English Studies, University of Luxembourg

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🎃 Happy Halloween! 🎃

🕷️👻 We want to thank everyone who has liked, commented and shared our Halloween-themed recommendations! 👻🕷️

We hope you have a delightful day, filled with candy 🍬 and pumpkin. 🎃

Interested in studying English? Perhaps in a Europe oriented way? And that in a interdisciplinary context? How about you check out our Bachelor's page on the official University of Luxembourg homepage to know about our program: https://wwwen.uni.lu/studies/fhse/bachelor_en_cultures_europeennes_english_studies

Until next time!

Art: 'Autumn' by Alfred Thompson Bricher (American, 1837-1908), found on artvee.com under free creative common license.

🎶Their creepy and their kooky
Mysterious and spooky
Their all together ooky...🎶

And we all immediately know who are meant with these lyrics. Exactly, the Addams Family! 👪 Our last Halloween themed recommendation! 👻

Did you know, that the Addams Family started as a cartoon in the New Yorker? 🗽 It was created by Charles Samuel Addams, or better known under his pen name, Chas Addams. 🖊️ Addams drew cartoons for the New Yorker beginning 1932 until his death in 1988.

But the Addams Family was and still is quite a success story. There were four different Television 📺 series of the Addams Family, aired in 1964 on ABC, 1973 on NBC, 1992 on ABC again, and 1998 on Fox.

And let's not forget the feature films that ran in the 90s: "The Addams Family" (1991), "Addams Family Values" (1993), "Addams Family Reunion" (1998). 📽️

An there were also novels and books written about the Addams Family. 📚 There was a novel written based on the television series, such as "The Addams Family" by Jack Sharkey, or how about "The Addams Family: An Evilution" that incorporates 200 of Charles Addams's illustrations and unpublished texts? 📖

All in all, this group of macabre yet lovely misfits has taken a place in almost all of pop-culture. 🕸️

So, how about an Addams Family movie night? Or a binge on television adaptations? Rather have your peace and read through the cartoon? Or how about a trans-medial essay about Chas Addam's creation?

In any way, you will surely find something!

Here the theme song:

The Addams Family Opening Credits and Theme Song This is the opening and closing credits and theme song from season 1 of the hit show "The Addams Family." Lots more to come. Request your favorites!

Here it is, our fourth Halloween reading recommendation! 🎃🕯️

How about a bit of modern, feminist, speculative writing, that puts a fantastic twist on the traditional depiction of witches 🧹🧙‍♀️?

It is 1893. New Salem moved on and is witch-free 🏛️. Instead, a new suffragette movement is putting pressure on the town: A new mayor has to be voted. The women want to vote too; have a say. Join James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth and Beatrice Belladona, the three sisters who joined the movement. Follow them as they discover the lost powers of magic ✨ and turn the suffragette group into their very own convent; using magic for their political purpose.

Alix E. Harrow's 'The Once and Future Witches', published last year, has been praised by many ✒️. Laini Taylor describes it as:

🗣️ "A gorgeous and thrilling paean to the ferocious power of women."

Piqued your interest? How about a feminist reading of this novel for you next essay?:)

Until Saturday, for our very last recommendation before Halloween! 🎃🕯️

Frankenstein's Monster - one of the many recognizable characters in popular culture. Squared head, sewed-on limbs, and a life of solitude. This popular character originated from Mary Shelley's book titled 'Frankenstein' or also known as 'The Modern Prometheus' (1818) 📖- a shuddering proto-science fiction story, perfect for Halloween 🎃 . But why stop at reading?

'Frankenstein' has, in the almost 200 years of its existence, had several interpretations and adaptations. Here a few, that might pique your interest and which would make a great fit for Halloween movie night 📽️:

🎦 Perhaps one of the most well-known adaptations of 'Frankenstein' is the 1931 created movie with the same title by James Whale. Even if the movie does not follow the plot points and story of the original, but rather repurposes some of the characters and subjects, it has become a classic of horror and science fiction cinema 🍿. Traces of that movies can still be found in modern cinema.

