Performance in Fires

While reading Fires, I couldn't help but consider the performative aspect of the book (probably because of the photographs). I pictured it being staged in the same sort of manner as Lauren from DeLillo's The Body Artist would present it. That is, one woman contorting her utter self, every mannerism and characteristic, to become an entirely different person. I wonder how this sort of performance effects the reading of the book itself?

Naming Names

Just a small matter of form. If it isn't apparent from your email address, could you, when posting, sign your name, so I am able to keep track of your contributions to the blog? Thanks!

Father to lover theme

As was briefly brought up in class, I have noticed Carter's recurring theme of the lover, in ways, replacing the father for the girls in her stories. I am curious to discuss this further in regards to what Carter may be suggesting by having many of her "girl" characters passed on to lover from father, whether it be through gambling or giving her away. Could Carter be playing with the idea that in most original Grimms (and even Disney) fairy tales, the young girl moves from father to lover as though she needs a man of some sort waiting for her after her transition out of girlhood? (Somewhat related - even the rewritten Snow White is a snow "child".  What could be the significance of this?)

These characters do seem to go through a transition of their own, beginning as the virginal madonna yet appearing more "bad" than "good" nearing the end of each tale...

"Female" Writing

This is an admittedly stereotyping deconstruction of 'female' writing because I do find it problematic to gender sentences and sentence structure, but if any writing can be classified as feminine, Angela Carter's would be so. Her craft is gendered not only because she is ornate, descriptive and full-bodied, but it has social feminist implications because it disregards "rule" and linear structure. She has no need for consistent tense or point of view or the regular constructions of grammar. She is self aware and understanding of body and sexuality in ways that 'male' writing may prefer to ignore. In neglecting the standard rules of writing, which are archaic as well as masculine in history, she is pointedly choosing a more modern and so feminine writing objective.

Extended Deadline for the First Assignment

Hi folks,

Just a small update to the syllabus. As per our discussion at the end of the last class, I will be giving an one week extension on the first assignment: the Critical Response Paper, which was due next class, is now due on February 2. You can take as your subject any text we will have looked at up to that date, including Anna Deavere Smith's Fires in the Mirror.
Sorry for the delay in posting this--I've been under the weather and a little groggy these last few days.

Trish

Religious view HEROINE

This is my take on Heroine and maybe I'm way out there, but here goes. The setting as a bathtub, the nudity within the tub, and the water suggests (from my perspective) a baptismal sacrament in which her sins are being washed away. I don't know what religious views (if any) Gail Scott has and whether they factor into the character. I also thought of the water and the washing as a rebirth perhaps, of the character. Maybe I am reading too much into this. Thoughts?
Calogero A. Miceli

Welcome

Hi folks,

Welcome to your blog. Please accept my apologies for the delay in getting this up and running. Do let me know if you have any trouble posting. Keep warm and have a nice weekend.

Trish

Syllabus

ENGL 354/4/AA Contemporary Writing by Women

Department of English, Concordia University, Winter 2009

Instructor: Patricia Salah

Class meets: Mon. 6:00-8:15 p.m. in H-433.

Office hours: Wednesday 2:45-4:15 and by appointment

Office: LB 667

Email: psalah@alcor.concordia.ca

(Please put “Contemporary Women’s Writing” or “ENGL 354/4 ”

in the subject line of all communications)

Introduction

In this course we will read, think, talk and write about contemporary women’s writing; which, for our purposes will refer to women’s writing produced between 1970 and the present. In the course of doing so, we will necessarily ask questions as to the relation of gender to writing, and to genre specifically, as well as to the meaning and scope of “the contemporary.”

In response to women’s historical exclusion from the domain of literature, we will consider how various feminisms have operated in constituting a category specifically of “women’s writing.” And conversely we will consider how differences in race, class, generation, sexuality, language and political commitment have worked to reconfigure and/or undo the category of “women.” How have women writers engaged questions of literary value, genre, voice, and how have they reworked those categories? How have the gendering of private and public space, labour and discourse contributed to women writers taking up para-literary genres and media (e.g. the diary, the memoir, the letter, the comic, the graphic novel, the blog)? And how have women writers eschewed feminist affiliation in order, precisely, to write the feminine, or alternately, to enter into discourse as subjects “unmarked by gender?” If the contemporary moment is a post-feminist moment, what does that mean for women’s writing? Is women’s writing a thing of the past, or perhaps, no longer concerned with questions of gender?

As well as post feminist, our moment is described as postcolonial, postmodern, postgender. Throughout the course we will consider how women writers are situated within, against and/or beyond the literatures of these “other posts.”

Finally, we will ask, what makes women’s writing contemporary? Is it a simply temporal distinction, one that shifts every decade or three; or does “the contemporary” signal, like the modern and the postmodern, a specific set of preoccupations, philosophic and literary positions, genres, experiments, as well as a distinct analytic of women’s literature, with an accompanying psychology, politics and sociology of literature from women’s vantage?

Course Texts:

Primary:

American Women Poets in the 21st Century: Where Lyric Meets Language, Claudia Rankine and Juliana Spahr eds. Wesleyan University Press, 2002.

Open Field: 30 Contemporary Canadian Poets, Sina Queyras, ed. Persea Press, 2005.

Al-Shaykh, Hannan. Beirut Blues. Anchor Books, 1996.

Carter, Angela. The Bloody Chamber. Vintage, 1979.

Mootoo, Shani. He Drown She in the Sea. McClelland and Stewart, 2006.

Scott, Gail. Heroine. Coach House Books, 1988.

Smith, Anna Deavere. Fires in the Mirror. Anchor Books, 2003.

Tamaki, Mariko & Jillian Tamaki. Skim. House of Anansi/Groundwood Books, 2008.

Secondary:

TBA

Course Requirements

Informed Participation and Attendance (20%) Weekly

You need to be in the classroom to participate, and you need to have read and thought about the readings to participate in an informed fashion. Creative engagement is encouraged; statements of opinion unsupported by careful reading and thinking are not. This portion of your grade will reflect attendance (showing up, and showing up on time), demonstrated grasp of the weekly readings, and effort to engage with the subject matter at hand. There will also be an online forum for discussion, in the form of a course blog, and students are strongly encouraged to bring questions, and thoughts about the readings to that space for discussion. If you have difficulty speaking in a group, speak to me early in the term; under some circumstances I am prepared to accept additional written work in lieu of verbal participation. Of course this does not dispel your responsibility to attend all classes. Obviously, special conditions may require you to miss class. Advance notice of such circumstances would be much appreciated, when possible.

Be sure to turn off your cell phone for the duration of the class. No laptops are permitted on desks unless you are prepared to demonstrate you are using one to take notes.

Critical Response Paper (15%) Due: Week 4

Your first essay for the term will be a brief critical commentary and close reading of a course text of your choice, selected from those assigned during the first four weeks of class. This essay should provide a brief précis of the reading, highlighting those features (narrative, figural, thematic, etc.) upon which you will focus. This should comprise no more than 1/3 of the essay. The remainder of the essay should be given over to your analytic exploration of the writing. Your interpretation should be your own, and your assertions must be supported by detailed reference to the text you are analyzing. Secondary sources are not necessary for this assignment. This paper should be 5-6 pages in length, double-spaced, 12pt font.

Proposal for Final Paper (10%) Due: Week 6

This proposal will help you organize your thinking on the topic of your final paper. For details on the parameters of that paper, see below. Your proposal will include a thesis statement, with a short outline (2 pages, double spaced) developing the questions and concerns that will animate you paper. It should also include a preliminary, annotated bibliography. This is worth 10% of your grade, but I will not accept your final paper if you have not first produced a proposal. It will be marked and returned to you with feedback for your essay.

