The Nordic countries are thought of as bastions of social democracy, gender equality, and sleek modern design. Despite this well-earned reputation for political and aesthetic progressivism, there has also been a significant current of Romanticism, anti-rationalism and supernatural horror in Scandinavian culture. This course focuses on Gothic fiction, horror, and the Uncanny in the Nordic region within a variety of different media: literature, theater, cinema, television, and visual art. We will examine how Gothic storytelling has become a vehicle for giving voice marginalized communities, raising crucial environmental questions, and unveiling the shortcomings of the Nordic welfare state. Students will become familiar with the generic conventions of Gothic storytelling, as well as how the Scandinavian Gothic has (in some cases) radically departed from those expectations.
This course fulfills Liberal Education requirements in Arts & Humanities and Global Perspectives.