Detailed Course Information |
Fall 2021
Apr 18, 2024 |
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| GSFS 0242 - Critical Conditions |
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*Critical Conditions: Gender, Literature, and Illness (Pre-1800)*
In this course we will explore the literary representation of illness and pain in a range of texts from the classical period to the present day, focusing in particular on the intersection of illness with questions of gender, race, and sexuality. Beginning with Sophocles’s tragedy Women of Trachis, we will explore the classical representation of acute pain in the context of early Greek medicine, before examining medieval and early modern literary works inspired by the Black Death, including selections from Boccaccio’s Decameron. The second half of the class will focus on modernist and contemporary accounts of illness, including Virginia Woolf’s treatment of both the 1918 influenza epidemic and so-called “shell-shock” in her novel Mrs Dalloway. We will intersperse our literary readings with theoretical explorations of cure, disability, and ableism by writers such as Eli Clare, as well as work from the emerging field of narrative medicine. 3 hrs. lect.
0.000 OR 1.000 Credit hours 0.000 OR 1.000 Lecture hours 0.000 TO 2.000 Other hours Levels: Undergraduate Schedule Types: Discussion, Lecture Interdisciplinary Division PrgGender/Sexuality/Fem. Study Department Course Attributes: EUR, LIT Restrictions: Must be enrolled in one of the following Colleges: Undergraduate |
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