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26014 - Feminist Theory: Between Difference and Diversity - Theories of Gender Studies and Feminist Criticism

Academic Year 2019/2020

                
                        Docente:
                        Rita Monticelli
                    
                        Credits:
                        10
                    
                        SSD:
                        L-LIN/10
                    
                        Language:
                        English
                    
                        Teaching Mode:
                        Traditional lectures
                        
                            Campus:
                            Bologna
                        
                            Corso:
                            Second cycle degree programme (LM) in
                            Modern, Post-Colonial and Comparative  Literatures (cod. 0981)

                                Also valid for
                                
                                    Second cycle degree programme (LM) in
                                    
                                        Modern, Post-Colonial and Comparative  Literatures (cod. 0981)
                                    
                                    Second cycle degree programme (LM) in
                                    
                                        Italian Culture and Language for Foreigners (cod. 0983)
                                    
                            Teaching resources on Virtuale

Learning outcomes

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

Course contents

Overview of the course:

Critical theories and methodologies of gender and women's studies; main issues in Feminist theories and Queer studies. re-reading of the notion of identity/difference;re-visions of the symbolic and social order, critical debates on the representation and deconstruction of the intersectionality of gender and ‘race'. The course intends:

· To enable the analysis of the representations and constructions of gender, and ‘diversity’ in varied forms of text (theoretical, literary, visual)

· To approach women's and gender studies as a critical field in its intersection with global and postcolonial studies.

· To re-consider women's and gender studies as an interdisciplinary area and as a methodology of deconstruction of ‘dominant' systems of knowledge. To re-think women's and gender studies (within a postcolonial and global studies frame) as analysis of distribution of knowledge, politics of representation and interpretation.

· To enable students to gain critical tools to reflect upon diverse cultural debates, to elaborate on the interconnections between texts and contexts, to favour critical thinking

· To offer critical instruments enabling competence in terms of ‘diversity management’

· To facilitate students to analyse issues related to utopia/dystopia/science fiction within a global, postcolonial and gender perspective.

Main issues:

1. critical theories and methodologies of gender and women's studies

2. main issues in Feminist theories and Queer studies;

3. re-reading of the notion of identity, difference, and diversity; gender as a social construction;

4. women's and postcolonial re-visions of the symbolic and social order;

5. the construction of sexual difference as a deconstructive strategy; re-writings of the body; (French Feminism(s) and African American and Postcolonial responses

6. postcolonial and African American critical debates on the representation and deconstruction of the notion of gender and ‘race'. New politics of identity and ‘difference'

7. Intersectionality of ‘race' and gender

8. ‘Case studies': analysis of diverse kinds of texts (literary, theoretical, visual) on main themes in women's and gender studies, with specific reference to the interconnection of gender, ethnicity and ‘race' in trauma studies and post-conflict contexts.

Part 1. “Mapping the crisis”: from vulnerability and precarity to politics of affirmation and inclusion in utopia/dystopia/science fiction.

The course will analyse critical theories and methodologies of gender and feminist studies in dialogue with works of such scholars as Luce Irigaray, Rosi Braidotti, Hortense Spillers, Gayatri C. Spivak, Judith Butler, Achille Mbembe. The course will analyse strategies of representations of self and otherness, power relations in totalitarian regimes, the relationship between human and non-human in texts (literary and visual) in English, while addressing issues related to the exploitation of all beings and the planet. Lessons will be carried out through gender and postcolonial methodologies. A close reading of the novels discusses the construction and stabilization of a rhetoric of violence based on a normative notion of identity and otherness, and between human-non human relation.

Readings/Bibliography

Testi/Bibliografia

IN PROGRESS

Primary sources

Butler, Octavia E., Kindred, 1979

Atwood, Margaret, The Handmaid’s Tale, 1985

M. Faber, Under the Skin, 2000 (translation in Italian Sotto la pelle, Einaudi, 2004)

K. Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go, 2005 (translation in Italian Non lasciarmi, Einaudi, 2006)

Teaching methods

Lessons, seminars, discussion in class, students' presentations. Languages: English AND Italian

Bibliography and other information will be provided also during the lessons (and then published in the online reading list and program). The course includes both lessons and seminars with the active participation of the students. Students who cannot attend lessons must contact the lecturer during her office hours, or 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.

Assessment methods

Gli studenti e le studentesse di Letteratura Inglese/Letteratura dei Paesi di lingua inglese 2 LM dovranno analizzare 4 testi primari (da scegliersi tra quelli in elenco) e saggi/ capitoli di volumi/articoli da scegliere tra le fonti critiche in elenco per un numero di 200/220 pagine (non da un unico volume). E' inoltre richiesta l'analisi di due dei film in programma e una tra le serie TV proposte.

Students of the course Letteratura Inglese/Letteratura dei paesi di lingua inglese 2 LM are requested to analyse 4 texts (to be chosen amongst the volumes in the Reading list of the primary sources) and articles/essays/chapters (about 200/220 pages, not from a single volume) from the Reading list of the Secondary sources; the analysis of two of the movies proposed and one TV series.

