591. Ghosts and the Haunted Self in America

Ghost stories offer more than a good scare. They invite us to think about time, tapping into our anxieties about mortality and the afterlife. They comment on real pain and loss, guilt and shame, love and regret. And they provide a valuable way to examine the horrors of history—from the legacy of colonialism and slavery to gendered violence and economic inequality. Since the eighteenth century, fictional ghosts have also challenged audiences to think about the way present-day choices shape the future. Ghosts can become, in a sense, figures of another potential history—a ghostly history that has never been allowed to happen. They can offer visions of a better society, better community, and better self. This course will examine some of the most notable ghost stories in the Western imagination, and it will consider the ongoing appeal of apparitions, haunts, and other ghostly encounters. Some of the works will include Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Edgar Allan Poe’s “Ligeia,” Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, and selections from Joe Hill’s 20th Century Ghosts.