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Undergraduate GRF-CWR312-2022

Writing Gothic and Speculative Fiction

Wrap yourself in genre narrative storytelling techniques. Read up on popular and contemporary examples of the Gothic genre. Identify recurring themes and characters. Create written worlds inspired by the Gothic and speculative fiction canons.

Duration

13 weeks

Study method

100% Online

Available loans

HECS-HELP
FEE-HELP

Assessments

100% online

Prior study

Required

With a network of campuses across Brisbane and the Gold Coast, Griffith University is committed to progressive multidisciplinary teaching and research and a valuable online provider with Open Universities Australia. Already attracting students from more than 122 countries, Griffith's dedication to academic excellence is available across Australia through OUA.

QS RANKING 2022

Times Higher Education Ranking 2022

2022

Subject details

What you'll learn

On successful completion of this subject, you will be able to:

recognise and understand the genres of Gothic and Speculative Fiction
familiarise yourself with the foundational ideas relevant to these forms of narrative
engage with fiction from the perspective of a writer through skills of close and observant reading
analyse and discuss ideas relevant to creative writing in your own work and that of others
exercise the creative and professional skills of writing, reading, argumentation and analysis through online discussion with your peers based on set readings (some purchased and others provided online).

Topics covered

- Overview of the Gothic and Speculative fiction genres
- Meeting the Audience: The Power of Terror
- Dark Plots: story-telling in the Gothic tradition
- Gothic Themes and Archetypes
- Writing from the Senses: ways to grab readers
- The Superhuman Imagination
- World-building and transmedia narrative
- Realms of the Imagination
- Dystopia and Speculative Fiction
- The ecological turn in Speculative Fiction
- Writing your own eco-dystopia
- Gothic and Speculative transformations

Entry requirements

You must have successfully completed the following subject(s) before starting this subject:

GRF-CWR110-Creative Writing, Forms and Structures

Additional requirements

No additional requirements

Description

From its beginnings the gothic novel and its cousins, speculative and fantasy fiction, have been popular and sometimes controversial story forms that explore the outer edges of the imagination through fantasy, space, myth, the future the supernatural and the borderlands of desire. This is a realm where nothing is as it appears to be. Safe suburban homes, families, planets, cities and the human body are all vulnerable to authoritarian powers, strange beings, dark spaces, unknown territories, uncanny secrets, and the return of the repressed.

This subject offers you a chance to study and practise writing genre narrative. We will look at a selection of popular gothic and speculative fiction, past and present,Â by practitioners that range from Le Fanu to Bacigalupi, as a springboard for discussion and creative practice.
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Assessments

Online Discussion (30%)
Fiction piece (35%)
Fiction piece (35%)

Textbooks

Current study term: 17 Jul 22 to 14 Oct 22

Check the learning management system (LMS) of your university for textbook details.

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