Contemporary Women's Writing: Bodies, Health, Voices - ENG00135M
- Department: English and Related Literature
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: M
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Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
- See module specification for other years: 2022-23
Module summary
This module explores contemporary American women’s writing. It examines the relationship between fiction and life writing and the ways in which certain female writers have experimented with new literary forms in order to represent bodily experience. We will read short stories, essays, novels, memoirs and poems and examine theoretical texts that engage with shifting ideas about gender, health, care, voice and embodiment drawn primarily from the fields of feminism and medical humanities.
Module will run
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Semester 2 2024-25 |
Module aims
This module aims to introduce you to some important and influential contemporary American women’s writing. It will encourage you to analyse closely a number of key primary texts by female authors who write about the body and health. We will pay particular attention to questions of genre, form and voice. The module aims to give you the opportunity to discuss important theoretical works from the fields of feminism and medical humanities and to use these to build rigorous, creative arguments about your chosen primary texts in your own written work and through oral presentations.
Module learning outcomes
On successful completion of the module, you should be able to:
- Demonstrate an advanced understanding of and engagement with some key examples of contemporary women’s writing
- Demonstrate an advanced understanding of and engagement with theories of embodiment, health and voice
- Evaluate key debates within the relevant critical fields of feminism and medical humanities
- Produce independent arguments and ideas which demonstrate an advanced proficiency in critical thinking, research, and writing skills.
Indicative assessment
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
You will receive feedback on all assessed work within the University deadline, and will often receive it more quickly. The purpose of feedback is to inform your future work; it is designed to help you to improve your work, and the Department also offers you help in learning from your feedback. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further you can discuss it with your module tutor, the MA Convenor or your supervisor, during their Open Office Hours.
Indicative reading
- Siri Hustvedt, The Blindfold (1993)
- Eula Biss, On Immunity (2014)
- Maggie Nelson, The Argonauts (2015)
- Ada Limon, The Carrying (2018)
- Leni Zumas, Red Clocks (2019)
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “Zikora” (2019).
- Sigrid Nunez, What Are you Going Through? (2020)