Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0259 - Feministfictions:woolf&circles

Best known for her experiments with form and style in the modernist novel, Virginia Woolf was also deeply engaged with the literary and artistic currents of her time. This course addresses the lesser-known women writers and artists who worked alongside Woolf, both in the Bloomsbury Group and in overlapping activist circles. We will investigate how Woolf grapples with questions central to her contemporaries, including the psychic and social damage wrought by WWI; alternatives to conventional understandings of gender, sexuality, marriage, and domesticity; and the role of women in shaping new visions of a more equitable and just future. We will challenge notions of canonization in reading the work of Vanessa Bell, Vera Brittain, Radclyffe Hall, Winifred Holtby, Dorothy Sayers, and Rebecca West alongside Woolf's writings and those of the male modernists with whom she is often associated. Several shorter papers and a longer project will be required, and students will be encouraged to conduct research in local and digital archives.

Independent Work Writing and Research A prior course in literary studies is strongly recommended. In this course, students are expected to spend 8-10 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.