ENH2750

Contemporary women's fiction and theory

P Nestor

8 points - 2 hours per week - Second semester - Clayton

Objectives Students successfully completing this subject should have gained knowledge of a range of contemporary fiction by women and a capacity to apply theoretical concepts to the critical analysis of particular texts. They should also have developed an understanding of the key issues in the feminist critical debate as they relate to the question of 'difference of view' and of the ways the self is constructed, and re-constructed, through memory.

Synopsis The subject provides an introduction to feminist literary theory and surveys contemporary fiction by women. A focus for study will be offered by an examination of uses of autobiography, re-vision and re-construction - the act of 're-membering the self,' which is one of the fundamental preoccupations of contemporary women's writing. The subject will enable students to build, if they choose, on the historical perspectives offered by ENH2570 (Writing women).

Assessment Essay (3000 words): 50% - Class paper (1000 words): 20% - Test (2 hours): 30%

Prescribed texts

Alther L Other women Penguin
Anderson J Tirra Lirra by the river Penguin
Atwood M Cat's eye Virago
Hulme K The bone people Pan
Lee H (ed.)The secret self: Short stories by women vol. 1, Dent
Modjeska D Poppy McPhee Gribble
Morrison T Beloved Picador
Sarraute N Childhood John Calder
Weldon F The life and loves of a she devil Coronet

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