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

“a systemic pattern emerges”: Feminist Lessons from Non-Human and Other-than-Human Bodies

Through the perspectives of black feminist, postcolonial, decolonial, posthuman, transfeminist, and trans studies, the course explores the historical and discursive construction of the human, questioning the exclusionary boundaries through which bodies, beings, and forms of life have been defined, hierarchized, appropriated, and exploited: that systemic pattern defined by Sylvia Wynter and here quoted in the title.

At the same time, by focusing on literary texts – critical dystopia and science-fiction –,

we will investigate the possibility of imagining forms of resistance, alternative epistemologies, and interspecies communities grounded in relationality, diversity, and solidarity. Particular attention will be paid to forms of transversal alliances that redefine the category of the human, while extending ethical and political recognition to presences that have never been associated with the idea of life.

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

 

Readings/Bibliography

Primary Sources:

Ishiguro, Kazuo, Never Let me Go, 2005

Rivers Solomon, The Deep, 2019

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.

Castañeda, Claudia, “Robotic Skin. The Future of Touch?”, Thinking Through the Skin, Ed. by Sara Ahmed and Jackie Stacey, London-New York, Routledge, 2001, pp. 223-236.

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.

Wynter, Sylvia, “Towards the Sociogenic Principle: Fanon, Identity, the Puzzle of Conscious Experience, and What It Is Like to Be 'Black”, in A. Gomez-Moriana and M. Duran-Cogan (eds.), In National Identities and Socio-Political Changes in Latin America, London and New York, Routledge, 2001. Excerpt: pp. 32-45.

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.

Non-attending students: There is no different programme for students who cannot attend lessons, but they are kindly asked to contact the lecturer via e-mail in order to help them in the choice of texts.

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: we suggest that you contact the relevant university office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en ) and your teacher immediately to work together to find the most effective strategies for attending classes and/or preparing for exams.

Any requests for exam accommodations must be made at least 15 days before the date of the exam, by sending an email to the teacher and copying (Cc) the email address disabilita@unibo.it (in case of disability) or dsa@unibo.it (for students with Specific Learning Difficulties).

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.

AI: the use of AI is prohibited to summarise novels and essays (students should develop a personal and independent critical thinking and ability in argumentation), as well as during oral exams. Any use constitutes a breach of academic integrity.

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