Feminism and Motherhood 3301-KA2533-1ST
This class is for students interested in feminist theories and practices that
explore transgenerational perspectives. It offers a basic, comprehensive
survey of the field of motherhood studies. During classes, we will discuss
various texts of culture, among them academic publications, visual
materials (feature films, biopics, episodes of series), and short pieces of
fiction, placing them in historical and political contexts. We will mostly
focus on the American context, although we will also make "trips" to Great
Britain and, depending on the interests of students, to Poland (and,
possibly other geographical regions). We will explore feminist and
maternal theories as tools of social criticism, capable of crafting new
perspectives on the neoliberal social contract.
The material will be presented in chronological and thematic orders to
enhance a comprehensive view on the diversity and complexity of
maternal topics from a cultural studies perspective. We will consider the
following categories: gender, body, race, representation, performativity
and spontaneity. The texts and visual material will approach the topic
from various methodological points, including gender studies, affect theory,
psychoanalysis and object relation theory. All relevant concepts will be
explained and discussed in class, although students interested in critical
theory are encouraged to make connections with what they already
know.
The reading and visual materials are to enhance students to critically
address the question of motherhood, including the distinction between
institutionalized motherhood and the lived maternal practice. We will also
look at the uneasy relation between feminism and the maternal that has
been an ongoing topic of discussion for the last two centuries. We will
interrogate the concept of white motherhood and juxtapose it with other
types of motherhood, for example Black or Latina motherhood.
Among the authors discussed in class are Donald Winnicott, John
Bowlby, Adrienne Rich, Sara Ruddick, Julia Kristeva, Luce Irigaray, Lisa
Baraitser, Emily Jeremiah, and Donald Stern. We will also critically read
Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan.
Type of course
Mode
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Knowledge
Students will be able to:
- understand key terminology, well established methods and theories of literary studies and culture studies within English studies (K_W02);
- describe methodology and recent developments in English literary studies and culture studies (K_W03);
- explain principles of designing literary and culture studies, with special focus on selecting appropriate methods and tools in formulating research questions (K_W07);
- identify on an advanced level the multiplicity of cultures and their complexity, cultural codes, as well as structural and institutional background of culture, with special focus on English-speaking countries (K_W09),
Abilities
Students will be able to:
- employ the terminology and methodological tools from literary studies and culture studies (K_U01);
- employ the methodology of literary and culture studies within English studies, respecting the ethical norms and copyright law (K_U02);
- implement knowledge to describe a problem and identify means to solve it, thereby completing a project in literary studies and in culture and religion studies (K_U04);
- collect information from various sources, critically assess a source and usefulness of information; analyze and draw generalizations on the basis of information so obtained (K_U05);
- present knowledge and communicate in a cohesive, precise and linguistically correct manner in the English language at level C1 as defined by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (K_U09).
Social competences
Students will be ready to:
- undertake life-long learning and personal development, applying skills and competences to select subjects and projects optimally suiting one’s personal interests (K_K02);
- value responsibility for one’s own work and respect the work of others, adhering to the professional and ethical norms in various projects and other activities undertaken at work, voluntary services, etc.. (K_K03);
- function effectively in social and cultural interactions, through various forms and media, thanks to the ability to express oneself in a cohesive and lucid manner (K_K05);
- value cultural heritage and cultural diversity (K_K06).
Assessment criteria
active participation, familiarity with the assigned reading and visual materials, ability to respond to them critically - 50%
final essay - 50%
The students are allowed two absences.
Bibliography
Baraitser, L. 2011. Maternal Encounters: An Ethics of Interruption.
London: Routledge.
Benjamin, J. 1988. The Bonds of Love: Psychoanalysis,
Feminism, and the Problem of Domination. New York: Pantheon.
Bowlby, J. 1988. A Secure Base: Parent-child Attachment and
Healthy Human Development. London: Tavistock.
Bueskens, P. (ed.). 2014. Mothering and Psychoanalysis: Clinical,
Sociological and Feminist Perspectives. Ontario: Demeter Press.
Bueskens, Petra. 2018. Modern Motherhood and Women’s Dual
Identities: Rewriting the Social Contract. London: Routledge.
Irigaray, L. 1993. Je, Tu, Nous, Toward a Culture of Difference,
trans. Alison Martin. New York: Routledge.
Keith, A. and A. Sharrock. 2020. Maternal Conceptions in
Classical Literature and Philosophy. Toronto: University of
Toronto Press.
Kristeva, J. 1982. Desire in Language: A Semiotic Approach to
Literature and Art. New York: Columbia University Press.
Rich, A. 1976. Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and
Institution. New York: W.W. Norton.
Ruddick, S. 1989. Maternal Thinking: Toward a Politics of Peace.
Boston: Beacon Press.
Stern, D. 1977. The First Relationship: Infant and Mother.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Umansky, L. 1996. Motherhood Reconceived: Feminism and the
Legacies of the Sixties. New York: New York University Press.
Winnicott, D. 2005 (1971). Playing and Reality. London and New
York: Routledge.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: