EN 525.01 20th Century American Women Writers (Fall 2011-2012: 3)
Focusing on poetry and fiction written by American women in the last century,
this course will explore issues of domestic and public space, race and identity,
cultural assimilation, motherhood, human relationships and emotion, embodiment,
violence and power, as well as gender. Literary texts will likely include
works by Anzia Yezierska, Nella Larsen, Zora Neale Hurston, Anne Sexton,
Toni Morrison, Gish Jen, Jhumpa Lahiri, Nicole Krauss, Louise Erdrich, Sharon
Olds, Marilynne Robinson and others. In approaching each literary text,
we will aim to situate it within the context of 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
women 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 does the female body
emerge in the context of adolescence, pregnancy and aging? In our discussions,
we will weigh the significance of acknowledging the constructedness of cultural
categories against the importance of attending to the materiality and specificity
of lived experiences of work, illness, family, childbirth, sexuality, love,
violence and loss. Requirements for the course include enthusiastic class
participation and attendance (10%), reading quizzes (5%), an oral presentation
(10%), two critical essays (25% each), a take home final exam (25%), and
a willingness to make connections between literature and life.
Laura Tanner
Last Updated: 19-JAN-11