Myths, Monsters and Machines: The Fantastic in Popular Culture

Cultural Studies Program

Wilfrid Laurier University
KS340J Fall 2013
Thursdays: 4:00-6:50pm
DAWB 2-108 (TBC)

Alexandra Boutros
Office Hours: Thursdays 2:30-3:30, or by appointment
Office: DAWB 2-130
Email: aboutros@wlu.ca

Course Description:

Monsters cannot be announced. One cannot say: 'Here are our

monsters,' without immediately turning the monsters into pets. -
Jacques Derrida, The States of Theory

The robot is going to lose. Not by much. But when the final score
is tallied, flesh and blood is going to beat the damn monster. Adam
Smith, source unknown (circa 18th century)

How do you know Im real? Im not real, Im just like you. You dont
exist in this society I do not come to you as a reality, I come to you as
the myth. Because thats what Black people are: myths. ~ Sun Ra, Space
Is the Place

KS340 - monster syllabus 1

The monster, as signifier, makes us think of the boundaries between human and non-
human, self and other, real and unreal. This course takes on an exploration of what it
means to be human through myths, metaphors and popular representations of
nonhuman beings including monsters (of varying sorts), cyborgs, and other nonhuman
entities. Collectively, we ask what role do myths of monstrosity play in our social and
cultural imagination? What does it mean to be rendered mythic? Or monstrous? Where
do monster myths and what we often colloquially call the real world intersect? We will
look not only at monsters in popular culture, but will explore the significance of the
monstrous in political, social and cultural discourses.

Course Assignments and Grade Breakdown

Seminar Reading Facilitation (10%): Pick a course reading and come to class prepared to
1.) present a critical reflection on that reading and 2.) relate that reading to some facet
of popular culture (this could be a cultural object, event, or a broader cultural pattern
that resonates with your reading). Your presentation should take no more that 15-20
minutes (max) and I suggest that you write out and time your work. You will want to
include in your presentation a brief identification of the main arguments, the
strengths/weakness* of your article and you will want to situate your article in a
broader understanding of the course as a whole/core course concepts. You should also
very briefly describe the facet of popular culture you are critically engaging with (you
should feel free to bring in visual or a/v material, or even consider assigning
readings/providing links to websites that your classmates can peruse in advance). Half
of your presentation should be devoted to exploring how the reading elucidates,
resonates with, explains, contradicts, or otherwise intersects with the aspect of pop
culture you have chosen to focus on. The point of this assignment is to shift from
passive reading practices to active engagement with a text. Your presentation should
provide us (me, as well as the class as a whole) with a snapshot of how you applied what
you learned from the course material to a critical reading of some facet of popular
culture. Please submit your notes to me at the end of the class. Max three students per
course reading (you will need to work together on this assignment). Sign up sheet for
presentations will be distributed. Schedule TBD.
[*please note that this section should not focus on structural strengths and weaknesses
ie.) article is too long; hard to read; examples in article are too old, but on the strengths
and weaknesses of the central arguments of the text]

Participation and Participation Self-Evaluation (20%): Engaged participation is an

essential part of this course. Both presence and preparation are necessary components
of engaged participation. Please come to class prepared to discuss readings and other
forms of assigned media and please be aware that attendance will be noted. Absences
will result in a grade penalty. Discussions should be critical and relatively on topic. While
passionate debate is encouraged, forms of intolerance are not. Disruptive behavior will
likely result in a grade penalty. This portion of your grade may encompass short in-class

KS340 - monster syllabus 2

assignments. Please note that in-class assignments cannot be made up under any
circumstances.

Half of your participation grade (10%) will be allocated to a self-evaluation journal in

which you will evaluate your own participation in at least five (5) classes. Each journal
entry should 1.) identify the date of the class you are evaluating yourself in 2.) state
whether you attended the entire class (or whether you arrived late, or left early) 3.)
outline briefly how you actively engaged with/participated in the course this week
(group discussions, large scale class discussions, other forms of engagement) 4.) briefly
outline how something discussed/explored in class (an image shown in a lecture slide; a
film clip played in class; something a classmate said etc.) intersected with the assigned
readings for that class (clarified something you read; confused something you read;
made you think about what you read in a new way). Self-evaluations should be around
1-1.5 pages (double spaced) and must be handed in at the next class. You cannot
evaluate your own participation on the same day that you are leading a seminar
facilitation reading. In addition to 5 participation self-evaluation entries, you should
also submit (on the last day of class) the participation self-evaluation chart
(downloadable from the course website).

