SoSe 20: HS-Negotiating Gender: Gender in British Fiction (c. 1980-2020)
Sabine Schülting
Comments
Representations of gender and sexuality in fiction are informed by and respond to cultural debates and conflicts; they can help us identify current concerns and may anticipate future developments. The course will deal with British novelistic writing of the last few decades and focus in particular on novels that offer innovative or experimental narratives about gender and sexuality. We will analyse how the texts negotiate sexual discourses, (de)construct sexual and gendered identities, not least through language, and enter into dialogue with gender and queer theories. Students should consider combining this course with the tutorial on Contemporary Gender and Queer Theories (17 381).
Readings: Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus (1984); Jeanette Winterson, Written on the Body (1992); Jackie Kay, Trumpet (1998); Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty (2004); Ali Smith, How to Be Both (2014); David Szalay, All that Man Is (2016); Bernadine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other (2019). Students should purchase the novels (all of which are available as paperbacks). To reduce the reading load over the semester, you may wish to start with the first novels during the term break. We will read the novels in chronological order.
Assessment will be on the basis of regular attendance, active participation in all course activities (including e.g. presentations, response papers, and group work), and an essay of c. 7500 words.
close13 Class schedule
Regular appointments