In-Depth: Science Fiction

FRENCH 374

What we now call science fiction emerged from early tales of voyage and discovery, whose authors envisioned other times, places, customs, and perspectives. It flourished in the fantastic and futurist tales that first arose in France but were popularized in Germany, England, and America. An outgrowth of the scientific and the industrial revolutions, it informed the genres of opera, painting, and the novel before reaching the silver screen. Drawing on theories of the uncanny, we will consider how we determine whether stories are governed by the laws of nature (madness, dreams, coincidence) or the supernatural (ghosts, sylphs, devils). We will then explore when and how the Romantic realms of the gothic gave way to the dystopian worlds of science fiction that inform not only contemporary film but our current perception of reality. Readings by Voltaire, Cazotte, Nodier, Balzac, Mérimée, Gautier, Maupassant, Zola, Verne, Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, Rosny; films by Marker and Gilliam. Prereq: In-Perspective .
Course Attributes: AS HUM; AS LCD; EN H; AS LS

Section 01

In-Depth: Science Fiction
INSTRUCTOR: Boon Cuillé
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