Dr. Chris Love
Bilkent University
Spring 2012
6 February 2012
Interested students must contact Dr. Love before registration.
In the last decade alone, we have seen a boom in novels, stories, films, and theoretical works that explore visions of the post-apocalypse.
The word “apocalypse” comes from the ancient Greek word meaning, “to veil,” or “to uncover.” To suffer apocalypse is to suffer the end of the world (or, sometimes, the end of a world), often “revealed” through dreams or visions.
Does the recent popular interest in life after the apocalypse stem from a dawning sense that we are endanger of an actual apocalypse? What does it mean to have not only a, “before the end,” but also an, “after the end.” What is common to the different contemporary portrayals of the post-apocalypse we have seen recently?
In an attempt to answer these and many other questions, we will, in this course, read theoretical and philosophical works in conjunction with recent post-apocalyptic movies and novels.
Readings and viewings to include: Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, John Hillcoat’s film adaptation of The Road, Mad Max: Road Warrior, Slavoj Žižek’s Living in End Times, Colson Whitehead’s Zone One, Pixar’s WALL•E, Frank Kermode’s Sense of an Ending, and Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys.
