Description
[cross-listed with SOC 3705] In this course we will survey literary works by major American women authors from the late 19th century up to the present. The focus will be on both novels and short stories. We will discuss what impact each author and her work has had on the development of feminism and the role of women in modern American culture and society. We will also consider the female voices that may have been excluded from popular feminist discourses and the possible reasons for such exclusion. One chief objective of the course will be to define the parameters of the American Female Literary Tradition. In our attempt to do so, we will also consider if there is a “female voice” separate and distinguishable from that of dominant male discourse. Authors include: Willa Cather, Kate Chopin, Sandra Cisneros, Gish Jen, Zora Neal Hurston, Maxine Hong Kingston, Jhumpa Lahiri, Toni Morrison, Flannery O’Connor, Joyce Carol Oates, Cynthia Ozick, Leslie Marmon Silko, Alice Walker, and Eu