English 223 - Contemporary American Gothic Literature

This course traces the emergence of a 21st-century gothic tradition in American writing through texts including novels, films, and television shows. The course analyzes the shifting definitions and cultural work of the Gothic in contemporary American literature in the context of political and cultural events and movements and their relation to such concerns as race, gender, class, sexuality, and disability. From the New Mexican desert to the rural south, from New York City, San Francisco and the suburbs of Atlanta to cyberspace, these literary encounters explore an expanse of physical, psychological, intellectual, and imagined territory.