AJLA27076 Conspiracy and Paranoia in American Fiction and Culture

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2022
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Taught in person.
Teacher(s)
doc. Jeffrey Alan Smith, M.A., Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jana Chamonikolasová, Ph.D.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Thu 18:00–19:40 G32
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 7 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 4/7, only registered: 0/7, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/7
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This course will examine ways in which conspiracies, conspiracy theories, and what one leading historian famously called "the paranoid style" have helped shape American culture and have been expressed in American events and cultural products, especially but not only novels and films. Readings, film viewings and class presentations will provide an overview of leading conspiracy theories and of works dealing with these or imagining others. Topics to be discussed include the various uses of conspiracy as an artistic device; how a feeling, mentality or political attitude like paranoia has been and might be artistically expressed; how particular themes and character types recur and are transformed in different periods and for different purposes; and how fictions have responded to and at times anticipated real events.
Learning outcomes
By successfully completing the course, students will achieve a better understanding of American culture and politics, of certain “classic” and other thematically related works of American fiction and film, and of differences in modes and methods of storytelling in different media. They will gain further experience in analyzing imaginative works and relating them to historical events and contexts, and will become acquainted with an array of topics that could serve as the eventual basis for a thesis.
Syllabus
  • WEEK 1
  • Course introduction; American conspiracy theories and theorists of the past and present
  • WEEK 2
  • Read: Jesse Walker, "The United States of Paranoia," chapter 1
  • View: "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"; "North by Northwest"
  • WEEK 3
  • View: "Seven Days in May"; "Dr. Strangelove"
  • WEEK 4
  • View: "Rosemary's Baby"; "The Stepford Wives"
  • WEEK 5
  • Read: Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49
  • WEEK 6
  • Read: The Warren Commission and JFK Assassination Theories (posted)
  • View: "Executive Action"
  • WEEK 7
  • View: "The Parallax View"; "The Conversation"
  • WEEK 8
  • Read: Walker, United States of Paranoia, chapter 7 excerpts (posted)
  • View: "All the President's Men"; "Dick"
  • WEEK 9
  • Reading Week -- NO CLASS MEETING
  • WEEK 10
  • View: "Three Days of the Condor"; "Chinatown"; "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"
  • WEEK 11
  • View: "2001: A Space Odyssey"; "The Shining"
  • WEEK 12
  • View: "The Twilight Zone" (3 episodes posted); "Duel"
  • WEEK 13
  • View: "The X-Files: Fight the Future"; "The Americans," episode 1
Teaching methods
Lecture/discussion, class presentations, readings, film/video viewings.
Assessment methods
85% final exam (date during the exam period TBA); 15% ungraded "Section Review" postings (following instructions on ELF).
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Teacher's information
Assigned works (or alternative instructions) will be posted to ELF.

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