University of St Andrews

Key information

SCOTCAT credits : 15

ECTS credits : 7

Level : SCQF level 9

Semester: 1

Planned timetable: To be arranged.

The literary mode of the Gothic is well established in English Studies and there is growing interest in its internationality. Gothic fiction is seen as transgressive, especially in the way it crosses borders, but also in its challenge to standards of taste. This module will explore the development and international reception of the German Gothic from the 1790s heyday of the Schauerroman via the Gothic undercurrents in modernism to recent embodiments of the historical uncanny in post-Wall novels. What role does the Gothic play in processes of cultural transfer? How does it relate to literary canons, including the modernist canon? How do Gothic motifs and tropes shape early cinema? These and other questions will be addressed in an exploration of what has, since the Enlightenment, been a vital mode of European culture.

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact: 2 seminars and 1 surgery hour.

Assessment pattern

As used by St Andrews: 2-hour Written Examination = 60%, Coursework = 40%


Re-assessment: 3-hour Written Examination = 100%

Personnel