This course explores some of the crucial connections between gender and literature as they have developed since the emergence of feminist literary criticism in the 1980s. This includes modifications to the scope and subject-matter of literary studies (e.g. the literary canon) as well as specific reading practices. This will also give us the chance to follow some of the theoretical moves and ramifications that have evolved under the umbrella term ‘gender studies’ (feminist criticism, gender studies, gay and lesbian studies, transgender studies, queer studies). Our theoretical investigations will be accompanied by the study of some literary texts, which include the following (and which I would ask you to read before the beginning of the semester): Virginia Woolf, Orlando Jeanette Winterson, Written on the Body Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex Further material will be made available at the beginning of the semester. |
