76-453 Literature of Empire
9 units, Carnegie Mellon University
This course will investigate gothic literature within the international context of global imperialism. From Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to Marvell's Dr. Strange, Western society has been haunted by its own development. The imperial gothic is a genre associated with fear, dread, horror, romance and haunting; it marks anxieties about the decline of civilization at the very moment of empire's expansion. Scholars have noted the ways late 18th to early 20th century gothic stories reveal cracks within modern ambitions. Contemporary global fiction writers have also turned to the gothic, expanding those fissures in the foundation of empire as a decolonial strategy. This course will investigate literature and a few films within the international context of global imperialism through a focus on the gothic. We will begin with the colonial stories of empire, before turning to their rewriting in contemporary fiction. Possible topics include invention gone wrong, empire's ghosts, the spread of disease, and haunted landscapes.
Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or (76-106 and 76-107) or (76-107 and 76-108) or (76-106 and 76-108)
Offered: Spring 2026
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