ENMMLF-Modern Literary Feminisms: Theories/Praxis/Texts

Module Provider: English Literature
Number of credits: 20 [10 ECTS credits]
Level:7
Terms in which taught: Spring term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2023/4

Module Convenor: Dr Nicola Abram
Email: n.l.abram@reading.ac.uk

Module Co-convenor: Dr Nicola Wilson
Email: n.l.wilson@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module explores modern feminist thinking and writing, while also acknowledging the critical fissures inherent in the contested term ‘feminism’. It will introduce students to aspects of feminist theory and praxis through reference to a range of texts – including fiction, non-fiction, film, drama, blogs and websites – to problematize the implicit hierarchies contained in different kinds of knowledge. The module will encourage students to reflect on their own embodied knowledge and to connect their reading with the (gendered) world around them.

Aims:

This module aims to introduce students to the dynamic field of literary feminism, from the late twentieth century to the present day. It foregrounds the multiplicity of the term ‘feminism’, through attention to intersecting issues of race, class, and sexuality.  It aims to juxtapose different kinds of text, questioning the often gendered value judgements inherent in the category of ‘literature’ and its established canon. Aligning the assessment method with the module content, the module aims practically to explore issues around access to voice and representation through a collaborative writing task.

Assessable learning outcomes:

By the end of the module it is expected that the student will be able to:

Recognise the multiplicity of literary feminisms, with reference to different global contexts, historical periods, and political emphases

Assess the significance of form and genre in relation to thematic content

Consider the publishing, production and reception contexts of the set texts

Make connections between writing and other forms of activism

Formulate critical questions

Conduct bibliographic research 

Analyse and interpret texts independently

Synthesise a written argument

Additional outcomes:

The module will encourage students to develop their oral communication skills through discussions in seminars, to think critically both within and across disciplines, and to interrogate their own assumptions and arguments, as well as those of others including their peers and seminar leaders.

Outline content:

The module will trace a number of key concepts and concerns in the history of modern literary feminisms. These include the recovery of ‘lost’ lives and narratives; the relationship between power and space; the intersection of sexism and patriarchy with racism, class, and sexuality; the significance of the body; and representations of and responses to sexual violence.

Set texts are likely to include works by Sara Ahmed, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Alison Booth, Judith Butler, Hazel V. Carby, Stella Duffy, Lauren Elkin, Cecile Emeke, bell hooks, Anne McClintock, Juliet Mitchell, Joyce Carol Oates, Simone Murray, Jacqueline Rose, Elaine Showalter, Carolyn Steedman, Sojourner Truth and Jacqueline Wernimont.

The module will also attend to the issue of women’s access to ‘voice’, considering the mechanisms of print and online publication and different forms of physical and digital archive. Set texts will include literary fiction and non-fiction, theory, drama, literary criticism, and audio-visual material, and will span the disciplinary categories of philosophy, sociology, anthropology, and textual history.

The module will be taught by a team of staff, likely to include Dr Nicola Abram, Dr Maddi Davies, Dr Sue Walsh and Dr Nicola Wilson (staffing correct at the time of writing).

Global context:

This module supports students’ understanding of the ways in which categories of difference such as nationality, ethnicity, and socio-economic status intersect with gender and sexism. Students will be prompted to read widely across the literary world, as the module draws on Anglophone texts by authors of English, American, African, Canadian and Asian heritage. 

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Contact time will take the form of ten weekly seminars, each two hours long. Each seminar will involve discussion of texts or other materials set and prepared in advance. The seminars will be taught by a number of different members of the English department, working as a team to combine their individual expertise so as to provide students with a wider range of materials and approaches. The convenors will be available for consultation on a one-to-one basis to discuss students’ work and p rogress on the module as a whole.

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Seminars		20
Guided independent study:		180
Total hours by term		200
Total hours for module	200

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written assignment including essay	100

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

Students will work in pairs or groups of three to produce a collaboratively-authored document of 1,000 words on one aspect of feminist theory or praxis or one text studied on the module. This collaboratively-authored document will be worth 20% of the module mark. Students will also each write a 500-word individual reflection on the collaborative process, worth 10% of the module mark. Due Week 11 of Spring Term.

Students will also produce a 3,000-word essay on one or more of the set texts. The specific essay question or title will be determined by the student in consultation with the module convenor. This essay is worth 70% of the module mark. Due Week 2 of Summer Term.

Formative assessment methods:

Students will be given the opportunity to submit a formative essay partway through the term in which the module is taught.

Penalties for late submission:

The below information applies to students on taught programmes except those on Postgraduate Flexible programmes. Penalties for late submission, and the associated procedures, which apply to Postgraduate Flexible programmes are specified in the policy 'Penalties for late submission for Postgraduate Flexible programmes', which can be found here: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/cqsd-old-site-documents/penaltiesforlatesubmissionpgflexible.pdf
The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/cqsd-old-site-documents/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

50%

Reassessment arrangements:

Re-submission of coursework

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1) Required text books: 

2) Specialist equipment or materials: 

3) Specialist clothing, footwear or headgear: 

4) Printing and binding: 

5) Computers and devices with a particular specification: 

6) Travel, accommodation and subsistence: 

Last updated: 12 July 2023