English 315/Women’s Studies 315:
Women in Literature: Lesbian Fictions

English 315/Women’s Studies 315
TTh 11.30-1
East Hall 1068
Winter 2000
Prof. Suzanne Raitt
3176 Angell Hall/230E West Hall
Office phone: 764 0428/647 0773
Office hours: T 1.15-2.15 in 230E WH
W 3-4 in 3176 AH
GSI grader: Therese Stanton

Course Description | Required Texts | Course Schedule and Reading Assignments | Course Policies | Course Requirements | Grading | Course Pack Contents | Group Presentations

Lesbian Studies and Criticism: General Reading List
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In the late nineteenth century, doctors, lawyers and sexologists developed a new sexual category for women: the homosexual woman, "Sapphist", or lesbian. Of course, women had been feeling, and acting on, their attraction to one another for centuries, but for the most part such feelings had not been seen as central to, and constitutive of, their identities in the way that modern identity politics assumes they are. In this course we shall be looking at a range of fictional narratives which all consider the relation between lesbian pleasure, experience and identity. Our aim will be not to discover the "authentic" narrative of lesbianism. Rather, we shall explore the question of whether all narratives of identity can be seen as partly fictional, and we shall ask what aesthetic and literary possibilities are opened up by the production and circulation of such narratives. Although this is a large class, discussion in both small and large groups will be central to the way we work, and every member of the class will participate in a group presentation, which may take the form of a dramatization, a debate, or a class exercise. Other assignments will be occasional response papers, three papers and a final exam.

Required texts (available at Shaman Drum on State Street)

Sarah Scott, Millenium Hall
Radclyffe Hall, The Well of Loneliness
Virginia Woolf, Orlando
Nella Larsen, Passing
Ann Bannon, Journey to a Woman
Rita Mae Brown, Rubyfruit Jungle
Audre Lorde, Zami
Alice Walker, The Color Purple

Course schedule and reading assignments

Asterisked texts are in the course pack, available at Accu-Copy on William.

Th 6 Jan.: Introduction

What is a lesbian text?

T 11 Jan.: *Bonnie Zimmermann, 'What Has Never Been: An Overview of Lesbian Feminist Criticism', 1981, reprinted in Elaine Showalter, ed., The New Feminist Criticism (New York: Pantheon, 1985)

*Sheila Jeffreys, 'Does It Matter If They Did It?', in Lesbian History Group, eds., Not a Passing Phase: Reclaiming Lesbians in History 1840- 1875 (London: Women's Press, 1989)

 

Lesbianism before "lesbians"
Th 13 Jan.: *Katherine Philips, "A marryed state affords but little Ease", "L’Amitie: To Mrs M. Awbrey", "To the Excellent Mrs A. O. upon her receiving the name of Lucasia", "To Mrs M. A., Upon Absence", "To Rosania (now Mrs Mountague)", "To Mrs M. A. at Parting", "Friendships Mystery, to my Dearest Lucasia", "To My Excellent Lucasia, on our Friendship" [see course pack contents for citation of sources]

 

T 18 Jan.: Sarah Scott, Millenium Hall (1762), to p. 109
*George E. Haggerty, "‘Romantic Friendship’ and Patriarchal Narrative in Sarah Scott’s Millenium Hall", Genders, no. 13 (Spring 1992), pp. 108-22
*Extracts from the diary of Anne Lister, in Chloe plus Olivia

 

Th 20 Jan.: Millenium Hall, p. 110 to the end

 

T 25 Jan.: *Christina Rossetti, "Goblin Market", 1862, repr. in Cecil Y. Lang, ed., The Pre-Raphaelites and their Circle (2nd edn., Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985)

 

Th 27 Jan.: *Sheridan LeFanu, "Carmilla", 1872, in In a Glass Darkly (new edn. Gloucester: Alan Sutton, 1990)
FIRST PAPER DUE

 

The influence of the sexologists
T 1 Feb.: The Well of Loneliness (1928), Chs. 1-17
* Esther Newton, 'The Mythic Mannish Lesbian: Radclyffe Hall and the New Woman', in Estelle B. Freedman et al, The Lesbian Issue: Essays from Signs (Chicago, London: University of Chicago Press, 1985)

 

Th 3 Feb.: The Well of Loneliness, Chs. 18-35

 

T 8 Feb.: The Well of Loneliness, to the end

 

Th 10 Feb.: Virginia Woolf, Orlando (1928), Chs. 1-2
* Sherron E. Knopp, '"If I Saw You Would You Kiss Me?": Sapphism and the Subversiveness of Virginia Woolf's Orlando', in Joseph Bristow, ed., Sexual Sameness: Textual Differences in Lesbian and Gay Writing (London: Routledge, 1992)

 

Lesbian fantasy
T 15 Feb.: Orlando, Chs. 3-4

 

Th 17 Feb.: Orlando, to the end

 

Lesbian sub-texts
T 22 Feb.: Nella Larsen, Passing (1929), Part 1 and Part 2, Ch. 1
*Deborah E. McDowell, "Postscript" [excerpts], from Larsen, Quicksand and Passing, ed. Deborah E. McDowell (UK edn London: Serpents Tail, 1989)

