Inhalte
Bad movies and books
can be strange phenomena: We find them appalling, complain about poor
actors, realization, plot, whatsoever and compare them negatively to
their good, often canonized sisters and brothers that are cherished by
critics and audiences. But this is only one side of the coin, because
bad movies and books can also have a strange attraction. Some of them
have acquired cult status, for example Ed Wood’s movies, or the
notorious Killer Tomatoes or Sharknado series. On TV, the
“Schlefaz”-series, priding itself in showing the worst movies ever
(which can only be endured if one joins in the presenters’ drinking
games), enjoys a great popularity. Wherein lies the fascination of these
paragons of bad taste that saves them from merely sinking into
oblivion? And what, after all, makes them so recognizably atrocious? In
other words, how can we tell the bad from the good?
This seminar pursues two major goals: First, it tries to approach the
topic of bad movies both theoretically and practically. In a
theoretical part, we shall have a look at critical discussions of
so-called “bad cinema” studies. In the practical part - which will cover
the majority of our sessions - we are going to expose ourselves to some
examples of bad movies (and one piece of literature), watching/reading
and analysing them with alongside our knowledge of the genres they
represent (or, rather, violate), and, thus, hopefully arriving at clear,
founded criteria that help us to a differentiated critical evaluation.
Second, on a methodological level, this seminar aims to introduce
students to write their first term papers in English literature and
culture. Therefore, it will include sessions towards the beginning and
the end of the term that will help you to develop appropriate topics for
your term papers, show you how to incorporate secondary sources (even
when working with somewhat extraordinary topics) and how to develop your
thoughts into an academic argument.
Participants will be asked to prepare for classes by watching the
movies and the novel listed below. Additional suggestions of your own
for the individual expert groups are welcome .
Moreover, in order to get most from this course, participants are
highly recommended to combine this seminar with the course "Coming to
terms with genre".
Zu erbringende Studienleistung
For
a Studienleistung, students will be expected to contribute actively to
all sessions (esp. by fulfilling the in-class assignments and
homeworks) and to act as experts for one of the movies discussed in
class (you are welcome to add further examples if applicable)
More detailed information is going to be announced here before the term starts.
Literatur
The following
texts and movies will be discussed in class in the sequence here listed
(slightly altered compared to the first announcement):
Plan 9 from Outer Space
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
Lord of the Elves
Quatermain and the Temple of Skulls
Sharknado 5: Global Swarming
Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf
Mrs. Cartwright, The Vale of Glendor (the text will be made available as pdf on the course moodle page)