Final Paper (40%) Due : Week 13

The final paper should demonstrate a strong grasp of the central problematics of this course. You have considerable latitude with the mode of this paper: i.e. you may elect to produce a formal research paper, a critical or theoretical argument, or a more speculative and creative essay exploring the themes, issues, figures and practices addressed in class. The choice is yours. Regardless of the form your paper takes, you should engage, in a significant way, with no fewer than 5 secondary sources. It should be 12 pages in length, double-spaced, 12pt font, and must include a full bibliography (MLA format) of texts that you engaged with directly in your work.

In-class Test (15%) Date: Week 12

This test will be a review of the course, and be composed of several short answer and one longer essay question.

Additional Student Responsibilities:

“The most common offense under the Code of Conduct (Academic) is plagiarism which the Code defines as "the presentation of the work of another person as one's own or without proper acknowledgement". Taken from: http://provost.concordia.ca/academicintegrity/plagiarism/ For tips on avoiding plagiarism please consult the url above.

You are responsible for all of the material covered in class (including any in-class screenings), as well as for assigned readings, film, video and web-based texts. If you miss a class and/or a screening, it is your responsibility to catch up on any missed material. This includes readings, presentations, announced changes to the schedule, guest lectures, etc.

Keep written copies of all submitted work. Note also that I do not accept electronic copies of student work. Submit all work on time. It is my policy to deduct points for each day a paper is late. I am willing to discuss extensions in the event of a medical or family emergency, provided you are able to supply appropriate documentation.

Treat all participants in the course with respect. Avoid dominating discussions. Once you have had your say, allow others who wish to do so to speak before you speak again. Avoid sexist, racist, able-ist and homo/transphobic language.

Weekly Topics and Readings (Tentative)

Jan. 5 Week 1—Introduction

Screening: Listening for Something (Adrienne Rich and Dionne Brand in conversation)

Jan. 12 Week 2— Écriture feminine and Écriture au féminine 1

Gail Scott, Heroine

Recommended:

Hélène Cixous, “The Laugh of the Medusa” (abbreviated) http://courses.essex.ac.uk/lt/lt204/cixous_medusa.htm

Jan. 19 Week 3— Écriture feminine and Écriture au féminine 2

Gail Scott, Heroine (complete)

Open Field: Nicole Brossard “Typhoon Thrum;” Lydia Kwa “Roadbook: The Sweet of Hands;” Daphne Marlatt “Small Print”

Jan. 26 Week 4— Rereading Sexual Difference through the Gothic Imaginary

Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber

Feb. 2 Week 5— Gendered Testimony: Acts of Witnessing

Anna Deavere Smith, Fires in the Mirror

Feb. 9 Week 6— Spoken Word

Open Field: Dionne Brand, Sonnet L’Abbé

http://www.aliciasometimes.com/page2.htm

http://www.myspace.com/emiliezoeybaker

Guest Readings: Emilie Zoe Baker & Alicia Sometimes

Feb. 16 Week 7— Writing Home/Performing Diaspora

Shani Mootoo, He Drown She in the Sea

Midterm Break

Mar. 2 Week 8— Women writing War 1

Hannan Al-Shaykh, Beirut Blues

Mar. 9 Week 9— Women writing War 2

Hannan Al-Shaykh, Beirut Blues (complete)

Riverbend, selections from her blog, “Baghdad Burning”

Mar. 16 Week 10— Competing Experimental Poetries I

Open Field: Erin Mouré/Eirin Moure; Lisa Robertson

American Women Poets: Rae Armantrault; Mei Mei Berssenbruge

NB: Read Poems, Poetic Statements and both critical essays

Mar. 23 Week 11— Competing Experimental Poetries II

American Women Poets: Lucie Brock-Broido; Jorie Graham; Lyn Hejinian, Susan Howe

NB: Read Poems, Poetic Statements and three of the four critical essays

Mar. 30 Week 12— Competing Experimental Poetries III

Open Field: Jeanette Armstrong, Anne Carson

American Women Poets: Harryette Mullen

NB: Read Poems, Poetic Statement and the critical essay

In-Class Test

Week 13—Rewriting/Redrawing Girlhood

Mariko & Jillian Tamaki, Skim

Final Paper Due.