Universität Wien

120116 SE "Desperate Housewives": Desire and Domesticity in Nineteenth-Century American Literature (2007W)

Literary Seminar

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik
Continuous assessment of course work

anrechenbar als K 521 und K 522. ECTS UF Englisch: 3P .

Details

Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Thursday 18.10. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
  • Thursday 25.10. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
  • Thursday 08.11. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
  • Thursday 15.11. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
  • Thursday 22.11. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
  • Thursday 29.11. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
  • Thursday 06.12. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
  • Thursday 13.12. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
  • Thursday 10.01. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
  • Thursday 17.01. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
  • Thursday 24.01. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
  • Thursday 31.01. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

In this seminar, we will consider the rise of the domestic woman in 19th-century American literature and culture. Analyzing how the discourse of sexuality is implicated in shaping the novel, we will show in what ways literature contributed to the dissemination of a new female ideal. Discussing the notions of "True Womanhood" and "separate spheres," we will investigate how the so-called cult of domesticity invested forms of social behavior with the emotional values of women. In particular, we will analyze various novels which portray female figures that are positioned in various ways by the discourse of domesticity: as adulteress, moral mother, wife, and desperate housewife.
Requirements for credit: Oral presentation, active participation in class, and a term paper.

Assessment and permitted materials

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Examination topics

Critical readings of literary texts, class discussions, oral presentations.

Reading list

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlett Letter (1850), Susan Warner The Wide, Wide World (1850), Maria Cummins The Lamplighter (1854), Luisa May Alcott's Little Women (1869), Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-Paper" (1899), Kate Chopin's The Awakening (1899). These texts are available at Buchhandlung Facultas. There will also be a class reader in Copyshop Schwarzspanierstraße. For more information, check also the website: http://homepage.univie.ac.at/Astrid.Fellner

Association in the course directory

322, 821, 338, 722, K 521, K 522, K531, K532

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:33