Spring 2008 Courses

English 270-01: Literature and Sexuality: Subversive Sexualities (Çelikkol)

T/TH 1:00-2:30pm, Old Main 002

This course will examine the narration of sexuality in nineteenth- and twentieth-century British literature, with an emphasis on representations of subversion. Which literary tropes addressed the transgression of sexual codes and the undoing of gender binaries? How did literary representations of sexuality evoke gender and class identity? How did novels and poems contribute to the policing of sexuality? How did they undermine it? We will first address these questions in the historical context of the nineteenth century, examining the literary figures of the prostitute and the libertine. As we will see, despite the presumed repressiveness of Victorian society, Victorian writing created a public discourse around sexuality. We will gradually transition into the twentieth century as we discuss the legacy of aesthetes and decadents. Our discussions of twentieth-century British literature will first address the Bloomsbury group, famous for its members' rebellion against Victorian morality, and then turn to explorations of sexual otherness in the post-colonial period. This course fulfills the pre-1900 requirement for the English major and the College's new writing requirement (the "W" requirement).

*First day attendance required*

Spring 2008 Course Listings