二十與二十一世紀文學

This course aims to explore issues of body and embodiment, as well as sex/gender configurations at the intersection of corporeal and social differences in 20th- and 21st-century literature. By discussing four novels—Margaret Atwood's Lady Oracle (1976), Jamaica Kincaid's Lucy (1990), Leslie Feinberg's Stone Butch Blues (1993), and Alison Bechdel's Fun Home (2006)—we will try to answer these questions: How are queer studies and disability studies useful in addressing bodily differences? What could be the pitfalls in thinking of bodies in terms of individuality and identity, especially when bodies change over time? What does it mean for a woman to have a body of her own? What is the butch/FTM (female-to-male transsexual) border war all about? What is intersectional studies, and why is it important? And how does a graphic novel tackle issues of gender, sexuality, and time in a narrative? Along with these literary texts, we will also study some critical essays, hold individual conferences, and have a final presentation to moderate the process of producing a final paper. If you are an undergraduate student, you may turn in three short papers instead of a long final paper.

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Participation ---If you do not show up by 1:25 pm, you lose 3 points of the participation grade (10 points in total). Tardiness makes it difficult to make public announcements and start our discussion. ---If you have to be absent, please let me know in advance and use the Students Leave System. Legitimate leaves (personal leaves do not count) will exempt you from the deduction of participation grade. Undocumented and unexcused leaves will affect your participation grade. ---If you do not speak in class, I will call on you. Individual Presentation(s) ---Depending on the number of enrolled students, we may have one or two rounds of individual presentations. ---Presenters need to prepare 3-5 questions and facilitate class discussion. The questions could be based on people's response papers. Always refer to specific passages/scenes during your presentation. Response Papers ---Whenever we are reading fictions, you have to post your questions or observations (l00-200 words, not including quotations; 11 times) on our New E3 course website at least 12 hours before class. ---These are risk-free exercises: as long as you post responses in a timely manner, you will get the full points. However, if you (1) miss page number(s) when you cite or paraphrase passages, (2) pay little attention to your writing (for example, turn in a response paper riddled with grammatical errors), or (3) ask vague questions or simply repeat others' questions, I will dock 0.5-1 point for each kind of slip. ---Any missing response paper costs 3 points (30 points in all). ---Here are two samples: 1. What is the relationship between Joan Foster, the female protagonist in Margaret Atwood's Lady Oracle (1976), and the Fat Lady in the sideshow? When Aunt Lou warned the girlhood Joan of laughing at other people's misfortunes, Joan "found it unfair: other people laughed at mine, I should get a chance too" (86). Should Joan not be empathetic? People teased Joan at school for her body as well. 2. Why does Leslie Feinberg's Stone Butch Blues (1993) begin with Jess Goldberg's letter to her lover, Theresa (1-6)? A letter is supposed to be personal, and Jess has been private about her feelings, but the letter now goes public. Why does Feinberg do this? Short Papers or Final Papers ---You have to turn in 3 short papers (each 900-1200 words, double-spaced) or a final paper (3000-4000 words, double-spaced). ---The short papers are ideally an extended exploration or explication of your response papers. They should be on three different novels discussed in this course. Each of your two best short papers will be 15% of the final grade. ---Your final paper must be on a novel covered in this course. If you want to compare/contrast different texts, ask the instructor first. You cannot turn in a paper previously submitted for another course. Paper Format 1. Use the MLA style. Use 12pt Times New Roman. Do not justify your text; leave the right side as it is. Ideally, come up with a concrete title or a question for your assignment. Please do not just write "Short Paper #1" and so on. 2. Spell out the full title of the story and add the original publication year. 3. Do not summarize the whole story. Describe it, and the description should lead to issues you want to explore in your paper. 4. Cite passages, with page numbers in parentheses. Contextualize your citations. If your cited passage is longer than four lines, create a block quote. 5. Watch out for punctuation marks and spaces when you cite passages. 6. If you make any change in a citation (for example, telling readers who or what a certain pronoun refers to), put your changes in brackets. Email Exchanges ---Please do not email me via New E3. It is difficult to reply when I am reading your message on my phone. If you have any question, please send your message to chku@nctu.edu.tw. ---Please call me Prof. Ku, Chung-Hao, CHK, or Richard. ---Emails are for short notifications. If you have a list of questions, please ask me in class, make appointments, or visit me during my office hours. ---Please identify yourself in your message. Give me your Chinese/English names and student ID number, please. ---Your message should come with an appropriate subject line: for example, Questions about __________ (20th/21st-Century Literature). An appropriate subject line will help me retrieve your message. On the safe side, I will delete your message if you do not have any subject line.

Class Participation and Attendance: 20% Presentation(s): 10% Weekly Response Papers: 30% One Final Paper: 40% OR Three Short Papers: 10%, 15%, 15%

Atwood, Margaret. (1976) 1998. Lady Oracle. New York: Anchor Books. Bechdel, Alison. 2006. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Feinberg, Leslie. (1993) 2014. Stone Butch Blues. 20th Anniversary Author Edition. www.lesliefeinberg.net Kincaid, Jamaica. (1990) 2002. Lucy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Other readings will be available on our New E3 course website.

地點

HC409

時間

Office Hours: TUE. 9:00-11:00 or by appt.

聯絡方式

chku@nctu.edu.tw Tel: 03-5712121, ext. 58117