EH 618 Women and Literature Winter 1990 Professor Rose Norman, Morton Hall 233 (205/895-6320) University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899 UAHRXN01@asnuah.asn.net ***NOTE: This class met twice a week for two-hour sessions, on a 10-week quarter (for semester hours credit). All students were M.A. candidates. The Women and Literature seminar changes with instructor and is open to redesign each time it is taught. In 1992, a colleague who is a Victorianist taught it entirely as a course in the three Bronte sisters. Next time, I might teach it as a Virginia Woolf seminar. The syllabus given here focused on the theme of desire in literature by and about women. It proved very successful, most especially in opening up very well known texts in new ways. If I were to teach it again, I would keep the same primary texts, but would completely re-do the outside reading list. I would certainly replace the Toril Moi book with a collection of essays, probably the new one edited by Robin Warhol and Diane Price Herndl, *Feminisms: An Anthology of Literary Theory and Criticism* (Rutgers 1991). Course Requirements 75% 3 short papers (25% each) At least one of these must apply library research. At least one must draw in a novel from the supplementary list. 15% Two oral reports, set up mainly as discussion sessions: 1)summarizing and applying an assignment from Selected Readings or from Toril Moi 2)leading discussion of one of the assigned novels, preferably bringing in ideas from the paired novel on the supplemental reading list 10% Class participation, attendance, etc. (Late papers will penalize this category) Course Theme: Fictions of Female Desire Course Objectives 1. To explore critical approaches to desire in texts which figure desire chiefly through a female character. 2. To compare texts by women writers to various other texts of their own and others, including those of male writers who influenced them, or whose work was influenced by theirs. Required Texts* Supplemental Texts (Read all of these) (Each student reads one of these) Fiction Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Hampton play) Madame Bovary (Flaubert) The Awakening (Chopin) At Fault (Chopin) The Vagabond (Colette) Cheri (Colette) Jane Eyre (C. Bronte) Villette (C. Bronte) Wuthering Heights (E. Bronte) Wide Sargasso Sea (Rhys) Voyage in the Dark (Rhys) Daisy Miller (James) Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Hardy) The House of Mirth (Wharton) The Age of Innocence (Wharton) Sula (Morrison) Song of Solomon (Morrison) or The Lover (Marguerite Duras) Criticism 1)Toril Moi, Sexual/Textual Politics: Feminist Literary Theory. 2) Selected Readings (available at Kinko's; also on reserve at UAH Library) * Paperback editions of all novels listed on the schedule are available at the UAH Book Store. For the novels, you may read an edition you already own so long as it is unabridged. EH 618 Schedule of Readings and Reports JANUARY 8 Introduction to Course 10 Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Hampton play) Moi, chapters 2 and 5 15 Madame Bovary Readings #1: Benjamin, "A Desire of One's Own" 17 Madame Bovary Moi, Introduction, pp. 1-18 22 The Awakening Readings #2: Rosowski, "The Novel of Awakening" Moi, chapter 3 24 The Awakening; Readings #3: Bauer, "Kate Chopin's The Awakening" Oral Report: Chopin (may bring in At Fault) 29 The Vagabond Readings #4: Miller, "Woman of Letters" 31 The Vagabond Oral Report: Colette (may bring in Cheri) Paper #1 due Saturday, February 3, by noon. FEBRUARY 5 Jane Eyre Readings #5: Gilbert & Gubar, "A Dialogue of Self and Soul" 7 Jane Eyre 12 Jane Eyre Oral Report: C. Bronte (may bring in Villette) 14 Jane Eyre Oral Report: E. Bronte (may bring in Wuthering Heights) 19 Wide Sargasso Sea Readings #6: "The Sisterhood of Jane Eyre and Antoinette Cosway" 21 Wide Sargasso Sea Oral Report: Rhys (may bring in Voyage in the Dark) Paper #2 (limited to Bronte/Rhys and supplemental texts), February 24 26 Daisy Miller 28 Daisy Miller Oral Report: James (Approach open. Could bring in Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles) MARCH 5 The House of Mirth Readings #7: Bauer, "The Failure of the Republic" 7 The House of Mirth Oral Report: Wharton (may bring in Age of Innocence) 12 Sula Readings #8: "A Hateful Passion, a Lost Love" 14 Sula Oral Report: Morrison (may bring in Song of Solomon) Paper 3 (limited to James/Hardy/Wharton/Morrison/Duras), due at Final Examination Period, 4 p.m., Saturday, March 17. Selected Readings for EH 618, Women and Literature Copies of these are on reserve at the library. Each student is required to read one from this list and use it as the basis for leading class discussion of an assigned text. See the syllabus for report dates. 1. Benjamin, Jessica. "A Desire of One's Own: Psychoanalytic Feminism and Intersubjective Space." Feminist Studies/Critical Studies. Ed. Teresa de Lauretis. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1986. 78-101. [**NOTE: this was far too difficult to begin with] 2. Rosowski, Susan J. "The Novel of Awakening." The Voyage In: Fictions of Female Development. Ed. Elizabeth Abel, Marianne Hirsch, and Elizabeth Langland. Hanover, NH: UP of New England, 1983. 49-68. 3. Bauer, Dale. "Kate Chopin's The Awakening: Having and Hating Tradition." Chapter 5 in Bauer's Feminist Dialogics: A Theory of Failed Community. Albany: State U of New York P, 1988. 129-58. 4. Miller, Nancy K. "Woman of Letters: The Return to Writing in Colette's The Vagabond." Chapter 9 of Miller's Subject to Change: Reading Feminist Writing. New York: Columbia UP, 1988. 229-64. (Two students may share this: 1) pp. 229-44; 2) 244-61. 5. Gilbert, Sandra M., and Susan Gubar. "A Dialogue of Self and Soul: Plain Jane's Progress." Chapter 10 of Gilbert and Gubar's The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. New Haven: Yale UP, 1979. 336-71. 6. Baer, Elizabeth R. "The Sisterhood of Jane Eyre and Antoinette Cosway." The Voyage In: Fictions of Female Development. Ed. Elizabeth Abel, Marianne Hirsch, and Elizabeth Langland. Hanover, NH: UP of New England, 1983. 131-48. 7. Bauer, Dale. "The Failure of the Republic." Chapter 4 in Bauer's Feminist Dialogics: A Theory of Failed Community. Albany: State U of New York P, 1988. 89-127. (Two students may share this: 1) pp. 89-108; 2) 108-27. 8. Spillers, Hortense. "A Hateful Passion, a Lost Love." Feminist Issues in Literary Scholarship. Ed. Shari Benstock. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1987. 181-207. Instructions for Reports on Readings 1. Submit for grading a written summary of the key points relevant to the texts or topics we are studying. This may be handwritten and should not exceed 500 words. Students sharing an essay should write separate summaries and may limit these to parts of the essay. 2. Provide as a class handout a list of discussion questions suggested by the outside reading. Students sharing an essay may collaborate on a single list of questions. 3. Plan not more than 20 minutes of summary, critique, and interpretation before handing out the question list and inviting discussion. If sharing a report, that's 10 minutes each. Things to AVOID o Do Not read your critique aloud to the class. (Speak from notes.) o Do Not read long passages from the article aloud. (It's OK to quote occasionally.) o Do not begin by disagreeing with the author. Instead, give a clear and unbiased summary before agreeing or disagreeing with the essay.