26027 - The Revision Of The Body In Women's Literature

Learning outcomes

Students acquire knowledge of gender studies (theories and methodologies) in diverse cultural contexts whereby the notions of identity and otherness, difference and diversity are analysed with specific reference to the politics of the body. The course intends to favour the capability to deconstruct these notions in diverse texts (theoretical, literary, visual).

Course contents

Non-Human, Infrahuman, More-than-Human: The Body as a Source of Exploitation and Resistance

As Fredric James wonders, are we able to imagine a world and a system that are not uniquely governed and determined by anthropomorphic (of a specific anthropos) principles and parameters?

By focusing on literary texts – critical dystopia and science-fiction –, the course aims to deconstruct the category of the human via an expansion of its exclusionary borders, but also an extension of the categories used to define what is human – in terms of features, attributes, and, consequently, rights – to a series of “bodies”/“beings”/“presences” which have never being associated to the idea(l) of the human, thus of life.

Starting from the different forms of exploitation and subjectification of certain bodies, the course will explore also possible forms of resistance as well as the construction of new communities (interspecies communities) based on sharing and embracing diversity.

In order to do this, postcolonial, decolonial, posthuman, and transfeminist critical theories will be discussed.

Readings/Bibliography

Primary Sources:

Jewelle Gomez, The Gilda Stories, 1991

Ishiguro, Kazuo, Never Let me Go, 2005

Winterson, Janette, Frankissstein: A Love Story, 2019

Secondary Sources:

The majority of the secondary sources are available on the Virtuale page of the course

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.

Gumbs, Alexis Pauline, Undrowned. Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals, Chico CA, Edinburgh, AK Press, 2020; pp. 1-27.

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, vol. 22, n. 1, 2007, pp. 186-209.

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

Monticelli, Rita, “‘I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess’: Genealogies, Re-Visions of the Body, and Feminist Figurations”, in L.M. Crisafulli and G. Golinelli (eds.), Women’s Voices and Genealogies in Literary Studies in English, Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019, pp. 41 – 56.

Spillers, Hortense J. “Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: An American Grammar Book”, in Diacritics. A Review of Contemporary Criticism, vol. 17, n. 2, 1987, pp. 65-81.

Stryker, Susan, “My Words to Victor Frankenstein above the Village of Chamounix. Performing Transgender Rage”, GLQ, Vol. 1, 1994, pp. 237-254.

Bibliography will be provided also during the lessons (and then published in Virtuale). Students are requested to check the online program also during the course for further notice and information.

A tentative calendar with the dates and the topics will be published on Virtuale after the first lessons.

There is no different programme for students who cannot attend lessons, but they are kindly asked to contact the lecturer via e-mail before the exam.

B.A students are not admitted.

Exchange students are requested to contact the lecturer before enrolling in the course.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is suggested that they get in touch as soon as possible with the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) and with the lecturer in order to seek together the most effective strategies for following the lessons and/or preparing for the examination.

Teaching methods

Lessons and discussions. Language: English

Assessment methods

The final exam will be an oral exam in presence: a discussion (about 20-30 mins.) on the topics dealt with during the course and the texts chosen by the candidate from the reading list.

More specifically, for the final exam students are requested to study and analyse:

· all the 3 primary sources

· articles/essays/chapters (about 150 pages not from a single volume) from the Reading list of the Secondary sources.

The modalities of the oral exam will be explained in class during the first lessons.

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, 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 an intersectional 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 an intersectional perspective, using also the theories employed during the course and showing comprehension of the bibliography chosen, and accurate and appropriate 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, using also the theories employed during the course and showing comprehension of the bibliography chosen, and appropriate language.

Pass: Mnemonic and superficial knowledge and understanding of the material, a sufficient analytical ability, non-satisfactory use of 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.

Teaching tools

slides, videos

Office hours

See the website of Francesco Cattani