The Other in American Fiction and Film

Module code: EN3130

Who are the monsters in contemporary America? Those who transgress boundaries of sex, gender, race, sexuality? Those whose bodies are 'different', whose very identity contests and destabilises the dominant order? In this module you will explore representations of the Other, individuals who might be deemed monstrous in the challenges they posed to the ideals and norms of the United States in the 1990s and 2000s.

The texts studied in this module help us consider issues that could be broadly grouped under the umbrella labels of 'difference' or 'Otherness'. Through their actions or choices, the characters depicted in these texts challenge dominant ideas about what is socially acceptable. For this, they are often labelled 'monstrous' and face the consequences of disapproval. Through our discussions of these texts we will think about how and why social norms develop, what is at stake in protecting or upsetting those norms, and - importantly - how these texts communicate their ideas.

The set texts are varied and often provocative. We will explore their differences in form and content as well as their sometimes unexpected common ground.

Topics covered

• Six Degrees of Separation (by John Guare, 1992) [play]
• Thelma and Louise (directed by Ridley Scott, 1991) [film]
• Brokeback Mountain (directed by Ang Lee, 2005) [film]
• The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break (by Steven Sherrill, 2000) [novel]
• Invisible Monsters (by Chuck Palahniuk, 2000) [novel]
• Oryx and Crake (by Margaret Atwood, 2003) [novel]
• Boys Don't Cry (directed by Kimberley Pierce, 1999) [film]
• The Woodsman (directed by Nicole Kassell, 2004) [film]
• Middlesex (by Jeffrey Eugenides, 2003) [novel]