Course: ENGL 700: Seminar–Dystopian Literature and Film
Professor: Dr. Thomas Horan
Location: The Citadel
Time: Tuesdays 5:30-8:15 pm
Room: TBA
While men such as Aldous Huxley and George Orwell feature prominently in the canon of dystopian literature, an equally rich strand of speculative fiction by women has challenged this androcentric paradigm. These books explore the ways in which political, cultural, and socioeconomic oppression are often fueled by sexism, misogyny, and embattled masculinity, while also uncovering the unforeseen consequences of utopian schemes that ignore or trivialize women’s issues and deprioritize gender equality. This course will provide a survey of the major novels of this still-evolving subgenre, including
Katharine Burdekin’s Swastika Night (1937) 9780935312560
Zoe Fairbairns’s Benefits (1979) 9781910170571
Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) 9780385490818
Marge Piercy’s He, She and It (1991) 9780449220603
Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Talents (1998) 9781538732199
Nalo Hopkinson’s Brown Girl in the Ring (1998) 9780446674331
Naomi Alderman’s The Power (2016) 9780316547604
Jennie Melamed’s Gather the Daughters (2017) 9780316463683
Leni Zumas’s Red Clocks (2018) 9780316434782
Joanne Ramos’s The Farm (2019) 9781984853776
Rivers Solomon’s Sorrowland (2021) 9781250849267
Lily Brooks-Dalton’s The Light Pirate (2022) 9781538708286
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