Registration ends 07.4.2026 at 23:59 h

In this seminar, we will explore literary and cinematic dystopias, beginning with a careful consideration of what constitutes a dystopian narrative, its historical development, and its transformations over time. Together, we will establish the genre’s key themes, formal characteristics, and broader societal functions. We will start with George Orwell's Animal Farm (1945), a canonical dystopian novella that also draws on satire and the beast fable, before turning to contemporary literary examples, which students will select collectively in class. Finally, we will examine dystopian films in order to assess how dystopian tropes translate across media.

Primary Texts (please buy and read):*
Orwell, George [1945]: Animal Farm. Oxford World Classics. Oxford: OUP, 2024. ISBN-10: ‎0198813732 [ca. 140 pages; do your future you a favour and read it asap to avoid heavy backlog during the semester]
#2: [tba in session 1 at the very latest, please be patient]
*Note: Exact editions, please. Feel free to obtain second-hand versions. There are plenty of affordable editions out there (I have checked), please do your own research. Emails asking about specific other editions or e-books cannot be answered.

Secondary Texts:
Will be provided throughout the teaching period.

To strengthen the following core competencies:
- literary and film analysis
- media literacy
- critical thinking

Further information on teaching evaluation: https://www.leuphana.de/en/teaching/quality-management/evaluation/course-evaluation.html