Throughout the history of children's literature and, more recently, children's film, toys and other inanimate or not human objects and beings have been depicted as taking on a life of their own ? a life which sometimes reflects, interrogates, or carnivalises human experience of the world. This unit examines the various uses made in literature and film of manufactured and surrogate human and non-human characters, ranging from dolls and stuffed toys to robots, cyborgs, and vampires. Such narratives are often intensely introspective in their themes, concerned for example with questions related to the nature of being in the world and in relation to others, subjectivity and selfhood, the... -- Course Website
Instructor: Dr Robyn McCallum
Prerequisites: 6cp in ENGL units at 200 level
