CANG 9278: Women Writing
Level: C1/ C1+
Instructor: Caroline Boreham
Course Description
This course will cover a selection of essays, fiction, poetry and life writing written by women in the last decade or so, a period during which, as Elena Ferrante has argued, women’s stories have become “increasingly widespread”. Despite this array of genres, what brings the writers on our syllabus together is an interest in telling the stories of women’s lives through fictional or (auto)biographical means. Their works all explore how different facets of identity, including gender and race, shape the telling of a life, whether real or imagined. These works also place particular emphasis on the relational quality of all identity, meaning that subjects recognize and create themselves through their relationships with others and within the contexts of communities.
Course Objectives
Students will learn to analyse themes and stylistic choices associated with feminist writing. They will also learn to contextualize these works within current cultural dialogues surrounding feminism (intersectional feminism, discussions of care, etc.).
Course Format: Flipped Classroom
This is a discussion-based class and participants will be expected to contribute actively to our talks every week. In order to facilitate the active participation of all students, you will come to class for one hour every week in smaller groups and will be asked to complete reading and/or listening activities at home as preparation for that week’s discussion (=approximately 2 hours of homework per week).
Excerpts from the following texts (tentative): Sally Rooney's Conversations with Friends, Zadie Smith’s Swing Time, Rebecca Solnit’s The Faraway Nearby, Terese Marie Mailhot’s Heart Berries, Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts, among other selections.
Evaluation: Ongoing Assessment (50%): writing assignment; oral presentation; among others. Final Assessment (50%)