🎦 How about immediately following this up with the sequel? Namely: 'The Bride of Frankenstein' (1935) - Boris Karloff returns in his iconic monster role, this time supported (or even overtrumped, some might say) by Elsa Lanchester as Mary Shelley herself 🎞️.

🎦 Fancy something more modern and perhaps almost...funny? Not because of the movie itself, but rather by the actors? How about a usual wise-guy actor and Scorsese muse turned monster? 🎬Well, then perhaps 'Mary Shelley's Frankenstein' (1994) by director, as well as playing Viktor Frankenstein, Kenneth Branagh might be for you. Lead role, as Frankenstein's monster, is Robert De Niro, joined by Helena Bonham Carter as Elisabeth Lavenza.

🎦 Now, for the very last recommendation, why not something more "lighthearted"? 📺 Take the Frankenstein success formula, throw in some animation, add Tim Burton as a director, and make the monster a dog, well then, yes, then you would get the 2012 released animation movie 'Frankenweenie'. A cute yet complex take on the original story, which includes new horror comedy elements, as well as the classic science fiction and horror tone. 🐾

We hope one of these might inspire you to have a Frankenstein marathon! Or how about a comparative essay?:) ✍️

Image coming to a town 🏛️ to be schoolmaster 👨‍🏫, only to realize your new hometown is bewitched ✨. A town riddled with plenty of supernatural events. One of those tales, however, piques your interest. The tale of the Headless Horseman 🐎; the tale of a Hessian soldier who lost his head – literally – in the Revolutionary War ⚔️.

Interested? This is the plot of Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, published in 1820. A staple of American Fiction and perfectly fits the theme of Halloween 🎃 🍂. Follow Ichabod Crane as he settles in as schoolmaster in this eerie town: Sleepy Hollow, New York.

You can read the short story here, for free, and perhaps it can be your subject for your next essay!

🎃1:https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/171/american-short-fiction/3446/the-legend-of-sleepy-hollow/

🎃2: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/41/41-h/41-h.htm

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow | American Short Fiction | Washington Irving | Lit2Go ETC Irving, W. (1820). The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. American Short Fiction (Lit2Go Edition). Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/171/american-short-fiction/3446/the-legend-of-sleepy-hollow/

🍂 Leaves turn golden and slowly trickle down from high crowns. The front of houses are adorned by 🎃 carved pumpkins, and everyone is in desperate need of thick sweaters. Fall is upon us! 🗓️

Therefore, in BCE: English Studies tradition, we will suggest readings or movies all around the theme of fall and / or Halloween. Let’s celebrate Samhain (which is the Celtic, pagan name for Halloween) together! 🗓️ 🎃 🍂

How about we then start off with our first recommendation?

Trick-or-treating is a stable activity on Halloween. 🧛‍♀️Costumes and sweets 🍬, what is there not to like? Well, perhaps the loss of a friend. On the night of Halloween, a group of eight boys set out to find their lost friend through a multitude of cultures, which celebrate their dead their own way. Be it ancient Egypt 🐍, medieval Paris 🏰 , or a journey through Mexico, discovering The Day of the Dead 💀.

Interested? Well, this is the plot of Ray Bradbury’s (known for Something Wicked this Way Comes and Fahrenheit 451) The Halloween Tree, published in 1972. A neat little novel about 160 pages long, written in Bradbury’s poetic prose and short chapters. An interesting read for any enthusiast of American literature and speculative fiction.

Did you read The Halloween Tree? If yes, what do you think about it? Let us know!

‘Tree Study’ by Peter van der Velden (1837 – 1915). This picture is public domain and from artvee.com.

