Most college students put in a monster study session or two. Marina Levina’s students get to spend sessions studying monsters.
The course, “Film Topics: Monster Movies,” at the University of California, Berkeley, is one of a number around the country that mix scares and scholarship, using zombies, vampires and other ogres to study popular culture.
And, no, it’s not a frightfully easy course, says Levina.
“For a lay person, I suppose it does sound like, ‘What? Do you watch horror films all day?’” she says. “But it’s a really tough class. Students don’t automatically do well in it because it does involve a lot of serious theory.”
The class, an elective open to mass communication/media studies majors, has space for 50 students and fills up quickly. Students watch monster films and write about what the creatures represent.
They also make their own monster films as a final project.
As Halloween approached, the class was studying zombies, looking at the horrors they have represented.
In the 1980s, for instance, zombies personified mindless consumerism. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the raging undead represent “this post-apocalyptic nightmare where we lose control,” Levina says.
Not the most attractive characters, zombies mostly want to destroy humanity and have developed disturbing eating habits — they picked up a taste for brains in Return of the Living Dead.
Vampires, on the other hand, are “sexy and hot, they are those things that we would like to be ourselves but can’t be,” says Levina.
Students find the gore curriculum thought-provoking.
“It’s my favorite class, even though it is theory heavy,” said Azeta Hatef, one of Levina’s students, perhaps summing up what really sends a shiver down the spine of many students — the prospect of serious study.
(AFP WITH STAFF WRITER)
大多數的大學生是花時間埋首苦讀。但瑪莉娜．勒維那的學生卻得花時間研究怪物。
加州柏克萊大學開的這門「電影主題：怪物電影」課，結合了恐懼和學術研究，以殭屍、吸血鬼，和其他食人怪等角色來探討大眾流行文化；美國有若干學校提供此課程。
勒維那說，而且，不，這不是一門非常容易的課。
她說：「對外行人來說，我想他們八成會覺得：『什麼？你們整天都在看恐怖電影嗎？』但這其實是一門很艱澀的課。學生沒辦法隨隨便便就拿到高分，因為這門課中包含了許多嚴肅的理論。」
這門課開放給主修大眾傳播、媒體學程的學生選修，五十個名額一下子就額滿了。修課學生要欣賞怪物電影，並寫下這些怪物所代表的意含。
他們也得自己拍攝怪物電影，作為期末作業。
隨著萬聖夜來到，他們正在研究殭屍，探討其所象徵的恐怖意義。
勒維那表示，舉例來說，殭屍象徵的是一九八０年代的盲目消費。九一一恐怖攻擊事件後，這群暴怒的不死族則代表「失序的浩劫後夢魘」。
殭屍這種角色不甚吸引人，它們大多想要摧毀人類，還有著恐怖的吃人習慣──電影《芝加哥打鬼》中的殭屍嗜食人腦。
另一方面，勒維那形容吸血鬼「性感又令人興奮，他們是我們想要、卻又無法成為的那一類。」
學生們發現這門血淋淋的課相當發人深省。
勒維那的學生之一阿柴塔．哈特夫說：「雖然這門課有很多理論，卻是我最喜歡的課。」總歸來說，也許真正讓許多學生感到背脊發涼的是嚴肅的研究吧。
（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
A: It’s a pity that I can’t go to Australian pop diva Kylie Minogue’s concert. B: Why not? A: Hit Japanese singer Kenshi Yonezu is staging two shows at the Taipei Arena this weekend, and I already bought tickets long ago. B: Wow, isn’t he one of the most popular Japanese singers in recent years? A: And Yonezu’s megahit “Lemon” topped the Billboard Japan Hot 100’s year-end chart in 2018 and 2019 consecutively. A: 我不能去澳洲歌后凱莉米諾的演唱會真可惜。 B: 為什麼？ A: 日本人氣歌手米津玄師週末將在小巨蛋熱唱兩場，我早早就買票啦。 B: 哇他可是日本近年來最紅的歌手之一。 A: 米津的神曲《Lemon》甚至還在2018、2019年連續稱霸告示牌日本單曲榜年度冠軍！ (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪)
A: Australian pop diva Kylie Minogue is set to visit Taiwan for the third time on Saturday. B: I remember that her Taipei concerts in 2008 and 2011 caused a sensation, and I love her megahit “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” A: This will be her first time performing in the southern city of Kaohsiung. B: Many music critics praise Kylie’s show as “a must-see in your lifetime.” A: Let’s go to Kaohsiung this weekend. A: 澳洲歌后凱莉米諾週六即將三度訪台。 B: 她曾在2008、2011年兩度在台北開唱都造成大轟動，我超愛她的神曲《Can’t Get You Out of My Head》。 A: 這次可是她首度唱進南台灣的高雄呢。 B: 許多樂評家說她的演唱會是「此生必看」！ A: 那我們週末去高雄吧。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
The Lemon Festival is a fun annual celebration in Menton, France. This festival began in 1934 and honors the region’s exceptional lemons. __1__ in February during the lemon season, the festival features beautiful floats and sculptures covered with dazzling lemons and oranges. These citrus creations are on display in the bright sunshine throughout the day, while at night, they are lit up and turn the town into a __2__ spectacle. The festival’s origins can be traced back to the late 19th century, when Menton was a major lemon producer. __3__, hotels would decorate their spaces with lemons and oranges
中國海關總署突然發布通知，指台灣輸入的釋迦及蓮霧檢出介殼蟲「大洋臀紋粉蚧」，決定暫停輸入。 In September 2021, China’s customs administration announced that it would suspend imports of sweetsop and jambu from Taiwan, citing discoveries of Planococcus minor, a type of mealybug. 蓮霧 (jambu/champoo, Syzygium samarangense) ，又名洋蒲桃，是桃金孃科熱帶水果，原產於印尼和馬來西亞，在星、馬稱作水蓊，中、港、澳稱作天桃。 蓮霧學名中的種小名 samarangense，係因模式標本採自印尼的Semarang (三寶瓏) 而得名。 蓮霧馬來語稱為 jambu air，第二個字 air讀作 /?a??(r)/，是水的意思，荷蘭人從印尼引進台灣，台語音譯為蓮霧 ian-b?。 以往蓮霧常見譯為 wax apple，聽起來好像素描靜物用的蠟製水果 (Wax Fruit)，曾有人問美國朋友要不要吃蓮霧? Care for a wax apple? 對方回一句：Why not a real one? 近來美國市場流行泰語的講法 champoo。蓮霧果實長得像鈴鐺，因此又稱為 bell-fruit。 Syzygium samarangense is a tropical fruit in the family Myrtaceae, native to the Greater Sunda Islands and the Malay Peninsula. Common names in English include champoo, jambu, bell fruit, rose apple, Java apple, and wax apple. In Taiwan, the dark red cultivars are nicknamed “Black
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