Littérature : Auteures américaines en contexte

In the 19th century, women writers were often writing on the domestic sphere and on sentimental matters. Things began to change in the middle of the century when women started looking at other spheres, discovering what they could do outside the home place. Discussing the place of women in the canon, this class will focus on several writers whose work helped change the face of women for the centuries to come. By revisiting stereotypes to better condemn them, some women writers paved the way for emancipation long before they were given the right to vote.

TD (1 h, G. Preher, 12 weeks):

The seminar will be based on close-readings of texts by women writers, sometimes in relation to works by male writers that will be handed out separately. Students are expected to have read Cather’s A Lost Lady for the first class. The other texts will be handed out in the form of a reader.

Willa Cather, A Lost Lady (1923). [Vintage Classics]

Katherine Anne Porter, “The Journey” (1936)

Eudora Welty, “A Worn Path” (1941)

Elizabeth Spencer, “First Dark” (1959)

Ellen Douglas, “Grant” (1998)