This seminar is about the ways films and literature make us doubt and wonder, thus renewing our experience of the world. To put it differently, it is about weird stuff. We will watch “Being John Malkovich” along with some ultra-short films by Spike Jonze and read recent short stories belonging to such new and exciting genres as neo-surrealism, the new weird and slipstream as well as a very short novel by a British-Mexican surreal artist, writer and muse, a woman who was once rescued from a madhouse by her nanny arriving in a submarine.
The careful reading of primary materials is indispensable. If you would like to discuss a particular surreal short story or short film, please email me atalexandra.berlina@uni-due.debefore the seminar starts, and we’ll try to arrange it.
Please acquire The Hearing Trumpet (ISBN-10: 1878972197) as well as Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology (ISBN-10: 189239135X) – the two together cost 20 € at abebooks.com – and read the former before the first session. |
