ENGL 5352 Women's Literature-Feminist Lens
WOMEN'S LITERATURE THROUGH A FEMINIST LENS
This course is an introduction to the academic study of literature by female-identifying writers and the theoretical framework of feminism. Virginia Woolf once noted that “anonymous,” the signature given to many unsigned poems and books throughout history, was very likely a woman. Part of the reason we might focus our attention on literature by women is to resurrect the spirt of “anonymous” and the leagues of women who felt that the literary life was closed to them. We will explore writing by authors and poets that help us interrogate the expanse of women’s experiences, across time, place, and racial and ethnic identities. Some of these writers include Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Kate Chopin, Emily Dickinson, Alice Walker, and Maya Angelou. Rather than attempt a broad survey of all writing by women, our course examines a few key authors in-depth.