Class Blog Participation (5%): A class blog [http://monstrumclassicum.wordpress.com/]

will allow us to share parts of our assignments (see below) in a space other than
classroom space. A portion of the two assignments below will take place on the blog.
The distribution of marks for those portions of the assignments are listed below. At
least 5 percent of your final grade, however, is reserved for your participation on the
blog. You should comment on the blog posts of others. Comments should further the
discussion and relate generally to the blog posts themselves and course themes as a
whole. You will be graded on both the amount of online participation you engage in, as
well as your ability to critically engage with the material. You can also feel free to use
the blog as a place to share things you think may be of interest to the class. The genre
of blogging will be discussed further in class. Blog entries should be submitted on the
dates outlined in class. Blog entries submitted after the last day of class will not be
considered for marks.

Bring your Monster to School Day (10%):

Email an image of a monster (a link to an image is fine) from pop culture to me
by Sept. 26, 2013.
Write a blog post about the monster you are bringing to school. Your post
should discuss 1.) the cultural significance of this monster 2.) what this monster
tells us about being human 3.) why this monster is a monster. This monster
can be a classically defined monster (vampire, ogre, giant etc.) from any era in
history and from any culture around the globe, or your monster can be any form
of non-human or not-quite-human (or human hybrid) being that you care to
define as monstrous in some way. You will not be marked on your monster per-
sey, but on your ability to critically engage with course themes. Your blog entry

KS340 - monster syllabus 3

 should be posted no later than October 3, 2013 (posts submitted later than this
date will see a mark of 2% a day docked from the total marks for this assignment)
Come to class (from Oct. 3 onward) ready to discuss your monster as well as
the monsters of others. This assignment is meant to instigate informal
discussion. Your ability to critically engage in the larger class discussion will be
noted in your participation grade. It may take us some time to get through
everybodys monsters.

Make your own Monster (15%):

Working alone or in a group imagine a nonhuman being that could take its place
in the realm of the fantastic. Describe your monster in detail. This description
can take multiple forms; it can be purely textual (in the form of a script,
narrative, fiction, news report etc), it can be visual (drawing, collage), it can
include multi-media. Your monster should have not just physical, but also
affective (emotive) and behavioral characteristics that distinguish it. This
monster is the basis for your final project (Monster Analysis), the richer your
description at this stage, the better your subsequent analysis will be.
Share your monsters with the class first on the class blog. Your blog post should
be individually authored (so even if you work in a group, each group member
should write their own blog post). Your post should briefly describe your
monster (note: you will have an opportunity to actually bring your monster into
the classroom) 2.) specify which genealogy of popular culture/the fantastic your
monster inhabits 3.) discuss how your monster may/may not share
characteristics with other monsters/or appropriate specific aspects of specific
cultures (what makes your monster a monster). Blog posts due no later than
Nov. 21, 2013 (late posts will be docked 2% per day from total marks of this
assignment)
Bring your monster to class for show and tell. We will discuss your monster as a
group (again, your willingness to critically engage in class discussion will be
noted). This is an opportunity for you to get feedback from your peers that
should help you complete your final project. Dates and schedule TBD.

Final project: Monster analysis (40%): Analyze your monster, situating it in a critical
cultural studies framework that takes into account the theoretical framing of monsters
in popular culture(s), the role of myth in the constitution of monsters, and the
significance of monsters to our own understanding of our selves. This analysis should
take the form of an 5-7 page (double-spaced, standard font) essay, and should make
use of 6-8 refereed academic research sources. Include with your essay a copy of your
monster description (from the Make your own Monster assignment). Due Dec. 2, 2013.
Submit via email. Late submissions will be docked 3% per day. Assignments submitted
after Dec. 12 will not be marked.

KS340 - monster syllabus 4

Course and Reading Schedule

Week 1 (Sept. 12, 2013): Introduction

Week 2 (Sept. 19, 2013): Myth and Monsters

Ted Friedman, Myth, the Numinous and Cultural Studies, in Flow 10.05,
August 6, 2009. here
Jeffrey Jerome. Monster Culture: Seven Theses in Monster Theory: Reading
Culture, Jeffery Jerome Cohen (ed.), Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota
Press, 1996. 3-25.

Week 3 (Sept. 26, 2013): Signifiers and Signifying Monsters

Roland Barthes, Myth Today in Mythologies, Translated by Annette Lavers.
New York,: Hill and Wang, 1972., 109-158
Weiss, Allen S. Ten Theses on Monsters and Monstrosity, in The Drama
Review, 48:1, 2004. 124-125.
Dery, Mark. Dead Man Walking: What do Zombies Mean? in Doom Patrol:
Annals of our Age on True/Slant, March 17, 2010. here

Week 4 (Oct. 3, 2013): Zombies and Others

Bishop, Kyle. Raising the Dead: Unearthing the Non-Literary Origins of Zombie
Cinema, in The Journal of Popular Film and Television, 33:4, 2006. 196-205.
Bishop, Kyle. The Sub Subaltern Monster: Imperialistic Hegemony and the
Cinematic Voodoo Zombie, in The Journal of American Culture, 31:2, 2008. 141-
151
Pellegrini, Ann. "Signaling Through the Flames": Hell House Performance and
Structures of Religious Feeling, in American Quarterly, 59:3, 2007. 911-935. here

