16916

Artificial Humans, Robots and Androids in Film and Literature

Susanne Scharnowski

Kommentar

Narratives about humans who create humanoid beings go back thousands of years. Among the more well-known examples are the story of Pygmalion in Ovid’s Metamorphoses whose sculpture of a woman was so beautiful that he fell in love with it and made it come to life, and Frankenstein, the scientist in Mary Shelley’s novel who creates a giant man from parts of dead bodies. Some narratives of this kind serve as warning against human hubris by showing that these creatures become perilously uncontrollable, such as in Frankenstein and in Jewish legends around the Golem, a humanoid figure made from clay. Since the 20th century, androids and humanoid robots in fiction may not be concerned with hubris anymore, but still pose existential questions about what it means to be human. One of the central topics is whether these robots or androids, which are made to serve humans, but are frequently superior in physical strength and intellectual prowess, will remain slaves or try to become the masters themselves. Program: We will take a look at early modern narratives about creating artificial humans (the Golem, Frankenstein, Homunculus), study extracts from more recent literary texts that explore the relationship of humans and artificially created humanoids (Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot and Ian McEwan’s Machines Like Me), and examine well-known Science Fiction films that depict humanoid robots and/ or androids (in particular Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, Alex MacGarland’s Ex Machina, and James Cameron’s The Terminator). In doing so, we will examine how fiction reflects real-world technological developments, human fears and desires, as well as gender roles and society’s relationship with technology more generally. Is this the right course for you? The course is open to students from all fields, from the sciences as well as from the humanities. However, you should be able to read English texts at a high level, be prepared to study a variety of academic as well as literary texts and be interested in the topic as well as in in-depth analysis of texts and films. You should also be prepared to either attend the 3-4 film screenings (right after the course, Thursdays, 6-8 p.m.) or watch the films on streaming platforms where you may have to pay ca. 3-4 Euros per film. Workload and Assessment: To obtain 5 ECTS credits, you will have to study and engage with the course materials (an average of 15-20 pages of academic and/ or literary texts per week), pass a mid-term test before Christmas and sit a written exam at the end of the semester. If you want to participate, you must attend the first, at the latest the second session. Students must attend at least 85% of the classes (14 out of 16). Some of the materials will be available in digital form on Blackboard; additionally, students have to purchase the reader (a collection of photocopied texts in printed form) from the copy shop at Königin-Luise-Str. 39, near U-Bahnhof Dahlem Dorf. Schließen

16 Termine

Regelmäßige Termine der Lehrveranstaltung

Do, 16:00 - 18:00 16 Termine

Do, 16.10.2025 16:00 - 18:00

Dozenten:
Dr. Susanne Scharnowski