Texts

y separately published work icon Under the Skin Michel Faber , New York (City) : Harcourt , 2000 Z1016775 2000 single work novel mystery science fiction (taught in 2 units)

'Isserley is a female driver who picks up hitchhikers with big muscles. She, herself, is tiny, peering child-like over the steering wheel. Scarred and awkward, yet strangely erotic and threatening, she hears passengers reveal who might miss them if they should disappear.' (Publication summary)

Island Of Dr Moreau!$!Wells!$! !$!!$!
Frankenstein!$!Shelley, Mary!$! !$!!$!
Solaris !$!Lem!$! !$!!$!
Left Hand Of Darkness!$!Le Guin!$! !$!!$!
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?!$!Dick, Philip!$! !$!!$!

Description

Students examine the ways in which science fiction texts from the late 19th century to the present construct the relationship between humanity and its 'others', including extraterrestrials, robots, monsters, human/machine or human/animal hybrids, as well as inanimate natural phenomena. Particular attention is paid to encounters which disturb existing definitions of the human and/or explore the possibilities of a post-human perspective, as well as those which highlight the arbitrariness of the categories used to class human bodies and behaviour (such as race, gender or sexuality). Students have the opportunity to study seminal science fiction novels and films from the nineteenth century to the present day.

Assessment

5,000-word essay

Supplementary Texts

Alien DVD. Scott Ridley (director)

Other Details

Current Campus: Hobart
Levels: Undergraduate
X