FALL 1999
This information effective for Fall 1999.
Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.
FALL 1999
This information effective for Fall 1999.
Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.
This course provides an introduction to the major movements and
most
renowned authors of modern Italian Literature. Authors read
include:
Giovanni Verga; Sibilla Aleramo; Luigi Pirandello; Italo Svevo;
Ignazio
Silone; Giorgio Bassani; Italo Calvino; Umberto Eco; Natalia
Ginzburg; Anna
Maria Ortese; Primo Levi. Students will also see several classic
Italian
movies (Rossellini, De Sica, Fellini, Antonioni).
The course aims to trace: (1) the dominant trend of Realism at the
end of
the 19th & beginning of the 20th centuries; (2) the
subsequent
transformation of the goals of Realism into texts which probe the
ambiguitity
and instability of the human psyche; (3) the development of these two
trends
into a literature of myth (Magic Realism) and of the fantastic.
Along with these three literary modes, we will examine the
important
political context of Italy between the two World Wars and during
fascism;
issues of resistance and witnessing;
the role of women as subjects and as writers; the tension between
concepts
of Region and Nation (Italy only becomes a unified Nation in 1860) ;
the
crisis of modernity in post WW II Italian society.
Course requirements:
Attendance at lectures, discussion sections, and films is
required.
Active partecipation in section. Students have an in-class mid-term
exam;
several short writing exercises; a final paper.
Carla Freccero x3532; Kresge 236
carla_freccero@MACMAIL.ucsc.edu
This course aims to examine some of the history, issues, concepts,
and terms
of feminist and queer theories and criticism, to indicate some of
the
differences between, and co-implications of, theory and criticism,
and to
explore and advocate continuities between "feminist" and "queer."
In
addition, it aims to make possible the application of theory and
critique to
texts, to teach methodology, in other words. No course on this or any
other
topic of theory/criticism can be exhaustive, and every course on this
or any
other subject tells a particular story, one which is not the only
or
necessarily the best story. Rather than proposing answers (to
questions such
as "what is feminist/queer theory?"), it is hoped that the course
will open up
more questions and render more complex each of the single terms used
to
characterize a method of reading, an ideology, or a theory of
being.
Tentative List of Books
Lentricchia and McLaughlin, eds., Critical Terms for Literary
Study.
Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own.
READER (Riley and Showalter below are also in reader) UCSC Copy
Center--2
vols.
Recommended:
Denise Riley, "Am I That Name?"
Elaine Showalter, ed., The New Feminist Criticism.
Jane Gallop, Around 1981. ( req. reading also in reader)
Warhol and Herndl, eds., Feminisms.
Tentative Requirements
Attendance and participation at all lectures and sections: 3 total
unexcused
absences may constitute NP grade.
Reading: should be done by the date next to which it appears on
syllabus.
Papers: assignments are given; suggestions also entertained. Try to
build
each successive paper on the previous one; aspects of papers will
be
workshopped, drafts recommended. Please do not try to write a paper
at the
last minute before it is due; start well in advance of the due date.
Rewrites
of paper #3 recommended for paper #4. Late papers may affect
evaluation; only
course instructor may grant an extension of paper deadline.
Writing: Keep a weekly Critical Notebook: select one or two key
concepts,
issues, or terms and write a paragraph defining, explicating, or
elucidating
each (about 300 words/week). Entries should be concise, well-written,
and
proofread, and should reflect careful reading of the texts. You do
not have
to say everything you know about the concept or issue in question;
choose what
you say carefully. Hand in your notebook entries to the TA each week;
weekly
submissions may be on e-mail or on paper, but they must be typed. At
the end
of the quarter, you will hand in the entire journal, with all
entries
compiled. Notebooks will not be due on weeks when papers are due.
Occasional
quizzes will be given on selected terms and concepts relevant to the
course.