Week 5 (Oct. 10, 2013): Monstrosity and Abnormality

Excerpt from Sigmund Freud, "The Uncanny," in The Standard Edition of the
Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, ed. & trs. James Strachey, vol.
XVII, London: Hogarth, 1953. 219-252. here
Adams, Rachel. Overture: Recovering Otis, in Sideshow U.S.A.: Freaks and the
American Cultural Imagination. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001. 1-21
Adams, Rachel. Epilogue: Live From New York, in Sideshow U.S.A.: Freaks and
the American Cultural Imagination. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001.
210-228

Week 6 (Oct. 17, 2013): Monsters Accommodated

Primiano, Normand L. I Wanna Do Bad Things With You: Fantasia on Themes
of American Religion from the Title Sequence of HBOs True Blood, in God in
the Details: American Religion in Popular Culture, Eric Michael Mazur and Kate
McCarthy (eds). , NY, NY: Routledge 2011. 41-61

KS340 - monster syllabus 5

 Nakamura, Lisa, Laurie Beth Clark and Michael Peterson. Vampire Politics, in
FlowTV, December 4, 2009. here
Lockett, Christopher. Zombie Gentrification, in FlowTV, Jan. 15, 2011. here
OPTIONAL: Stratton, Jon. Buffy Failed: True Blood and the Accommodation of
Vampires, in FlowTV, March 26, 2010. here

Week 7 (Oct. 24, 2013): Myth and Monsters II

Excerpt from Tsvetan Todorov, The Fantastic, Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1975. here
Newitz, Annalee. The Undead: A Haunted Whiteness, in Pretend Were Dead:
Capitalist Monsters in American Pop Culture, Durham: Duke University Press,
2006. 89-122.
Lock, Graham. Astro Black: Mythic Future, Mythic Past, in Bluetopia: Visions of
the Future and Revisions of the Past in the Work of Sun Ra, Duke Ellington, and
Anthony Braxton, Durham: Duke University Press, 1999. 13-43

Week 8 (Oct. 31, 2013): Capitalist Monsters and Posthumans

Slavoj Zizek, No Sex Please, Were Posthuman here
Newitz, Annalee. Introduction: Capitalist Monsters, in Pretend Were Dead:
Capitalist Monsters in American Pop Culture, Durham: Duke University Press,
2006. 1-12
Ballard, Susan. My Viewing Body Does Not End at the Skin, 2001 here
Explore here: The Alan Turing Internet Scrapbook, Andrew Hodges

Week 9 (Nov. 7, 2013): Posthumanism and its Malcontents

Bakhtin, Mikhail. Rabelais and His World, trans. Helene Iswolsky, Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1984. (excerpts) here
Halberstam, Judith. Skinflick: Posthuman Gender in Jonathan Demmes The
Silence of the Lambs, in Posthumanism: Readers in Cultural Criticism, Neil
Badmington (ed.), London: Palgrave, 2000. 56-68
potential, boots. monster trans, in Makezine: Enough Enough, here

Week 10 (Nov. 14, 2013): Cyborgs Signifying

Haraway, Donna. "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-
Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century," in Simians, Cyborgs and Women:
The Reinvention of Nature (New York; Routledge, 1991), pp.149-181. here
Kunzru, Hari. You are Cyborg, in Wired, 5:02, 1997. here
Freedman, Eric. In search of Bigfoot: The use and obsolescence of bionics in
FlowTV, Sept. 27, 2007. here
OPTIONAL: Scott, Anna Beatrice. Not Yo Mammas Cyborg: Trasformers Meet
more than your Eye, in FlowTV, July 19, 2007. here

Week 11 (Nov. 21, 2014): Cyborg Dilemas

Biocca, Frank. The Cyborgs Dilema, in The Cybogs Dilema: Progressive

KS340 - monster syllabus 6

 Embodiment in Virtual Environments, in Journal of Computer Mediated
Communication, 3:2, 1997. here
Shaviro, Steven. Supa Dupa Fly: Black Women as Cyborgs in Hip Hop Videos,
in Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 22:2, 2005.169179.
Cohen, Samantha. Oh Jo, Make Me a Cyborg, in Gaga Stigmata, Aug. 24,
2011. here

Week 12 (Nov. 28, 2013): Monstrous (or Mythic) Conclusions

Lock, Graham. Of Aliens and Angels: Mythic Identity, in Bluetopia: Visions of
the Future and Revisions of the Past in the Work of Sun Ra, Duke Ellington, and
Anthony Braxton, Durham: Duke University Press, 1999. 44-76
Haraway, Donna. The Promise of Monsters: A Regenerative Politics for
Inappropriate/d Others in Cybersexualities: A Reader on Feminist Theory,
Cyborgs and Cyberspace, Jenny Wolmark (ed.), Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press, 1999. 314-366 (also here)

KS340 - monster syllabus 7