FREN3461: The F-Word: Feminism and Intersectionality in Contemporary Francophone Writing

• French Language 2 (FREN2051) plus one or more from: FREN2011, FREN2031, FREN2061, FREN2091 OR an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

• Modern Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint with programmes: French Language 4 (FREN 3041). Other: see Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

• None

• To introduce students to key contemporary feminist concerns and to examine the meaning of feminism through analysis of a transnational range of contemporary literary works from France and the French-speaking world.
• To place theory and literature in close dialogue in order to explore the intersectionality of contemporary feminism, in other words the interlocking systems of power in the institution of sexism, homophobia, racism, classism, ableism, etc, and the interconnected relations between questions of gender, sexuality, race, disability and so on.
• To scrutinise the role of the literature in reflecting, advancing and shaping feminist debates.
• To question the ambivalence surrounding the word 'feminism' through the optic of contempoary writing.

• This module addresses a number of contemporary feminist concerns as explored in a transnational range of literary texts. In any given year, these may include works from regions as diverse as France, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, Canada, the Indian Ocean, the Middle East or the South East Asia, as well as theoretical works drawn from francophone and anglophone contexts.
• Themes explored in any given year may include the representation of the body, affect, desire, and sexuality, sexual violence, kinship, reproductive rights, disability, inequality in the workplace, ethnicity and race relations, immigration, social alienation and disaffection.
• Feminist concerns will be situated within different social and cultural contexts in France and beyond the mtropole, allowing students to examine intersections between gender, race and ethnicity and to consider how feminism might be shared, debated and contested across the world.
• Students will be encouraged to reflect broadly upon the construction of gender, and to examine the representation of masculinity, as well as queer, trans and non-binary subjectivities.
• Set texts may includenovels, lifewriting, short stories, poetry and phototext, analysed alongsidea range of feminist, gender, queer, crip, postcolonial and critical race theories. See module website for full details.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Critical comprehension and knowledge of a range of recent literary texts, offering insight into contemporary social and political issues relating to intersectional feminism.
• Critical insight into the development of the relationship between feminist theory and literature into the 21st-century, and an understanding of how literary aesthetics, technique and genre may contribute to, or contest a feminist politics.
• In-depth knowledge and understanding of key debates and terms in contemporary feminism, gender, queer, crip, postcolonial and critical race theory.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Advanced critical analysis and close reading of literary texts.
• Enhanced ability to engage with relevant critical theory (to include inter alia philosophy, cultural studies, psychoanalysis) relating to the concerns of intersectinal feminism.
• Enhanced ability to read critical theory and literature in dialogue, and to think across disciplines, drawing links between different epistemologies relating to feminist concerns.
• Enhanced ability to carry out cross-cultural analysis, drawing out resonances between transnnational works, while accounting for cultural specificity and difference.

Key Skills:

• Critical and analytical thinking
• Essay writing and oral presentation
• Structuring of arguments
• Independent learning and research

• Weekly lectures and fortnightly seminars.
• Assessment will be by two summative essays which will reflectthe intended learning outcomes, namely critical understanding and knowledge of literary texts based on close reading, and broader theoretical and cultural awareness of the contexts that inform them.
• Students will give one group seminar presentation, allowing them to explore, problematise and debate particular themes relating to the first summative essay questions with fellow students working on the same topics/texts.
• Independent research will be fostered, particularly for the second longer summative; students will be encouraged to design their own essay title in consultation with tutor, as an alternative to the choice of prescribed essay questions.
• Teaching will be in English, with the module capped according to School norms.

Students will be invited to consult the tutor during office hours to discuss ideas for summative assessment. They will also receive feedback on the group presentation.

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