EXCO 462 - PulpCo

1 credit
From detectives to cowboys to vampires to aliens, there’s a wide variety of genre fiction we refer to as “pulp.” The purpose of this course is to dive into the wide ranging world of pulp cinema. We will briefly look at the origins of the genre in print media before jumping into its filmic tradition, starting in the 20s and 30s and spanning all the way to the present day. We look at a wide variety of pulp subgenres, but have a particular focus on issues of gender, attraction/repulsion, and the body within pulp genres. Why are there so many lesbian vampires? What is a “body genre?” Why do we like trashy exploitation movies? What’s the legacy of pulp today? We’ll address all these questions and more! Classes will focus on critically discussing and analyzing a number of films in a group setting, including (but not limited to!) Dracula’s Daughter (1936), Barbarella (1968), and Poor Things (2023)

Alex Ulrich
aulrich@oberlin.edu
Keira Larkin
klarkin@oberlin.edu
Link to Syllabus
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