We Are Still Living in the Castle: Shirley Jackson and Her Legacy in American Literature 4219-SC0024
This course focuses on Shirley Jackson’s haunting fiction and the mark it has left on American literature, shaping contemporary horror, psychological suspense, and gothic storytelling. Next to close readings of Jackson’s selected fiction (both novels and short stories), this course explores her influence on contemporary American literature, examining how her themes of isolation, paranoia, domestic oppression, and the uncanny continue to resonaten and inspire. So, for example, the course will explore Jackson’s legacy in the writings by Carmen Maria Machado, Ottessa Moshfegh, or Victor LaValle.Through analytical essays, creative responses, and discussions, students will investigate Jackson’s lasting influence on American anxieties surrounding gender, domesticity, and the supernatural. By the end of the semester, we will consider how her ghostly presence lingers in modern storytelling—proving that, in many ways, we are still living in her castle.
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Term 2025L:
This course focuses on Shirley Jackson’s haunting fiction and the mark it has left on American literature, shaping contemporary horror, psychological suspense, and gothic storytelling. Next to close readings of Jackson’s selected fiction (both novels and short stories), this course explores her influence on contemporary American literature, examining how her themes of isolation, paranoia, domestic oppression, and the uncanny continue to resonaten and inspire. So, for example, the course will explore Jackson’s legacy in the writings by Carmen Maria Machado, Ottessa Moshfegh, or Victor LaValle.Through analytical essays, creative responses, and discussions, students will investigate Jackson’s lasting influence on American anxieties surrounding gender, domesticity, and the supernatural. By the end of the semester, we will consider how her ghostly presence lingers in modern storytelling—proving that, in many ways, we are still living in her castle. |
Type of course
Mode
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, students will:
• have knowledge of key texts in Shirley Jackson's work in the context of American literature
• know and understand basic literary and cultural theories of the fantastic and their application in text analysis
• be able to recognise and interpret literary motifs and conventions in the context of social, cultural and historical criticism;
• know the basic principles of intellectual property protection, copyright and academic ethics (including anti-plagiarism rules);
• is able to use tools for analysing literary and visual texts in an academic context;
• is sensitive to the rhetorical and ideological aspects of cultural texts;
• understands the importance of research integrity and consciously rejects unethical practices, including plagiarism.
Assessment criteria
a) 2 micro-essays (1 page) on the assigned topic (20% of the final grade)
b) class participation (40% of the final grade)
c) final essay (5-7 pages) (40% of the final grade)
Grade scale (in percentage)
100-97% 5!
96-91% 5
90-84% 4+
83-78% 4
77-68% 3+
67-60% 3
59-0% 2
Bibliography
Jackson, Shirley. Novels and Stories. Library of America.
Jackson, Shirley. Four Novels of the 1940s & 50s. Library of America.
Machado, Carmen Maria. Her Body and Other Parties. Graywolf Press, 2017
Machado, Carmen Maria. In the Dream House. Graywolf Press. 2019
Moshfegh, Ottessa. My Year of Rest and Relaxation. Penguin Press, 2018.
Moshfegh, Ottessa. Lapvona. Penguin Press, 2022.
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Term 2025L:
Jackson, Shirley. Novels and Stories. Library of America. |
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: