Thursday
07/30/09

COL 280: City in Literature - Announcement

Posted by Nigel on July 30, 2009 in Academics

Megan McDonald from the Comparative Literature department (COL) wanted to let you know about a course she is teaching this Fall that you might be interested in.

The details are as follows:

COL 280: City in Literature
Gendering the City: Writing Women in Urban Space
How do we write the city, and who belongs there? What draws us to the city or drives us away? Where is home?

This course will explore the city and “world literature” in terms of location and gender, through fiction and non-fiction written by women. We will begin by exploring identity and gender in the context of transnational feminism. Other topics will include: power and representation; diaspora and exile; the veil/hijab; the notions of the “subaltern” and “third world”. Some broad concerns will include interrogating gender and its possible relation to an experimental attitude to literary language, as well as locating sites of power and sexuality in the texts.

No prior knowledge of feminism or the literature mentioned is required–only a willingness to learn and work seriously with these concerns.

Fiction and non-fiction will include Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis”, Assia Djebar’s “Women of Algiers in Their Apartments”, Azadeh Moaveni’s “Lipstick Jihad”, short stories by Mahasweta Devi and Ismat Chugtai, Calixthe Beyala’s “The Sun Hath Looked Upon Me”, Ama Ata Aidoo’s “Changes” and Yvonne Vera’s “Butterfly Burning”. We will supplement our reading with theoretical texts by Leila Ahmed, Edward Said, Frantz Fanon, Gayatri Spivak, Hélène Cixous and Chandra Mohanty.

Requirements include regular class attendance and active class participation, short response papers, and a final research paper (6-8 pages with at least critical sources).

Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 - 10:50 am Registration No. 499465

 ***This course is not an Honors Seminar though you might be interested in it.***