Snakes and Robots: The Non-Human in East Asian Literature and Media

4.0 credits

In Monster Theory, Jeffrey Jerome Cohen defines “the monster” as “an embodiment of difference, a breaker of category, and a resistant Other known only through process and movement” (1996: x). In this class, we look at various forms of literary monsters—animals, robots, plants, and ghosts conjured by the human mind. Through an in-depth engagement with creative works by Pu Songling, Tezuka Osamu, Han Kang, and others, we explore how writers and artists have attempted to move closer to an understanding of humanity by ceaselessly reimagining the non-human. Conducted in English.