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".

Zwingende Voraussetzung

SL und PL können nur erworben werden, wenn Modul 1 VOR Beginn des Sommersemesters 2018 erfolgreich abgeschlossen wurde. (Gilt für alle BA-Studiengänge, d.h. LKM sowie Lehramt). Teilnahme als Gast rein interessehalber (ohne Punkteerwerb) ist nach Rücksprache mit der Dozentin gerne möglich, sofern wir genug Platz im Raum haben.

Zu erbringende Prüfungsleistung

For a Prüfungsleistung, students will have to write a term paper.

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)