Le studentesse e gli studenti di Feminist Theory between Difference and Diversity dovranno analizzare 4 testi primari (da scegliersi tra quelli in elenco) e saggi/ capitoli di volumi/articoli da scegliere tra le fonti critiche in elenco per un numero di 250 pagine (non da un unico volume). Di queste, 50 possono essere tratte dal seminario di teorie. E' inoltre richiesto lo studio di tre film proposti e di due serie TV. E' inoltre obbligatorio il seminario integrativo.

Students of Feminist Theory between Difference and Diversity are requested to analyse 4 primary texts (to be chosen amongst the volumes in the Reading list of the primary sources) and articles/essays/chapters (about 250 pages, not from a single volume; students can also choose 50 pages among the essays proposed in the seminar on theories) from the Reading list of the Secondary sources; the analysis of three movies proposed and two TV series. Students must also attend the compulsory seminar on gender/female theories.

Le studentesse e gli studenti di Gender Studies/Studi di genere dovranno analizzare 3 testi primari (da scegliersi tra quelli in elenco) e saggi/ capitoli di volumi/articoli da scegliere tra le fonti critiche in elenco per un numero di 150 pagine (non da un unico volume). E' inoltre richiesto lo studio di uno dei film proposti e di una serie TV.

Students of Gender Studies/Studi di genere are requested to analyse 3 primary texts (to be chosen amongst the volumes in the Reading list of the primary sources) and articles/essays/chapters (about 150 pages, not from a single volume) from the Reading list of the Secondary sources; the analysis of one of the movies and one of the TV series proposed.

All students (divided in groups) are requested to present in class one text (to be chosen in accordance with the lecturer) within diverse critical perspectives, in a date to be confirmed.

Please do check this web page for further notice and information

Active participation in class discussions: 25%. 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 favour their ability to take part in discussions and their capability to discuss in group.

Students' Presentation: 25%. Students are requested to do a group presentation of one text to be chosen from the reading list in accordance with the lecturer.

Final oral exam: 50%

The final oral exam will test the student's critical capability, his/her knowledge of the methodologies employed, her/his 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 and Italian (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

Teaching tools

Power point, slides, movies, visual texts.

The course includes a:

SEMINAR ON FEMINIST GENEALOGIES

The seminar “Feminist Genealogies” includes meetings where original texts from the second, the third and fourth wave feminism are presented. The prevailing approach of this seminar is text interpretive and thematic. It aims at familiarizing students with traditions of contemporary feminist thought and at pointing out the most significant zones of contestation that mark the dynamic interplay of feminisms, enhancing students' understanding of the meaning, function and methodological values of the key concepts of feminist theory. The seminar introduces the students to the main debates on and traditions of feminist theory and elaborate on such issues as the use of female genealogy; the personal as political; the relationship between sex and gender; bodies, power and subjectivity; black feminism, difference and intersectionality. The seminar is addressed to students of Feminist Theory: Between Difference and Diversityand it is compulsory for students attending this class, GEMMA first-year students and open to GEMMA second-year students. For students from Letteratura inglese/ dei paesi di lingua inglese, and Studi di genere (Gender studies), the seminar is NOT compulsory, but all students are welcome.

Dates of the first and second meetings:

24^thOctober 2019, 15:30-18:45 Room E (same place as usual)

7^thNovember 2019 15:30-17:00 Room E (same place as usual)

The other meetings will be announced as soon as possible.

First 24^thOctober 2019

In Search of Feminist Genealogies

The seminar will make reference to the following texts:

Adrienne Rich (1984), “Notes Towards a Politics of Location”, in Blood, Bread and Poetry. Selected Prose 1979-1985, Norton, New York, 1986, pp. 210 – 231.(available in the Reader)
Donna Haraway, (1988) “Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective”, Feminist Studies, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Autumn, 1988), pp. 575-599. available online https://philpapers.org/archive/HARSKT.pdf

Alice Walker (1972), “In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens”, in In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens, Womanist prose, Harcourt, San Diego, 1983. (available in the Reader)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, Knopf, 2017.
Rita Monticelli, “ 'I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess': Genealogies, Re-Visions of the Body, and Feminist Figurations”, 2018. (available in the Reader)

Second 7^thNovember 2019

Black and Postcolonial Feminism: Differences and Intersectionality

The seminar will make reference to the following texts:
Audre Lorde, “The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House”, in, Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Ed. Berkeley, CA: Crossing Press, pp. 110-114. 2007. (available in the Reader)
Chandra Talpade Mohanty, “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses”, in,Feminist Review 1988, 30:49–74. (available in the Reader)
Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color”, in Alison Bailey and Chris Cuomo (eds.), The Feminist Philosophy Reader,New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. (available in the Reader)

Third and Fourth Friday 13th December 2019

The Body in Feminist Theory

The seminar will make reference to the following texts:

Rosi Braidotti, “Chapter 4: Bodies, Texts and Powers” and “Chapter 6: Towards a Philosophical Reading of Feminist Ideas”, in Patterns of Dissonance: A Study of Women and Contemporary Philosophy, Routledge, New York, 1991, pp. 76 – 97 and 147 – 173.
Rosi Braidotti on Nomadic Subjectivities
Rita Monticelli, section "Soggetti corporei", in Critiche femministe e teorie letterarie, Bologna: Clueb, pp. 205-220 (available in the Library)
Judith Butler, Gender Trouble. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, Routledge, New York-London, 1990, Chapter I.

Office hours

See the website of Rita Monticelli

SDGs

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.