Département Lettres et Arts

The purpose of this class is to investigate the role of film, T.V. series/programmes, arts and literature in shaping social and cultural discourses of invisibility.

Starting with an exploration of scientific and moral reflections on invisibility (invisible ink, invisibility cloaks or rings), the course then moves on to ghost stories (both on the page and onscreen). Finally, images of spectrality and invisibility can be turned into instruments to explore social invisibility, with unseen or neglected characters (e.g. the refugees and migrants described a ‘living ghosts’ by Esther Peeren, 2013). In the early 21st century, the image of invisibility is often used to challenge social and political marginalization.

Objectives

• Providing students with the ability to discuss, research and write about complex ideas in written and spoken English (in literature, realism and the fantastic)
• Offering a theoretical overview of the expanding field of invisibility studies and their political potential
• Analysis of texts and excerpts from films/TV shows + photographs/works of art