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CLASS ON VAMPIRES
So I received this information in an email from the Political Science advisor this morning....
The Department of Slavic Languages is pleased to offer a NEW COURSE for Spring 2006!
Lit Trans 248: The Vampire in Literature and Film (551 : 248) 9:55 MWF 115 VAN HISE Professor Tomislav Z. Longinovic Course registration #72767
This course explores the image of the vampire in literature and film as a global metaphor for Eastern Europe and the Slavic world. It begins with the analysis of folklore and moves on to modern literary texts and silent and feature film.
The figure of the vampire is analyzed as an evolving cultural artifact, which serves both as a means of self-identification by various Slavic and East European nations, as well as a lens for the rest of the world for viewing this region. For example, the Romanian government is currently trying to capitalize on the global appeal of the vampire by supporting the construction of the "Draculaland" theme park in the Transylvanian region. This paradoxical identification of the government with the "blood and gore" count Vlad Tsepesh Dracul of medieval times has its roots in the Romanian literature of the 1930's, where the vampire was celebrated as the metaphor for the national vitality and strength. In contrast to that, the Serbian writer Borislav Pekic in his 1973 novel How to Quiet a Vampire uses this figure to offer a critique of German Nazism in particular and all nationalism in general. By analyzing a variety of cultural practices, the course traces the conceptual transformations of the vampire as a figure of national imagination.
The course introduces the notion of culture as a movement across the boundaries of nations and their particular languages, as the appeal of vampire as a cultural commodity grows over time. Students will be presented with the concept of the humanities as a globally evolving cultural space, taking the Slavic folklore heritage and transforming it into the works of literary, artistic and cinematic imagination.
Class Readings:
Alan Dundes, The Vampire
Jan L. Perkowski, The Darkling
Borislav Pekic, How to Put Vampire to Rest
J. Gordon Melton, The Vampire Book
Jan Potocki, The Manuscript Found In Saragossa
Bram Stoker, Dracula
A.K. Tolstoy. The Vampire
A. Mickiewicz, Forefather's Eve
Evaluation
Participation (10%), Midterm (20%) and Final Exam (30%), response paper (3-5pp, 20%), oral presentation (20%)
DOESN'T THAT SOUND AWESOME?! I think so....so I registered for it! Bwah! Sadly, though, this means that I'm signed up for 18 credits next semester, which is *a lot* at UW. I mean, it's a lot everywhere, but it's a really heavy courseload here. At the moment, my other courses are The American Presidency, Criminal Law and Justice, British Literature Before 1750, and Asian American Women Writers. I'm hoping to get in a different class than AAW Writers because I've heard bad things about the professor....but yeah. I don't know if I should drop taking a second English course all together or not....but I think I have two months or so after classes start to be able to drop without a penalty.
Who could pass up the opportunity to take a class on vampires?!
Appropriately, I had to use my Hellsing icon for this post. OOoohhh, I wonder if I could discuss the Hellsing manga with the professor, XD
The Department of Slavic Languages is pleased to offer a NEW COURSE for Spring 2006!
Lit Trans 248: The Vampire in Literature and Film (551 : 248) 9:55 MWF 115 VAN HISE Professor Tomislav Z. Longinovic Course registration #72767
This course explores the image of the vampire in literature and film as a global metaphor for Eastern Europe and the Slavic world. It begins with the analysis of folklore and moves on to modern literary texts and silent and feature film.
The figure of the vampire is analyzed as an evolving cultural artifact, which serves both as a means of self-identification by various Slavic and East European nations, as well as a lens for the rest of the world for viewing this region. For example, the Romanian government is currently trying to capitalize on the global appeal of the vampire by supporting the construction of the "Draculaland" theme park in the Transylvanian region. This paradoxical identification of the government with the "blood and gore" count Vlad Tsepesh Dracul of medieval times has its roots in the Romanian literature of the 1930's, where the vampire was celebrated as the metaphor for the national vitality and strength. In contrast to that, the Serbian writer Borislav Pekic in his 1973 novel How to Quiet a Vampire uses this figure to offer a critique of German Nazism in particular and all nationalism in general. By analyzing a variety of cultural practices, the course traces the conceptual transformations of the vampire as a figure of national imagination.
The course introduces the notion of culture as a movement across the boundaries of nations and their particular languages, as the appeal of vampire as a cultural commodity grows over time. Students will be presented with the concept of the humanities as a globally evolving cultural space, taking the Slavic folklore heritage and transforming it into the works of literary, artistic and cinematic imagination.
Class Readings:
Alan Dundes, The Vampire
Jan L. Perkowski, The Darkling
Borislav Pekic, How to Put Vampire to Rest
J. Gordon Melton, The Vampire Book
Jan Potocki, The Manuscript Found In Saragossa
Bram Stoker, Dracula
A.K. Tolstoy. The Vampire
A. Mickiewicz, Forefather's Eve
Evaluation
Participation (10%), Midterm (20%) and Final Exam (30%), response paper (3-5pp, 20%), oral presentation (20%)
DOESN'T THAT SOUND AWESOME?! I think so....so I registered for it! Bwah! Sadly, though, this means that I'm signed up for 18 credits next semester, which is *a lot* at UW. I mean, it's a lot everywhere, but it's a really heavy courseload here. At the moment, my other courses are The American Presidency, Criminal Law and Justice, British Literature Before 1750, and Asian American Women Writers. I'm hoping to get in a different class than AAW Writers because I've heard bad things about the professor....but yeah. I don't know if I should drop taking a second English course all together or not....but I think I have two months or so after classes start to be able to drop without a penalty.
Who could pass up the opportunity to take a class on vampires?!
Appropriately, I had to use my Hellsing icon for this post. OOoohhh, I wonder if I could discuss the Hellsing manga with the professor, XD
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