17363a

SoSe 21: S-Culture-Gender-Media: Gender in Contemporary British Fiction

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 four 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 lecture series on Gender and Queer Theories (17 362).

Readings: Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus (1984); Jeanette Winterson, Written on the Body (1992); Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty (2004); 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: Students will have to participate regularly, read the assigned texts, take part in the discussions, and contribute a presentation and/or short response papers. The exam (for a regular “Vertiefungsmodul” in English as your major subject/“Kernfach”) is an essay of c. 4000 words. Exchange students are of course welcome. You can gain up to 10 ECTS in this course.

The course will be taught via WebEx video meetings. Details on the organization of the course as well as the meeting information will be posted on Blackboard in the first week of April.