Module Information
Module Identifier
AH23420
Module Title
Gothic Imagination
Academic Year
2023/2024
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 1
Exclusive (Any Acad Year)
Reading List
Course Delivery
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Lexicon containing 25 subject-specific terms 1500 Words | 40% |
| Semester Assessment | Essay, plus bibliography and captioned figures 2000 Words | 60% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Lexicon containing 25 subject-specific terms 1500 Words | 40% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Essay, plus bibliography and captioned figures 2000 Words | 60% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Identify key artists and themes associated with the Gothic or working in a gothic mode.
2. Understand the historical contexts in which modally gothic art was produced and the philosophical concepts associated with such works.
3. Provide meaningful definitions of the term ‘Gothic’ when applied to medieval and Romantic art.
4. Debate the usefulness of the term ‘gothic’ and related terms when applied to modern/postmodern and contemporary art and visual culture.
Brief description
From the gargoyles of medieval cathedrals to the ghoulish chic of Goth couture, from the ‘venerable barbarism’ of Strawberry Hill to the nightmarish Gotham of graphic novels, from the first illustrations for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to the latest episode of American Horror Story, the genre crossing and media transcending Gothic has proven an undying presence in Western visual culture.
Gothic Imagination is an interdisciplinary theory that examines this dark current in visual culture as well as Western philosophy and relates it to historical events, postmodern anxieties and present-day concerns about war and revolution, human rights and religious freedom, disease and genetic engineering, ecology and apocalypse.
Considered alongside painters, printmakers, photographers, sculptors and installation artists are creators of other forms of material culture who work in media including film, television, and video games as well as fashion design and architecture.
Gothic Imagination is an interdisciplinary theory that examines this dark current in visual culture as well as Western philosophy and relates it to historical events, postmodern anxieties and present-day concerns about war and revolution, human rights and religious freedom, disease and genetic engineering, ecology and apocalypse.
Considered alongside painters, printmakers, photographers, sculptors and installation artists are creators of other forms of material culture who work in media including film, television, and video games as well as fashion design and architecture.
Content
1) Gothic Associations (Lecture 1)
2) Heritage, Heresy and the Canon (follow-up seminar to Lecture 1)
3) Gothic Identities (Lecture 2)
4) Politics, Terror and the Other (follow-up seminar to Lecture 2)
5) Gothic Bodies (Lecture 3)
6) Science, Creation and the Monstrous (follow-up seminar to Lecture 3)
7) Gothic Landscapes (Lecture 4)
8) Nature, Catastrophe and the Sublime (follow-up seminar to Lecture 4)
9) Gothic Visions (Lecture 5)
10) Civilisation, Ruin and the Haunted (follow-up seminar to Lecture 5)
2) Heritage, Heresy and the Canon (follow-up seminar to Lecture 1)
3) Gothic Identities (Lecture 2)
4) Politics, Terror and the Other (follow-up seminar to Lecture 2)
5) Gothic Bodies (Lecture 3)
6) Science, Creation and the Monstrous (follow-up seminar to Lecture 3)
7) Gothic Landscapes (Lecture 4)
8) Nature, Catastrophe and the Sublime (follow-up seminar to Lecture 4)
9) Gothic Visions (Lecture 5)
10) Civilisation, Ruin and the Haunted (follow-up seminar to Lecture 5)
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Communication | Articulating ideas in seminar discussions and academic writing. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Independent study through seminar assignment research and preparation. |
| Information Technology | Information retrieval from various academic research portals and online museum collection databases. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Emphasis on professionalism in presentation of research. |
| Problem solving | In seminar preparation and discussion, essay research and writing. |
| Research skills | In seminar preparation, bibliography and essay research and writing. |
| Subject Specific Skills | In development of subject-specific vocabulary (lexicon). |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 5