26027 - THE REVISION OF THE BODY IN WOMEN'S LITERATURE - LA RE-VISIONE DEL CORPO NELLA LETTERATURA DELLE DONNE

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

Gli studenti e le studentesse acquisiscono conoscenze approfondite delle teorie e metodologie degli studi di genere in diversi contesti culturali, con riferimento specifico alle politiche del corpo. Il corso intende favorire l'analisi delle rappresentazioni e costruzioni di genere e del rapporto identità/alterita' in diverse forme testuali (teorie critiche, narrativa, testi visuali) in una prospettiva interculturale.

Contenuti

The body of the (non)human

Focusing on literary texts, with specific reference to dystopian and science-fiction novels, the course will discuss diverse politics of the body in feminist, postcolonial, decolonial and posthuman critical theories.

In particular, the course will tackle the historical and discursive construction and "framing" (J. Butler) of the non-human, exposing the body as a crucial issue in the redefinition of the human/posthuman/transhuman and questioning the possibility of imagining an episteme that expands the very category of the human, not only to those subjectivities that have never had complete access to it (R. Braidotti), but also to a series of new "bodies" that have never been associated with the idea of human, and therefore of life.

The program is in progress. Please do check this webpage for further notice

Testi/Bibliografia

Bibliography

Primary Sources:

Atwood, Margaret, The Handmaid's Tale, 1985 

Ishiguro, Kazuo, Never Let me Go, 2005

Winterson, Janette, Frankissstein: A Love Story, 2019

Bibliography of Secondary texts:

Baccolini, Raffaella, “Gender and Genre in the Feminist Critical Dystopias of Katharine Burdekin, Margaret Atwood, and Octavia Butler”, Future Females, The Next Generation: New Voices and Velocities in Feminist Science Fiction Criticism, Ed. Marleen S. Barr, Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield, 2000. 13-34.

Braidotti, Rosi, The Posthuman, Polity Press, 2013. (In particular: Introduction; Chapter 1 "Post-Humanism: Life beyond the Self"; Chapter 2 "Post-Anthropocentrism: Life beyond the Species")

Butler, Judith, “Introduction: Precarious Life, Grievable Life”, Frames of War: When Is Life Grievable?, London-New York, Verso, 2009, pp. 1-32.

Butler, Judith, “Preface”, Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence, London-New York, Verso, 2006, pp. xi-xxi.

Fanon, Frantz, “Introduction”, Black Skin, White Masks, London, Pluto Press, 2008; First ed. Peau Noire, Masques Blancs, Paris, Éditions du Seuil, 1952; pp. 1-7.

Haraway, Donna J., “When Species Meet. Introductions”, When Species Meet, Minneapolis-London, University of Minnesota press, 2007, pp. 3-42.

Lugones, María, “Heterosexualism and the Colonial/Modern Gender System”, in Hypatia 22, 1, 2007, pp. 186-209.

Lugones, María, "Toward a Decolonial Feminism", Hypatia, Vol. 25, No. 4, 2010, pp. 742-759.

Monticelli, Rita, The Politics of the Body in Women’s Literature, Bologna: Odoya, 2012.

Spillers, Hortense J. “Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: An American Grammar Book”, in Diacritics. A Review of ContemporaryCriticism17 (2), 1987, pp. 65-81. 

Spivak, Gayatri C., “Can The Subaltern Speak?”, Colonial Discourse and Post- colonial Theory: a Reader, edited by Laura Chrisman and Patrick Williams, New York, Sidney, Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1993, pp. 66- 111.

Bibliography and further information will be provided also during the lessons (and then published in the online reading list and program). Students who cannot attend lessons must contact the lecturer via e-mail before the end of the course. Students are requested to check the online program also during the course for further notice and information.

B.A students are not admitted. Erasmus students are requested to contact the lecturer before enrolling in the course.

Metodi didattici

Lessons and discussions. Language: English 

 

 

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Students are requested to analyse the 3 primary sources and articles/essays/chapters (about 150 pages not from a single volume) from the Reading list of the Secondary sources.

Please do check this web page for further notice and information

Active participation in class discussions: 30%. By participation in class we mean the ability of the student to enter the debates, contributing with questions and/or elaborations of the topics proposed by the lecturer. This participation does not aim at testing students' specific preparation in the field, rather, they want to favor their ability to take part in discussions and their capability to discuss in group. 

Final oral exams: 70%

The final oral exam will test the student's critical capability, their knowledge of the methodologies employed, their ability to combine theories with the analyses of the case studies chosen. The close reading of the texts aims at showing the student's critical ability, their knowledge not only of the texts but also of their context of creation together with the cultural politics that inform them. Students are requested to use an appropriate language, to be able to articulate their thought in English (high level) and to have an accurate knowledge of the bibliography chosen for the exam.

Grades:

Excellent: Students' high capability to elaborate on the exiting debates on the topics chosen, originality of thought and excellent knowledge of the theories and of the texts chosen for the exam, their ability to read them within a gender perspective, using also the theories employed during the course and showing comprehension of the bibliography chosen, accurate and appropriate language.

Very good level: Students' capability to elaborate on the exiting debates on the topics chosen, originality of thought and very good knowledge of the theories and of the texts chosen for the exam, their ability to read them within a gender perspective, using also the theories employed during the course and showing comprehension of the bibliography chosen, and appropriate, accurate language.

Good level: Students' capability to elaborate on the exiting debates on the topics chosen, knowledge of the theories and of the texts chosen for the exam, their ability to read them within a gender perspective, using also the theories employed during the course and showing comprehension of the bibliography chosen, and appropriate language.

Pass: Students' capability to enter the exiting debates on the topics chosen, knowledge of the theories and of the texts chosen for the exam, their ability to read them within a gender perspective, using also the theories employed during the course and showing comprehension of the bibliography chosen, and appropriate language.

Fail: Student's lack of knowledge of the theories employed during the course, incapability to critical reading of the novels, inappropriate and inaccurate language.

Please do check this web page for further notice and information

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

slides, videos 

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Francesco Cattani