123252 AR Literature Course - 1/2 (MA) British/Irish/New English & Cultural Studies (2023S)

This seminar has the aim of acquainting students with different strands and approaches of mostly Anglo-American feminist literary and cultural theory, with a particular focus on theories developed in the last three decades of the 20th century, which paved the way for third-wave feminism. The seminar thus revisits some of the older debates of feminist literary theory and engages with questions such as: what is the position of women regarding literary authorship? How do literary texts register moments of oppression or resistance? How does gender intersect with other markers of identity, such as race or ability, and how does this affect the process of literary creation and interpretation? What is the place of women within the literary canon? How can literature as well as literary and cultural studies challenge heteronormativity?

A secondary aim of the seminar is to practice the art of reading and critically discussing theoretical texts. For this reason, the seminar shall engage in close readings of selected theoretical material. It goes without saying that to enjoy this class, students should bring along the willingness to read and engage with theory and to share their ideas with others in a respectful and open-minded manner.

The seminar will be taught weekly from 19 April to 28 June 2023 in a hybrid manner: on-campus meetings will alternate with asynchronous meetings that will facilitate the analysis of the theoretical texts. One additional online guest lecture is scheduled for 11.05.2023, 16:15 - 17:45.

Each student will have to form part of an expert group. An expert group will be responsible for leading part of the discussion during one on-campus meeting, based on questions that will be provided beforehand. The expert group is expected to meet online with me and share their ideas and questions one week prior to the in-class discussion.