(Ü/PS) (Un)Safe Travels: Narrations of 'the Unknown' in Popular Literature

From foreboding cliffs, lonely lighthouses, to choppy seas, the coasts of the British Isles have always stoked the imaginations of writers, lending not only literary significance to these spaces between land and sea but sparking a wealth of tales about inexplicable events, adventures and encounters with the unknown on what seems to be familiar shores. In this seminar we will explore the literary and cultural significance of these archetypical liminal landscapes, that is the coast line(s) and the sea(s) surrounding the British Isles. We will take a look at the social, cultural and political functions of these spaces and will examine ways in which 'uncanny' or 'weird' stories by authors such as Bram Stoker, Algernon Blackwood or Elenor Smith, negotiate issues such as liminality, nationality, gender, age, ethnicity and sexuality.