ENG 5513: 19 th -Century British Literature ENG 6063 Cross-Cultural Issues: Frankenstein Professor Jeanne C. Reesman Fall 2012, UTSA 11:00 a.m.-1:45 p.m., Mondays MB 1.204 Office: MB 2.306 Hours: MW 10:00-11:30 a.m. and by appointment Phone: 210-458-5133 Fax: 210-458-5366 Email: jreesman@utsa.edu colfa.utsa.edu/english/reesman.html As Mary Shelley wrote in her 1831 preface to Frankenstein, I busied myself to think of a story a story to rival those which had excited us to this task. One which would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature and awaken thrilling horror one to make the reader dread to look around, to curdle the blood and quicken the beatings of the heart. If I did not accomplish these things, my ghost story would be unworthy of its name. Shelley succeeded in her desire: the terrifying novel she wrote quickly became a world classic and has morphed into countless forms in both highbrow and popular culture, including the visual arts, fiction and non-fiction, stage plays, film, television, advertising, clothing, jewelry, toys, key chains, coffee mugs, games, Halloween costumes, comic books, jokes, cartoons, pornography, academic study, fan clubs, web sites, and even breakfast cereal. This seminar will examine the story of Frankenstein, his family, and his Creature as they appear in various literary and cinematic cultural forms from Mary Shelley s day to our own, as well as their continuing cultural implications, including in science and medicine. 1
Class discussion, reports, and lectures will promote intensive examination and discussion of both the 1818 and 1831 versions of the novel, especially questions of gender. We will study its presence in literary and popular culture, beginning with stage and fictional productions from the 19th through 21 st centuries, and film, television, and cyber-versions from the 20 th century on. From the very first stage play the tendency has been to dumb down the Creature and elevate the moral status of Victor, and we must investigate this phenomenon. Herman Melville s The Bell Tower (1855) is one of the first literary texts to be inspired by Shelley s novel. Thomas Edison s invention of the Kinetogram film system allowed him to make the first film of Frankenstein in 1910. The story has been the basis of films by directors such as James Whale, Terence Fisher, Ridley Scott, James Cameron, Ken Russell, Andy Warhol, Tim Burton, Mel Brooks, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Condon, and others with wildly divergent story lines. Frankenstein continues to be constantly mentioned in the media within contemporary cultural discussions of scientific breakthroughs, from test-tube babies to cloning to genetically engineered foods. Frankenstein s dramatic range of cultural subject-matter and depth of meaning are balanced by its essential elasticity; it has been called the first truly modern myth. As it has become increasingly commodified by modern consumer cultures, we will explore whether its original revolutionary spirit has become obscured, but also how its continuing transformations attest to its essential nature as a political and cultural critique. The face of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein s Creature, a literary figure created 200 years ago by an 18-year-old girl, is the most widely recognized literary character on the planet. Why? Required Texts: Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, Frankenstein: The 1818 Text, Contexts, Nineteenth- Century Responses, Modern Criticism (Norton Critical Edition), ed. J. Paul Hunter, Norton Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, Frankenstein (1831 edition) (Bedford Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism), ed. Johanna Smith, Bedford/St. Martin s Mellor, Anne. Mary Shelley: Her Life, Her Fiction, Her Monsters, Routledge Hoobler, Dorothy and Thomas, The Monsters: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Frankenstein, Back Bay Books Haining, Peter. The Frankenstein Omnibus, Orion Books (out of print instructor can supply copies of individual selections) Required Texts, con t. Morton, Timothy, ed. Routledge Literary Sourcebook on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (Routledge Literary Sourcebooks), ed. Timothy Morton, Routledge 2
Hitchcock, Susan Tyler, Frankenstein: A Cultural History, Norton Stevenson, Robert Louis, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Oxford World s Classics Dick, Philip K., Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Del Ray Ishiguro, Kazuo, Never Let Me Go, Vintage Recommended Texts: Guerin, Wilfred, et al., A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, 6 th Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Lederer, Susan E. Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature, An Exhibition at the National Library of Medicine. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2002. Levine, George, and U. S. Knopflmacher, eds. The Endurance of Frankenstein: Essays on Mary Shelley s Novel. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979. St. Clair, William. The Godwins and the Shelleys: A Biography of a Family. New York: Norton: 1989. Young, Elizabeth. Black Frankenstein: The Making of an American Metaphor. New York: NYU Press, 2008. Course Requirements: Research-based paper of 12 pages, midterm and final exams, oral report, film review, intense reading and class discussion. Grades: Paper 30% Prospectus/Annotated Bibliography 10% Midterm Exam 20% Final Exam 20% Report 10% Film Review 10% Syllabus: September 10 Introduction to Course: Syllabus, Frankenstein Reports and Reviews Assigned 3
Legend of the Frankenstein Monster (1994) video September 17 Shelley, Frankenstein, volume I, pp. 3-58; Composition and Revision, 157-68; Contexts, 169-84 (all in Norton edition); Routledge Sourcebook, 1-36; Mellor chapters 1-2 September 24 Shelley, Frankenstein, volume II, pp. 59-101; Nineteenth-Century Responses, 185-204 (Norton edition); Routledge Sourcebook, 37-44; Mellor chapter 3; Film Frankenstein (1931) October 1 October 8 October 15 Shelley, Frankenstein, volume III, pp. 103-156 (Norton edition); Hoobler & Hoobler, The Monsters. Focus: Biographical Criticism Reading Day Routledge Sourcebook, 45-79, 108-112; Film Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Focus: Psychological Criticism October 22 Small, 205-208, Moers, 214-24, Gilbert and Gubar, 225-40, Poovey, 251-61, Winnett, 287-301 (Norton); Routledge Sourcebook, 96-104; Mellor chapters 4-6. Focus: Feminist and Gender Studies Take-Home Midterm Exam Assigned October 29 Spivak, 262-70 (Norton); Routledge Sourcebook 112-126; Hitchcock, Frankenstein: A Cultural History; Film Mary Shelley s Frankenstein (1994) Focus: Cultural and Postcolonial Studies Midterm Exam Due November 5 Routledge Sourcebook, 80-89; Film Mary Shelley s Frankenstein, con t. Focus: Scientific and Medical Ethics Prospectus/Annotated Bibliography Due November 12 Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; Film Young Frankenstein (1974). Focus: Adaptations of Frankenstein from Naturalism to Shtick November 19 Films: Young Frankenstein, con t; Focus: Behind the Scenes: Gods and Monsters (1998) November 26 Gods and Monsters; Routledge 89-104. Focus: Queering Frankenstein December 3 Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Film: Bladerunner (1982) Focus: Frankenstein as Science Fiction December 10 Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go (novel) and Never Let Me Go (2010) (film) 4
Focus: Frankenstein as the Future Past Review for Final Exam; Papers Due Final Exam: Monday, December 17, 1:30-4:00 p.m. Note: All work must be turned in on time. Late work will not be accepted without valid, written excuse. Please stay ahead on the reading it includes a lot of cultural history as well as the literary/film selections. UTSA Statement on Academic Honesty: The University can best function and accomplish its objectives in an atmosphere of high ethical standards. All students are expected and encouraged to contribute to such an atmosphere in every way possible, especially by observing all accepted principles of academic honesty. It is recognized, however, that a large university will include a few students who do not understand, appreciate, or practice these principles. Consequently, alleged cases of academic dishonesty involving UTSA students will inevitably occur. Academic or scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student, or the attempt to commit such acts. Academic dishonesty is a violation of the Student Code of Conduct and is addressed in Appendix B, Sec. 203 of 2012-13 Undergraduate Information Bulletin. 5