English 159 - Fall, 2013

Topics in the Novel

Topic: Dogs, Tigers, and Frogs: Contemporary Novels by Women

Class Information

Instructor: Embry, Karen
CRN: 53540
Time: TR 4:40-6:00
Location: 251 Olson

Description

In this course we will be reading novels written by American (Filipino-American, Bosnian/Slovenian-American, Indian/Canadian-American, Euro-American) and British women writers between 1987 and 2011--some that take up the relationship between animality and the feminine overtly, and others that have only a tangential connection to questions of gender and the place of the animal. Some of the works that we will cover in the course explore national political concerns, some speak to the politics of the everyday, and others tackle the complex interwoven nature of the national and the personal. While we will also study selections from theoretical works that address questions of animality and the feminine in order to situate our reading of these texts, our engagement will focus on the singularity of the novels, and therefore not be limited to questions of gender or of the animal; thus, you will be free to pursue research, writing, and discussion topics outside of this initial lens. We will also address the significance of the particular relationship that women authors have to the tradition of the novel, leading us to consider how these contemporary works both continue and break with that tradition as they attempt to speak to their own historical moment.

Grading

Weekly writing assignments (20%), midterm (20%), essay (35%), final exam (25%)

Texts

Dogeaters (1990), Jessica Hagedorn
Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? (1994), Lorrie Moore
The Dogs: A Modern Bestiary (2001), Rebecca Brown
The Tiger Claw (2004), Shauna Singh Baldwin
The Tiger’s Wife (2011), Téa Obreht
Moon Tiger (1987), Penelope Lively
Carmen Dog (1988), Carol Emshwiller