Module description
Popular film genres have always conjured figures who are not-quite-human: monsters, aliens, robots, vampires, and human-animal hybrids. Recently, the question of the human has come under pressures from new technologies, environmental destruction, economic crisis, epidemics, and violent political transformations. Ideas of the posthuman, as well as animal studies, ecocriticism, and object theory are transforming how we think about the non-human world. This module considers how contemporary world cinema imagines the non-human, via a focus on those uncanny figures that are disturbingly close to the human; cyborgs, vampires, people who turn into animals and aliens who pretend to be humans. It introduces some of the critical terrain of the posthuman, and connects it to cinematic questions of identity, genre, and style. We will address topics such as feminism and queer theory, Afrofuturism and biopolitics, technology and nature, while analysing a range of cinema, from sci-fi and horror to speculative and fantastical art films.
Assessment details
- Participation 10%
- 1500 Word Annotated Bibliography 30%
- 2500 Word Essay 60%
Teaching pattern
Ten one hour lectures, ten one hour seminars, ten two and a half hour screenings.