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🔔 Happy Holidays! 🔔

And here it is, our last recommendation of winter-themed readings...although not a reading this time, but something to listen to🎶

'The New York Public Library' in collaboration with Neil Gaiman, produced a free reading of Charles Dickens's 'A Christmas Carol', read by Neil Gaiman himself, dressed up as Dickens! 🎁

So, if the cold of the day and plenty of warm food has made you sleepy, listen to this soothing rendition of a classic! ✨

We hope all of you stay healthy!

Reading: https://www.nypl.org/blog/2019/12/19/listen-neil-gaiman-reads-christmas-carol?utm_campaign=NYPLSocialMedia&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social

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[Picture by 'The New York Public Library'].

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Our fourth installment of winter- and snow-themed readings, does not include an illustration, but the reading itself. Today's feature is Thomas Hardy's 'The Darkling Trush'.

Thomas Hardy - a Victorian realist 🤵, known for his poems and novels - shows that not many words are needed to describe the cold and darkness of winter 🌨️, and the ever-yearning of a warm, comfortable house 🔥🏠.

What do you think?

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[Poem from: https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/thomas-hardy/poems-of-thomas-hardy/9781509826803]

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In our third installment of winter- and snow-themed reading recommendation, the limelight falls on one of the greats of speculative fiction and science-fiction: Ursula K. Le Guin and her novel ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ (1969)!

Follow the journey of envoy Genly Ai to the planet of Gethen; a planet marked by constant coldness, and therefore called “Winter” in the tongue of the Gethenians. 🪐 Also experience – just like Genly – a population and culture of androgynous, ambisexual, and gender-fluid humans.

Le Guin’s feminist science-fiction novel has been nominated, won, and praised by many awards and critics. ✒️It discusses and encompasses a topic, which dominates our current every day, at a time where this was not the case. Ursula K. Le Guin was a pioneer in her field, and ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ influenced the modern science-fiction landscape as we know it.

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[Illustration by Vanessa Lemen (2018): https://www.muddycolors.com/2018/12/the-left-hand-of-darkness/]

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The second item on our list of winter- and snow-themed readings, takes us to a late-Victorian, winter London 🇬🇧, with a rather known detective. Exactly, Sherlock Holmes 🕵️‍♂️.

‘The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle’ (1892) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, follows Sherlock Holmes (and obviously his trusted companion Watson) as they try to decipher the mystery of who had stolen the precious gemstone: “Blue Carbuncle” 💎, which Holmes found hidden in a Christmas goose 🦢.

Read as Holmes and Watson expertly connect the dots of this Christmas adventure 🎄, and subsequently find the culprit, in this 221B Baker Street story.

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[Illustration by Sidney Paget (1892)]

The ‘Bachelor en Culture Européennes’ encourages the students to take an interdisciplinary outlook to academia and research, thus developing a versatile and critical approach to various field of studies. 🔍 Subsequently, the numerous specialisation tracks of the BCE work constantly and effectively together. 🔄

Today’s highlighted BCE student is Jean Bürlesk, who studied History at the University of Luxembourg. 📝

Jean won the ‘Prix d’Encouragement de la Fondation Servais’ in 2019, which ultimately lead to his 2020 published short-story collection: ‘The Pleasure of Drowning’, published by Scottish independent press ‘Luna Press Publishing’. 🏆

‘The Pleasure of Drowning’ takes the reader on a well-known journey of common told fairy tales, but beware the treacherous twists which hide behind curtains of satire and irony. Be it a brassy, Luxembourgish mermaid, who fell in love with a tourist guide 🧜‍♀️ , or a common bar night turned Arthurian 🛡️ – Jean allows the readers to delve into a new and unexpected version of age old stories, and ultimately makes the reader chuckle and wonder. ✨

Find more information of Jean’s works on his page: https://www.facebook.com/Jean-B%C3%BCrlesk-109469590513703

Jean Bürlesk Jean Bürlesk is a Luxembourgish writer of plays, ballads and short stories. He prides himself on his proficiency in five languages, seven or eight of which he’s been known to misuse for literary purposes.