ENGL 40197 - Questions of Homosexuality in Film and Literature

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

English

Description:

This course will introduce students to many of the critical perspectives and theories that enliven contemporary literary and cultural studies on gay and lesbian film and literature. Throughout the semester we will examine a collection of films and literary texts by self-identified gay and lesbian writers and/or by authors who deal with gay and lesbian themes and characters, irrespective of their sexual identity. Through the analysis of the selected texts we will also examine the history, politics, and theoretical arguments both current and historical that deal with homosexuality to see how this human phenomenon and its cultural expression has affected and been affected by heterosexual culture and the conflicts that have arisen between them. We will also explore how sexual and gender norms are constructed historically and culturally; how sexual and gender norms affect gay, lesbian and heterosexual people's development and self-perception; how new definitions and theories of human sexuality generated by gay and lesbian individuals and communities present alternatives to dominant heterosexist traditions. One of the main objectives of this interdisciplinary course is to open intellectual dialogue, to broaden students' awareness of the human experience at the same time we acquaint ourselves with some of the most intellectually interesting works that have stemmed from gay inspiration. Films to be studied will include a selection from the following list: Beautiful Thing (Hettie Macdonald); Boys don't Cry (Kimberly Peirce); Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee); Love's the Devil (John Maybury); Saving Face (Alice Wu); Stage Beauty (Richard Eyre); All about my mother (Pedro Almodóvar); Another Gay Movie (Todd Stephens); Nico and Dani (Francesc Gay), and The Celluloid Closet.(Rob Epstein). Literary texts will include most of the following: Walt Whitman's Calamus poems, Virginia Woolf's Orlando, E. M Forster's Maurice; The Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig; a selection of poems by Constantine Kavafy; The Well of Loneliness by Radcliff Hall; Djuna Barnes' Nightwood; a selection of poetry by Adrienne Rich; Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown, and Yukio Mishima's Confessions of a Mask.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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