Theories and Fiction of Androgyny
COL 251
Fall 2009 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
ENGL 255, FGSS 248 |
The dream of a unique, complete being who is both male and female has a long history in the Western tradition. Moving from Plato to contemporary fiction, we will look at representations and theories of androgyny in literature, philosophy, psychoanalysis, and feminist theory, asking how and why one might imagine moving beyond the limitations of a single sex and who or what those fantasies serve. What is it about sex/gender that gives rise to its imagined transcendence? What other relations (of power, culture, nation) may be implicated in the representation of sexual difference and its overthrow? Is it possible to move outside of one's gender, or is gender designation itself flawed? In asking these questions we will be especially concerned to see how sex/gender difference is constructed at different moments even, and especially, when it is presumed to be overcome. Authors will include Plato, Ovid, Freud, Foucault, Balzac, Woolf, Cixous, Irigaray, and Hwang. |
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Essential Capabilities:
None |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA COL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (FGSS) |
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