Slovenian literary discourse and gender

Objectives and competences

Students gain knowledge about how gender identities are thematized and problematized in literature. They are able to recognize stereotypical images of gender in literary texts. Students understand how gender representations have been shaped in a historical perspective. They learn how gender works in the mechanisms of reception, canonization, and the literary market. They get acquainted with the virtual research environment Women Writers in History and other electronic databases, from which they can obtain information on the influence of gender on literary creation and literary mediation.

Prerequisites

The successful integration in the study course is connected with the knowledge of other literary-historical and cultural historical formations in the field of Slovenian literature and culture and linguistics.

Content

Lectures:
Definition of basic terms:
sex, gender, discourse

Gender as a factor in the literary constitution of authorship: literary history and critique and female authorship

Images of femininity and masculinity in selected Slovenian literary texts

Thematizations of homosexuality in selected Slovenian literary texts

Gender and literary transfer and transmission

Gender and popular literature

Seminar:
Through interpretive reading, students deepen the acquired knowledge from lectures, critical reading of selected articles from the field of gender studies.

Intended learning outcomes

Students master basic literary-historical concepts related to the study of gender. They are able to problematically deal with literary periods, directions, currents and other literary phenomena, and to think critically about the relationship between gender (cultural and biological) and literary creation.

Readings

  • Blanka Bošnjak: Vloga stereotipov v sodobni slovenski kratki prozi. Jezik in slovstvo. 50/2005.1. 25–36. E-version
  • Katja Mihurko Poniž: Labirinti ljubezni v slovenski književnosti od romantike do II. svetovne vojne. Ljubljana: Sophia, 2008. V, 254 str. Zbirka Sodobna družba, 2008. Catalogue
  • Katja Mihurko Poniž: Literarna ustvarjalka v očeh drugega: študije o recepciji, literarnih stikih in biografskem diskurzu. Založba Univerze v Novi Gorici: Nova Gorica, 2017. E-version
  • Alojzija Zupan Sosič: Spolna identiteta in sodobni slovenski roman. Primerjalna književnost. Letn. 28, št. 2 (2005), str. 93–113. E-version
  • Alojzija Zupan Sosič: Homoerotika v najnovejšem slovenskem romanu. Jezik in slovstvo. 50, št. 3/4 (maj–avg. 2005), str. [5] –16. E-version

Assessment

Written exam. By continuously completing written assignments and actively participating in the seminar, students can obtain a 30% grade point average.

Lecturer's references

Prof. dr. Katja Mihurko Poniž, is the author of five scientific monographs (Boldly Different: Zofka Kveder and Images of Femininity; Labyrinths of Love in Slovene Literature from Romance to World War II; Eve's Daughters: Constructing Femininity in Slovene Public Discourse 1848-1902; Written with her pen: Breaks of Early Slovene Writers with the Paradigm of National Literature; Literary Creator in the Eyes of the Other: Studies on Reception, Literary Contacts and Biographical Discourse) and Zofka Kveder, editor of the Collected Works (five volumes have been published so far). She is active in international research projects, is the head of the Women Writers in History working group at the pan-European digital humanities network DARIAH and the head of the CEEPUS network of Women Writers in History. Her research areas are: feminist literary studies, gender studies, digital humanities, Slovene drama, Slovene-German literary contacts and the history of the Slovene women's movement.