius is so real as his astonishing creative capacity, will
take students to consider the central characters of certain stories of transgression as authors of evil, whose
perverse acts will have the virtue and the power to make us reflect on the dilemma of literary and artistic
responsibility.
duality to the creative process, in order to consider the creative literary act as an aesthetic and ethical act of
self-reflection. To recognize that the dark side of the genius is so real as his astonishing creative capacity, will
take students to consider the central characters of certain stories of transgression as authors of evil, whose
perverse acts will have the virtue and the power to make us reflect on the dilemma of literary and artistic
responsibility.
Contents
1.The Gothic: origins and paradoxes;
2. The Gothic Sublime;
3. The American Gothic Heritage : from Frankenstein to Hannibal Lecter;
4. The genesis of American Gothic Fiction: the role of Puritanism; influences from Brown,
Poe, Hawthorne e Melville.
5. Perversion and Creation: from Poe to Stephen King;
6. The Artist and his Double in Joyce Carol Oates and Patricia Cornwell;
7. Gothic and Madness: Blochs and Bret Easton Ellis Psychos.
8. The Gothic in Science Fiction: Phillip K. Dick e William Gibson;
9. The Feminine Gothic: Eudora Welty, Flannery OConnor and Carson McCullers.
10. Gothic Transgressions: some paradoxes of Science, Art and Literary Creation in American contemporary
fiction.
2. The Gothic Sublime;
3. The American Gothic Heritage : from Frankenstein to Hannibal Lecter;
4. The genesis of American Gothic Fiction: the role of Puritanism; influences from Brown,
Poe, Hawthorne e Melville.
5. Perversion and Creation: from Poe to Stephen King;
6. The Artist and his Double in Joyce Carol Oates and Patricia Cornwell;
7. Gothic and Madness: Blochs and Bret Easton Ellis Psychos.
8. The Gothic in Science Fiction: Phillip K. Dick e William Gibson;
9. The Feminine Gothic: Eudora Welty, Flannery OConnor and Carson McCullers.
10. Gothic Transgressions: some paradoxes of Science, Art and Literary Creation in American contemporary
fiction.
Teaching Methods
Multidisciplinary practices; viewing of documentaries, films and other cultural expressions that could
complement the reading of literary and critical works.
Students active participation and presence in classes; research abilities; reading and viewing practices;
involvement in cultural activities; the quality of written essays and oral presentations in classes.
complement the reading of literary and critical works.
Students active participation and presence in classes; research abilities; reading and viewing practices;
involvement in cultural activities; the quality of written essays and oral presentations in classes.
Teaching Staff
- Maria Antónia Sousa Monteiro da Cunha Lima [responsible]
Certificações
