EN 510.01 Contemporary American Women Writers (Fall 2008-2009: 3)
Focusing on poetry and fiction written by American women since World War
II, this course will explore issues of race, ethnicity, power, violence
and space, as well as gender. Literary texts will likely include works by
Toni Morrison, Gish Jen, Jhumpa Lahiri, Nicole Krauss, Sharon Olds, Marilynne
Robinson and others. In approaching each literary text, we will aim to
situate it within the context of contemporary American cultural tensions
and to explore in detail its construction as a work of art that manipulates
language and literary form. We will ask questions such as: How do these
writers define space, and use literature to claim a space of their own?
What is the relationship between gender and race or ethnicity, in a given
text and in contemporary American culture? How do contemporary American
women writers represent subjectivity, motherhood, work, sexuality, embodiment
and loss? Requirements for the course include class participation and attendance
(10%), reading quizzes (5%), an oral presentation (10%), two critical essays
(25% each) and a take home final exam (25%).
Laura Tanner
Last Updated: 22-JAN-08