ENGL 855 - Gendered Projections

Institution:

Trinity College

Subject:

Description:

What is gender, or what do we imagine gender to be Is there any difference between these two questions In what specific ways is gender socially constructed How and by whom are these constructs instilled and maintained, and how do competing forces of history, politics, economics, race, class, region, sexuality, and nationality influence and complicate each person's experience of gender This course will chase some answers to these and other questions, exploring 20th-century literature, playwriting, and cinema for the different and often unstable notions of gender that these works "project" for us. As a seminar in literature, the course aims to highlight how various projections of gender are inseparable from such seemingly formal considerations as voice, genre, style, and point of view. Also, because gender itself constitutes such a dense network of social relations, we will assess the ways in which literature and art generate their own social relations, with important implications not only for gender but for countless other concepts and ideologies. Thus, in each of the seminar's four units-loosely focused around Anglo-American, African American, Latin American, and expatriate American literature-we will read and analyze texts in order to detect their particular concepts of gender, or the questions they raise about gender. Throughout the course, we will think critically about how differences in form, era, or cultural context affect the varying conclusions or implications related to gender in these works. Primary texts shall include Mrs. Dalloway, The Hours, Funnyhouse of a Negro, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Memory Mambo, Lolita, the films American Beauty and Butterflies on a Scaffold, as well as important essays in gender theory, feminist and gay/lesbian studies, psychoanalysis, critical memoir, and other branches of scholarship. (Note: English 455 and English 855 are the same course.)For English majors, this course satisfies the requirement of a course emphasizing cultural contexts. For the English Graduate Program, this course satisfies the requirements of a course emphasizing cultural contexts for the literary studies track; it counts as an elective for the writing, rhetoric, and media arts track. 1.00 units, Seminar

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.Trincoll.edu

Phone Number:

(860) 297-2000

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Semester

The Course Profile information is provided and updated by third parties including the respective institutions. While the institutions are able to update their information at any time, the information is not independently validated, and no party associated with this website can accept responsibility for its accuracy.