 

Th 24 Feb.: Passing, to the end
SECOND PAPER DUE

 

T 29 Feb.: VACATION
Th 2 Mar.: VACATION

 

Lesbian romance
T 7 Mar.: Ann Bannon, Journey to a Woman
* Ann Barr Snitow, 'Mass Market Romance: Pornography for Women is Different', in Ann Snitow et al, eds., Powers of Desire: The Politics of Sexuality (New York: Monthly Review, 1983)

 

Th 9 Mar.: Journey to a Woman, to the end

 

T 14 Mar.: Rita Mae Brown, Rubyfruit Jungle

 

Th 16 Mar.: Rubyfruit Jungle, to the end


Lesbian difference

T 21 Mar.: Audre Lorde, Zami (1982), Chs. 1-12

 

Th 23 Mar.: Zami, Chs. 13-23

 

T 28 Mar.: Zami, to the end

 

Th 30 Mar.: *Judy Grahn, 'A Woman is Talking to Death', in The Work of a Common Woman: The Collected Work of Judy Grahn 1964-1977 (Trumansburg, NY: Crossing Press, 1978)
DRAFT OF THIRD PAPER DUE

 

Radical lesbianism
T 4 Apr..: *Adrienne Rich, "Transcendental Etude" (1977), and "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence" (1980), in Adrienne Rich’ s Poetry and Prose, selected and edited by Barbara Charlesworth Gelpi and Albert Gelpi (New York: Norton, 1993)
COMMENTS FROM PARTNER FOR THIRD PAPER DUE

 

Lesbian healing
Th 6 Apr.: Alice Walker, The Color Purple (1982), to p. 122 (letter beginning "I wrote a letter to you almost every day")
FINAL REVISED DRAFT OF THIRD PAPER DUE

 

T 11 Apr.: The Color Purple, to the end

 

Th 13 Apr.: Final class

Course policies

1. Even though this is a large class, there will be a heavy emphasis on discussion and it will be difficult for you to "make up" classes that you have missed, so I require regular attendance (your attendance record will affect the 20% of the grade that derives from participation). I will, of course, excuse absences on grounds of illness, family emergency, and religious holidays. If you can, let me know in advance if you have to miss class. E-mail is a good way to communicate information like this, or to set up appointments, but it is not usually very constructive to try to have intellectual discussion over e-mail (for example if you are confused about something, or if you have questions about your papers or the reading, or if you want to talk through something you are working on). For this reason, I will set up a time to meet or at least to talk on the phone if you have something substantial you want to discuss.

2. Due dates are as follows:

Paper 1: 27 Jan. in class
Paper 2: 24 Feb. in class
Paper 3:Draft due in class on 3/30
             Comments from your partner due on 4/4
             Final revised draft is due in class on 4/6

I do not accept late papers, unless you have discussed the matter with me first.

3. When writing your papers, remember that every point that you make should be backed up by evidence from the text you are discussing (ie.with a quotation or a specific textual reference). Whenever you quote, make sure you include full details of the text you are quoting from (author, title, publisher, date of publication of your edition, and page number). In your papers, all secondary material must be fully acknowledged. Failure to do this constitutes plagiarism, and this term also includes using words from other sources such as another student’s essay, or a term-paper ‘service’. The university takes plagiarism very seriously, and intentional plagiarism will result in an appearance before the Academic Action Board and a failing grade in this class.

Course requirements

1. Essays You will write three essays, the first two 5-6 pages long and the second 8-10 pages. The first two pieces will be close readings of two of the assigned texts; the final longer essay should develop a particular argument in the context of more than one text. For the final essay, you will write a short (1-page) proposal which will be discussed in class with a partner before you begin to write the essay.

2. Final exam You will be required to answer two questions, one a close reading of a passage which you will be asked to place in the context of the work from which it is taken, and the other an essay question in which you draw together the work and thinking you have done for the class.

3. Response papers For some classes, I will ask you to write a 1-page response to the assigned text. We will use these papers in a variety of ways: to generate in-class discussion, to be exchanged in small groups or pairs, to develop paper topics, and so on.

4. Class presentations At the beginning of the semester, we will organise the class into groups of seven or eight (depending on how many students we have) and each group will be responsible for making a joint presentation to the class, organising a class debate, or presenting the week's text in any way they think fit. Each group will meet with me the week before their presentation is due to discuss appropriate ways to proceed.

5. Class discussion Attendance, good preparation for class, and active and lively participation is essential. I will expect you to come to every class not only having done the reading, but also having taken notes on it, thought about it, and prepared some points for discussion. This will probably not be something you have to work at: it should just come naturally...

