Contents of spoon-archives/french-feminism.archive/Syllabi/Feminism_in

Contents of spoon-archives/french-feminism.archive/Syllabi/Feminism_in_France

PHIL 491r/HUM 499r: FEMINISM IN FRANCE Dr. Kristin Switala kswitala@cecasun.utc.edu Course Description In this course we will examine three types of French Feminist philosophy: existential, postmodern, and ecriture feminine, as well as analyze the historical and political conditions of the women's movement (MLF) in France in the 20th century. We will begin by studying the existential feminism of Simone de Beauvoir, followed by Claire Duchen's historical-political analysis of the feminist movement in France. Then we will turn to the postmodern political thought of Luce Irigaray and the practice of ecriture feminine, as developed by Helene Cixous and Catherine Clement. Although these three types of feminism have similarities within the overall context of women's struggles for rights in France, we will concentrate on the different ideas and options for action that each type of feminist theory presents. Course Requirements There will be three 5-page papers, one 2-page report, and at least 3 good responses to other students' reports in class. The grade distribution is as follows: 5-page paper on deBeauvoir 25 points 5-page paper on Duchen & Irigaray 25 points 5-page paper on Cixous & Clement 25 points 2-page report in class 15 points 3 good responses to other reports 10 points TOTAL 100 points Required Texts 1. Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. 2. Duchen, Claire. Feminism in France: From May '68 to Mitterand. 3. Irigaray, Luce. Thinking the Difference: For a Peaceful Revolution. 4. Irigaray, Luce. Je, Tu, Nous: Toward a Culture of Difference. 5. Cixous, Helene and Catherine Clement. The Newly Born Woman. 6. Cixous, Helene. Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing. Recommended Texts 1. Simons, M.A. Feminist Interpretations of Simone de Beauvoir. 2. Whitford, Margaret. Luce Irigaray: Philosophy in the Feminine. 3. Conley, Verena A. Helene Cixous: Writing the Feminine. Films 1. Ingmar Bergman (director). Persona. (Swedish) 2. Bruno Nuytten (director). Camille Claudel. (French) Course Calendar 1. Introduction 2. de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Introduction (pp. xix-xxxvi) and reports on Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre 3. de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Ch. 4 (pp. 61-65) 4. de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Ch. 5-6 (pp. 66-96) and report on Claude Levi-Strauss 5. de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Ch. 7-8 (pp. 97-138) 6. de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Ch. 12 (pp. 267-327) and report on Helene Deutsch 7. de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Ch. 13 (pp. 328-370) 8. de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Ch. 16 (pp. 425-483) 9. de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Ch. 17 (pp. 484-527) 10. de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Ch. 21 (pp. 597-628) 11. de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Ch. 25 (pp. 679-715) 12. de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Conclusion (pp. 716-732) 13. Film: Bergman's "Persona" 14. Film: Bergman's "Persona" and report on "Persona" 15. Paper #1 is due 16. Duchen, Feminism in France, Ch.1-2 (pp. 1-48) and report on the May 1968 student uprisings in France 17. Duchen, Feminism in France, Ch. 4 (pp. 67-82) and reports on Jacques Lacan and Michel Foucault 18. Duchen, Feminism in France, Ch. 5 (pp. 82-102) 19. Duchen, Feminism in France, Ch. 6-7 (pp. 103-149) 20. Irigaray, Je,Tu,Nous, "A Personal Note" (pp. 9-14), "The Neglect of Female Genealogies" (pp. 15-22), "Religious and Civil Myths" (pp. 23-28), and report son French national politics from 1986-1996 and the women's movement in France from 1986-1996 21. Irigaray, Je,Tu,Nous, "Women's Discourse" (pp. 29-36), "Linguistic Sexes and Genders" (pp. 67-74), "Writing As A Woman" (pp. 51-59) and report on international statistics concerning women 22. Irigaray, Je,Tu,Nous, "On the Maternal Order" (pp. 37-44), "The Culture of Difference" (pp. 45-50), "More Women Than Men" (pp. 93-100) and report on how Irigaray is not an essentialist 23. Irigaray, Thinking the Difference, "Preface" (pp. vii-xii), "A Chance to Live" (pp. 1-36) 24. Irigaray, Je,Tu,Nous, "The Right to Life" (pp. 75-80), "Why Define Sexed Rights?" (pp. 81-92), "The Cost of Words" (pp. 119-132) 25. Reports on how Irigaray uses the (ancient Greek) Antigone story to show the need for sexed rights and responsiblities in society, and on Irigaray's discussion of the forgetting of love in patriarchal (ancient Greek) culture 26. Film: Nuytten's "Camille Claudel" 27. Film: Nuytten's "Camille Claudel" and report on Camille Claudel 28. Paper #2 is due 29. Cixous and Clement, The Newly Born Woman, and biography of Helene Cixous 30. Cixous and Clement, The Newly Born Woman, 31. Cixous and Clement, The Newly Born Woman, 32. Cixous and Clement, The Newly Born Woman, 33. Cixous and Clement, The Newly Born Woman, and report on Freud's analysis of Dora 34. Cixous and Clement, The Newly Born Woman, and report on Cixous' play, Portrait de Dora 35. Cixous and Clement, The Newly Born Woman, and on our Listserve: Maggie Simon's report on Cixous' essay, "The Laugh of the Medusa" 36. Cixous, Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing, 37. Cixous, Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing, 38. Cixous, Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing, 39. Cixous, Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing, and report on Verena Conley's analysis of the "missexual" in Cixous' writing 40. Cixous, Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing, and report on three other French Feminists: Julia Kristeva and Rosi Braidotti andKristeva 41. Paper #3 is due

Driftline Main Page