This course investigates the literary, cultural, and architectural meanings of the Gothic in nineteenth-century English literature, society, and politics, as well as considering the continued influence of the Gothic on the literary and cultural imagination today. Areas covered include Gothic politics, Gothic architecture, science and medicine, Pre-Raphaelitism, medievalism, the female Gothic, vampires, ghosts, and the ‘Uncanny’. Skills developed include the critical reading of texts, and the ability to conduct academic discussion both orally and as a sustained argument in essay form.

CILO-1: Summarise the nature, history, concepts, and media of the Gothic. CILO-2: Explain specific works of Gothic literature, and the important historical, intellectual, and technological developments of the period. CILO-3: Analyze the literature and art of an earlier era and to relate its concerns and its modes of expression to its historical context and to contemporary culture. CILO-4: Summarise and analyze relevant theoretical ideas, and to apply these ideas to literary texts. CILO-5: Demonstrate appropriate research and bibliographic skills through essay-writing, a capacity to construct a coherent, substantiated argument, and a capacity to write clear and correct prose. CILO-6: Demonstrate proficiency in information retrieval and analysis through research for seminars and essays.