Grading

Essay 1: 15%
Essay 2: 15%
Essay 3: 30%
Final exam: 20%
Participation (including attendance, response papers and group presentations): 20%

Course pack

1. Bonnie Zimmermann, 'What Has Never Been: An Overview of Lesbian Feminist Criticism', 1981, reprinted in Elaine Showalter, ed., The New Feminist Criticism (New York: Pantheon, 1985)

2. Sheila Jeffreys, 'Does It Matter If They Did It?', in Lesbian History Group, eds., Not a Passing Phase: Reclaiming Lesbians in History 1840-1875 (London: Women's Press, 1989)

3. Katherine Philips, "A marryed state affords but little Ease", "L’Amitie: To Mrs M. Awbrey", "To the Excellent Mrs A. O. upon her receiving the name of Lucasia", from Germaine Greer, Susan Medoff and Melinda Sansome, eds. (London: Virago, 1988); "To Mrs M. A., Upon Absence", "To Rosania (now Mrs Mountague)", from Emma Donoghue, ed., Poems Between Women: Four Centuries of Love, Romantic Friendship, and Desire (New York: Columbia University Press, 1997); "To Mrs M. A. at Parting", "Friendships Mystery, to my Dearest Lucasia", "To My Excellent Lucasia, on our Friendship", in Lilian Faderman, ed., Chloe plus Olivia; An Anthology of Lesbian Literature from the Seventeenth Century to the Present (New York: Penguin, 1994)

4. George E. Haggerty, "‘Romantic Friendship’ and Patriarchal Narrative in Sarah Scott’s Millenium Hall", Genders, no. 13 (Spring 1992), pp. 108-22

5. Extracts from the diary of Anne Lister, in Chloe plus Olivia

6. Christina Rossetti, 'Goblin Market', 1859, first published 1862

7. Sheridan LeFanu, "Carmilla", 1872, in In a Glass Darkly (new edn. Gloucester: Alan Sutton, 1990)

8. Esther Newton, 'The Mythic Mannish Lesbian: Radclyffe Hall and the New Woman', in Estelle B. Freedman et al, The Lesbian Issue: Essays from Signs (Chicago, London: University of Chicago Press, 1985)

9. Sherron E. Knopp, '"If I Saw You Would You Kiss Me?": Sapphism and the Subversiveness of Virginia Woolf's Orlando', in Joseph Bristow, ed., Sexual Sameness: Textual Differences in Lesbian and Gay Writing (London: Routledge, 1992)

10. Deborah E. McDowell, "Postscript" [excerpts], from Larsen, Quicksand and Passing, ed. Deborah E. McDowell (UK edn London: Serpents Tail, 1989)

11. Ann Barr Snitow, 'Mass Market Romance: Pornography for Women is Different', in Ann Snitow et al, eds., Powers of Desire: The Politics of Sexuality (New York: Monthly Review, 1983)

12. Alma Routsong [Isabel Miller], 'Writing and publishing Patience and Sarah’, in Jonathan Katz, ed., Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the USA (Boston: Beacon press, 1992)

13. Judy Grahn, 'A Woman is Talking to Death', in The Work of a Common Woman: The Collected Work of Judy Grahn 1964-1977 (Trumansburg, NY: Crossing Press, 1978)

14. Adrienne Rich, "Transcendental Etude" (1977), and "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence" (1980), in Adrienne Rich’ s Poetry and Prose, selected and edited by Barbara Charlesworth Gelpi and Albert Gelpi (New York: Norton, 1993)

Group Presentations

*Please make a note of the date and topic/text you picked!

Date Text Presenters
T 25 January: Christina Rossetti, "Goblin Market" 1. Margaret Vincent

2. Katina Humphrey

3. Christine Yee

4. Kelli Doss

5. Riley Hoffman

6. Sarah Price

7. Jennifer Bell

Th 3 Feb.: Radclyffe Hall, The Well of Loneliness 1. Jim Kurleto

2. Carolyn Jones

3. Gina Chopp

4.Nicole Young

5. Jen Fish

6. Jay Cantin

7. Japiya Burns

T 15 Feb.: Virginia Woolf, Orlando 1. Kati Oakes

2. Christine Michaud

3. Kevin Schadt

4. Mario D. Perry

5. Deborah Selig

6. Franki Hand

7.

Th 24 Feb.: Nella Larsen, Passing: 1. Theresa Robinson

2. Christy Russell

3. Michelle Sauvé

4. Kevin Mauro

5. Mike Hernández

6. Erica White

7. Sarah Smith

Th 16 Mar.: Rita Mae Brown, Rubyfruit Jungle: 1. Mary Anne Wallace

2. Jessi Johnson

3. Jessica Roberts

4. Megan Schulze

5. Megan Croissant

6. Ray Howell

7. Meghan Belanger

Th 23 Mar.: Audre Lorde, Zami: 1. Erika Burney

2. Tazi Pruitt

3. Jaime Weiss

4. Allison Rosenberg

5. Lisa Refkin

6. Andrea Berman

7. Ryan Malkin

Th 30 Mar.: Judy Grahn, "A Woman is Talking to Death" 1. Molly Bain Frounfelter

2. Meredith Hochman

3. Mandy Taylor

4. Sabina Babel

5. Julie Waters

6. Brandi Biscoe

7. Beth Tyszkiewicz

8. Angela Carroll

 

Course Description | Required Texts | Course Schedule and Reading Assignments | Course Policies | Course Requirements | Grading | Course Pack Contents | Group Presentations

Lesbian Studies and Criticism: General Reading List
new.gif (304 bytes)Paper 3 Topics
          Paper Guidelines