Generation Dead: Young Adult Fiction and the Gothic

‘Generation Dead’ is the level six undergraduate literature module I have developed  at the University of Hertfordshire:

All over the country in the world of young adult fiction teenagers who die aren’t staying dead. This module will interrogate the new high school Gothic, exploring the representation of the undead or living dead (werewolves, vampires and zombies) in dark or paranormal romance. Texts range from Daniel Waters’s zombie trilogy to Isaac Marion’s Warm Bodies and Holly Black’s Coldtown. We’ll also look at examples of werewolf fiction (Shiver) and at the folklore inspired novels of Marcus Sedgwick. YA fiction has attracted some of the most gifted writers who address these themes as a means of confronting death or discrimination or to engage with faith and embrace the enduring power of love. We will be theorising folklore, investigating the ethics of writing for young adults, and grappling with undead issues such as the notion of free will, damnation and redemption, the sexualisation of early teens, the effects of prejudice and the politics of difference.

The course ran for the first time in 2014 and was many student’s favourite ever module. It has been recognised for its innovation and relevance and for the leap it has made into the twenty-first century in terms of the curriculum. The assessment  is different to any other module, as students will discover. It is designed to give YA fictions of the undead the critical attention I think they deserve.

The course schedule is as follows:

Introductory workshop – Constructing Adolescence in Gothic Fictions
Gothic Thresholds, From Child to Young Adult: Neil Gaiman, Coraline; Catherine Spooner, ‘Teen Demons’, Contemporary Gothic; Simon Armitage, Black Roses: The Killing of Sophie Lancaster; Alison Waller, Constructing Adolescence in Fantastic Realism

Part One – Otherness: zombies and the politics of difference
Workshop 2 Goth Subcultures: ‘Differently Biotic’; Daniel Waters, Generation Dead
Workshop 3 Love Your Zombie; Isaac Marion, Warm Bodies

Part Two – Folklore and Fiction: the elusive vampire
Workshop 4 European Revenants: Marcus Sedgwick, My SwordHand is Singing
Workshop 5 Gothic Romanced: Buffy the Vampire Slayer [episode 2.13, ‘Surprise’, episode 2.14 ‘Innocence’]; Stephanie Meyer, Twilight
Workshop 6 The Female Vampire: Alyxandra Harvey, My Love Lies Bleeding
Workshop 7 Urban Gothic: Holly Black, The Coldest Girl in ColdTown

Part Three – Liminal States: changelings and shapeshifters
Workshop 8 Animal/Human Boundaries; Maggie Stiefvater, Shiver
Workshop 9 Wolf Children and Human Nature; Marcus Sedgwick, The Dark Horse
Workshop 10 Gothic Mirrors: Beastly Intertextuality in Robin McKinley’s, Beauty
Workshop 11 Dark Fairies: Shakespeare’s Puck and the Contemporary ‘Never Never’; Julie Kagawa, The Iron King

Workshop 12 Examining Otherness: Revision for ‘seen’ paper

This module is dedicated to the memory of Sophie Lancaster who was beaten to death in a park in 2007 simply for being different [Stamp Out Prejudice Hatred Intolerance Everywhere].

You can engage in a wider discussion of YA fiction and read some of my posts here  

University of Hertfordshire English Literature BA (Hons)