Eliasova FLS syllabus 1
INTRODUCTION TO FEMINIST LITERARY STUDIES
Vera Eliasova
Fall 2016
2 credits
Class Time: TBA
Place: TB
Office: 509/A
Office Hours: TBA
Contact:
Course Description:
The course introduces students to major theories, concepts, and debates of feminist literary studies. The readings will be mainly theoretical. The survey of selected feminist writings on literature seeks to provide an overview of theoretical approaches that have historically shaped the way we interpret literature in relation to gender. Most of the readings will cover the second half of the twentieth century, the time of groundbreaking contributions to feminist literary studies.
Since theory and fiction should be always read in conversation, the theoretical framework will be supplemented by fictional texts that are likewise considered as landmarks in the canon of literature by women.
Some questions we will consider are: What does it mean to read literature through the lens of gender? Are texts written/read differently by female and male writers/readers? What are gender stereotypes in fiction and how can they be resisted and revised? How do adventures of female and male fictional characters differ? What alternative endings can we imagine for female protagonists if we reject conventional ones, such marriage or death? What is the position of women writers in the canon, is this position changing, and what are the main catalysts of these changes?
Finally, a small portion of the course will also include short creative writing exercises focused on seeking creative and individual, besides merely theoretical, answers to the questions above.
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the course, students will be familiar with main ideas, concepts, and concerns of feminist literary theory. They will be able to discuss these theories, raise questions about them, and contextualize them within larger historical, social and cultural contexts. They will learn how to analyze these theories in conversation as well as in connection to a variety of fictional texts. Finally, students will be able to synthesize ideas from the course and present their own analytical arguments in writing.
Course Policies and Requirements:
Attendance
Students are expected to attend all sessions of the course. It is possible to miss one session without giving a reason. More absences will be excused only if they are caused by serious health reasons and are properly documented. However, missing more than a total of three classes (i.e. 1 undocumented and 2 documented absences or 3 documented ones) may result in a failure of the whole class.
Students are expected to come to sessions with the material read beforehand and bring copies of readings (hard or electronic) for each session as class activities require an individual and close engagement with the texts.
Participation
Students are expected to participate in class discussions of the readings. Meaningful contributions co-create the content of the class, and are therefore integral to the overall learning experience.
Presentation
Students are asked to prepare a short presentation on either a writer or a text (a novel, a poem, an essay, etc.) of their own choice. The goal of the presentation is to show how other writers/texts inspire us in individual ways and why they may be a significant contribution to our course. The presentation should be kept to 10 minutes (maximum); the format is flexible (PPT, a handout, or just oral delivery).
Final Paper
Students need to submit a Final Paper on the topic of their choice. The paper must engage with at least one theoretical reading covered in class. The format of the paper is a literary analysis essay that presents an interpretation of a literary text while presenting an individual argument supported by meaningful evidence (this means engaging frequently with theory as well as providing textual evidence from fiction).
It is recommended that students choose a work of fiction (one text or more; the choice of the text may be individual, and may be readings encountered in the course, i.e. the reader or student presentations) and present an individual interpretation of it while using a theoretical text covered in the course. More research in order to find supplementary theoretical sources is not required. Students are also encouraged to utilize close reading techniques for effective literary analysis. The length of the paper should be 5-6 pages, MLA style.
Evaluation:
Final grade will be calculated as follows:
Attendance, Participation: 20%
Presentation: 20%
Final Paper: 60 %
Schedule of readings:
WEEK 1: Questioning the Stereotypes in Women’s Writing
Introduction to the course. In-class reading: Chopin, Kate: “The Story of an Hour.” 1894. KateChopin.org. The Kate Chopin International Society. Web. 30 July 2014.
WEEK 2: Women’s Writing and Reading as Resisting and Revising I
Russ, Joanna: “What Can a Heroine Do? or, Why Women Can’t Write?” To Write like a
Woman: Essays in Feminism and Science Fiction. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1995. 79-93. Print.
WEEK 3: Women’s Writing and Reading as Resisting and Revising II
Kolodny, Annette. “Dancing Through the Minefield: Some Observations on the Theory,
Practice, and Politics of a Feminist Literary Criticism.” Feminisms: An Anthology of
Literary Theory and Criticism. Ed. Robyn R. Warhol and Diane Price Herndl. New
Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 1991. 97-116. Print.
LeGuin, Ursula. “She Unnames Them.” Postmodern American Fiction: A Norton
Anthology. Ed. Geyh, Paula, Fred G. Leebron and Andrew Levy. New York: Norton,
1998. 525-526. Print.
WEEK 4: Women’s Writing and Reading as Resisting and Revising III
Rich, Adrienne. “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-vision.” College English 34.1 (1972): 18-30. JSTOR. Web. 10 July 2014.
WEEK 5: Writing as a Woman’s Profession
Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One’s Own. London: Harcourt Brace, 1929.
Print. (Chapter 1-3).
---. “Professions for Women.” The Death of the Moth and Other Essays. London: Harcourt
Brace, 1942. ebooks@adelaide. The University of Adelaide Library. Web. 2 July 2016.
WEEK 6: Women, Writing, and the Tradition I
Orlando. Dir. Sally Potter. Perf. Tilda Swinton, Billy Zane. Artificial Eye, 1993. DVD.
WEEK 7: Women, Writing, and the Tradition II
Showalter, Elaine: “The Female Tradition.” Feminisms: An Anthology of Literary Theory
and Criticism. Ed. Robyn R. Warhol and Diane Price Herndl. New Brunswick:
Rutgers UP, 1991. 269-288. Print.
WEEK 8: Women, Writing and Madness
Felman, Shoshana. “Women and Madness: The Critical Phallacy.” Feminisms: An
Anthology of Literary Theory and Criticism. Ed. Robyn R. Warhol and Diane Price
Herndl. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 1991. 6-19. Print.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” 1892. Project Gutenberg. Web.
23 August 2015.
Recommended movie (watch individually prior to class)
The Hours. Dir. Stephen Daldry. Perf. Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Ed
Harris. Miramax, 2003. DVD.
WEEK 9: French Feminism and Writing the Body
Cixous, Hélène. “The Laugh of the Medusa.” Feminisms: An Anthology of Literary
Theory and Criticism. Ed. Robyn R. Warhol and Diane Price Herndl. New Brunswick:
Rutgers UP, 1991. 334-349. Print.
Moi, Toril. “Feminist, Female, Feminine.” The Feminist Reader: Essays in Gender and
the Politics of Literary Criticism. Ed. Catherine Belsey and Jane Moore. New York:
Basil Blackwell, 1989. 117-132. Print.
WEEK 10: Writing Across Cultures, Sexualities and Generations
Anzaldúa, Gloria. Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. 2nd ed. San
Francisco: Aunt Lute Books, 1999. Print. (Chapter 5 and 7)
Walker, Alice. “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens.” In Search of Our Mothers’
Gardens. London: Harcourt Brace, 1985. 231-243. Print.
WEEK 11: Re-writing the Name(s), Re-inventing Stories
Lorde, Audre. “From Zami: A New Spelling of My Name.” Postmodern
American Fiction: A Norton Anthology. Ed. Geyh, Paula, Fred G. Leebron and
Andrew Levy. New York: Norton, 1998. 146-147. Print.
hooks, bell. “Writing Autobiography.” Feminisms: An Anthology of Literary Theory and
Criticism. Ed. Robyn R. Warhol and Diane Price Herndl. New Brunswick: Rutgers
UP, 1991. 1036-1039. Print.
WEEK 12: Review
Review of main ideas and issues of the course. Creative Writing Activities.