Monash University

Leader(s): Professor Andrew Milner

Offered

Clayton Second semester 2009 (Day)

Synopsis

This unit will introduce students to contemporary discussion and debate about science fiction. It will examine:

1. Various theoretical approaches to the analysis of science fiction.

2. The historical development of the genre from the gothic through to cyberpunk.

3. The debates over the genre's social role, whether as a source for the stabilisation or for the subversion of social norms.

4. A number of key science fiction texts, drawn from the novel, film and television.

The approach will be from a cultural studies perspective, which will seek to problematise the conventional binary oppositions between high and low culture, literature and fiction.

Objectives

At the conclusion of the unit, students should be able:

1. To demonstrate a knowledge both of various theoretical approaches to the analysis of science fiction and of the historical development of the genre from the Gothic through to Cyberpunk.

2. To demonstrate a critical understanding both of the debates over the genre's social role, whether as a source for the stabilisation or for the subversion of social norms, and of a number of science fiction texts, drawn from the novel, film and television.

3. To understand, feel comfortable with and be able to articulate the analytical skills, theoretical vocabularies and conceptual apparatuses studied.

4. To demonstrate a sense of their own personal and cultural reflexivity as they observe and interpret the theories, concepts and texts analysed in the unit.

5. To write clear, grammatically and syntactically appropriate, independent essays on the various topics provided or chosen for assessment.

Assessment

Essay (2500 words): 50%
Examination (2 hours): 50%
Third-year students will be expected to read more complex critical texts and to write a less descriptive and more self-reflexive essay

Contact hours

2 hours (1 x 2 hour seminar) per week

Prerequisites

A first-sequence in English, Literary Studies or Cultural Studies or permission

Prohibitions

CLS2080