Module: ENG7001-30 - Intersections: Rewriting Gender

Level: 7

Credit Value: 30

Module Tutor: Faith Binckes

Module Tutor Contact Details: f.binckes@bathspa.ac.uk

1.Brief description and aims of module

This module explores a long and dynamic counter-tradition that questions the categories assigned to us as gendered subjects, with a focus upon texts that recognise the reductiveness of fixed, binary structures in art as in life. The module will not be restricted by literary genre or period, and will engage works in a range of media (most specifically, performance, the visual arts, television, and film) where appropriate. It will include writings that repurpose broadly realist narrative conventions-- including those more associated with non-fictional genres such as autobiography, travel writing or correspondence-- to articulate the experiences of those who have been marginalised, silenced or ignored, or those who explore boundaries considered dangerous to cross.

Our aim in presenting different approaches, genres, and literary periods will be to address their ‘intersections’, as well as their distinctiveness. While you will be invited to find your own path and to incorporate materials and perspectives of your own choice, texts will be selected to maximise creative and connected thinking, and to consider the material and historical aspects of this evolving tradition as well as its theoretical and critical frameworks. In assessing theoretical debates, you will address the fact that ‘intersections’ mark instances of connection and overlap, but also points of difference and departure. The study of continued critical dissensus must form part of any approach to this subject, as you develop and articulate your own position within the field, and emerge as engaged and responsible critical thinkers and makers.

2.Outline syllabus

The module will be structured around three strands, which will be configured to address emerging fields of scholarship and shifting research agendas.

The texts, and the syllabus, respond to the following imperatives:

1) the diversity of experiences of sex and gender;

2) the global inheritances and legacies of literature in English;

3) the political and social exigencies of the times.

As such, all the works selected will be innovative and experimental to an extent. In certain cases, experimentation will involve systems of art and writing that attack representation at its roots, in line with the calls to dismantle false concepts that have motivated radical, avant-garde movements from the later nineteenth century onwards. In others, experiment might take an opposing route, being most visible by the manipulation of accessible, popular forms and genres.

3.Teaching and learning activities

Seminar study; lectures; invited speakers (virtual and/or in person); critical writing workshops and discussion groups; screenings. Field trips if required (for instance, to literary festivals or exhibitions, where appropriate)

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: Course Work
• Description: Independent Project (7,000 words or equivalent)

This is a negotiated project that will typically comprise two or more of the following elements:

• Analytical essay
• Proposal, rationale and design for an event
• Electronic resource
• Audio or visual presentation
• Critical reflection

Your choice of elements will be driven by a number of factors, including the conceptual focus of your project, the formal as well as thematic concerns of your chosen texts, and a consideration of the specific audience(s) for whom you are writing. It is intended that this flexibility will prompt you to experiment with and reflect on different modes of writing.

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