1. Handbook
  2. Subjects
  3. Gothic Fictions

Gothic Fictions (ENGL30013)

Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)

You’re viewing the 2018 Handbook:
Or view archived Handbooks
You’re currently viewing the 2018 version of this subject

Overview

Availability
Semester 2
FeesLook up fees

This subject offers an introduction to the contexts, nature, form and enduring cultural power of Gothic fiction in modernity. It examines the formal conventions of Gothic fiction as they related to the social, cultural, economic and political contexts in which it first appeared in the late 18 th century. It also tracks ways in which the genre was reworked through the 19 th and 20 th centuries. The subject connects changing historical structures of patriarchal and paternal authority to the aesthetics of horror and terror, and links modern notions of individuality to conceptions of monstrosity.

Intended learning outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should have:



  • demonstrated a familiarity with the formal conventions and devices of Gothic fictions;
  • a general understanding of the social, cultural and political contexts in which this genre first appeared;
  • the ability to demonstrate an awareness of recent feminist and psychoanalytic accounts of the Gothic;
  • the ability to identify the formal and thematic differences between male and female Gothic; and
  • an understanding, in general terms, some of the ways in which Gothic fiction developed in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Generic skills

At the completion of this subject, students should gain generic skills in:

  • social, ethical and cultural understanding;
  • critical, creative and theoretical thinking;
  • information management and information literacy;
  • intelligent and effective communication of knowledge and ideas; and
  • written communication.

Last updated: 6 August 2024