Questions: For each Thursday class, prepare one question on a 3 x 5
index
card to hand in at the beginning of class, with your name on one side
and the
question on the other. Some of these will be read aloud and discussed
in
class. Think about your question carefully--try to make it a useful
one for
the entire class to discuss, and try to make it a genuine one, that
is, one
that you really would like to hear more discussion about.
Last Year's Schedule (subject to change)
Week 1: The Resistance to Theory
Paul de Man, "The Resistance to Theory"
B. Christian, "A Race for Theory"
Week 2: Theory and Resistances (continued)
Audre Lorde, "The Master's Tools"
Lugones and Spelman, "Have We Got a Theory for You!"
J. Scott, "Deconstructing Equality vs. Difference"
Week 3 Histories and Theories of Feminist Literary Criticism
C. Belsey, "Constructing the Subject"; E. Showalter, "Women's
Time"
E. Showalter, The New Feminist Criticism, essays by Showalter
(intro;
"Feminist Poetics"; "Feminist Criticism in the Wilderness")
PAPER #1 due: What is theory? What is criticism? What is feminism?
What
is feminist theory? What is feminist criticism? Let these general
questions
guide your paper and respond to them in some way. Use a specific
text, and
read it, as an example (Catherine Belsey's and Joan Scott's articles
are
excellent illustrations). The text should be an artifact of
popular
culture/discourse (an ad, a newspaper article, a cartoon, the cover
of a book,
song lyrics), but you must be able to submit it attached to your
paper. Argue
for the compatibility of theory and criticism, if possible (5
pgs).
Week 4 Case Study I: The Canon
F. Rabelais, selections; W. Booth, "Freedom of Interpretation"
C. Freccero, 3 essays.
Rec: E. Showalter, Speaking of Gender, intro; E. Sedgwick, "Gender
Criticism"
Week 5 Case Study II: Women
V. Woolf, A Room of One's Own
A. Walker, "In Search of Our Mother's Garden"; "One Child of One's
Own"; M.
Childers, "Virginia Woolf"
Rec: D. Riley, "Am I That Name?"
Week 6 Problematizing Subjects and Objects
J. Gallop, Around 1981, intro, ch. 1, 2; D. Riley, "Am I That name?",
ch. 1, 5
PAPER #2 due: Apply canon critique to Woolf or Walker; or apply
"gynocriticism" to Rabelais (3-5 pgs). Think about--and problematize,
if
possible--the category "woman"/"women" in this paper.
E. Grosz, "Sexual Difference"; J. Scott, "Experience"
Rec: B. Johnson, "Gender Theory and the Yale School"
Week 7 Case Study III: Racializing Subjects
A. Walker, "Advancing Luna and Ida B. Wells"; A. Davis, "Rape,
Racism"; Dowd
Hall, "'The Mind That Burns in Each Body'"
Rec: E. Abel, "Black Writing, White Reading"
MH Washington,"How Racial Differences..."; V. Smith,"Split
Affinities"; N.
Mckay, "Alice Walker's 'Advancing Luna'"
Week 8 Feminist and Queer Theories
J. Butler, Gender Trouble, intro, ch. 1; G. Rubin, "Thinking Sex";
The Lesbian
and Gay Studies Reader, intro.
J. Butler, "Against Proper Objects"; B. Martin, "Sexualities without
Genders"
Week 9 Case Study IV Subjects of Sex, Gender, Race and Class
Film: Paris is Burning
hooks, "Is Paris Burning?"; J. Butler, "Gender is Burning"
PAPER # 3 due: Queer "Advancing Luna"; racialize and queer Woolf; do
a
feminist and queer reading of Rabelais; apply one theoretical
viewpoint to any
of our primary texts without effacing class, gender, racial and
sexual
elements of the text (5-7 pgs).
Week 10 Discussions, Conclusions
P. Harper, "'The Subversive Edge'"; P. Califia, intro, "The
Backlash:
Transphobia in Feminism," and "The Future of Gender"
PAPER # 4 due: Rewrite; show how your theoretical approach shapes
your
reading (5-10 pgs).