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 The Women’s Bildungsroman (or) The Coming of Age Novel in the 20th Century Liminality is the state of “in between-ness” that accompanies adolescence, twilight, the space between, the borderlands. The liminal state is often characterized by ambiguity, openness, and indeterminacy. One's sense of identity dissolves to some extent, bringing about disorientation. Liminality is a period of transition where normal limits to thought, self-understanding, and behavior are relaxed - a situation which can lead to new perspectives. The bildungsroman has been defined as “a novel of formation” but it has traditionally been thought of as a young man’s quest; women were expected to have different standards of maturity and seldom set off on their own to discover themselves. How has this changed in the 20th Century? This course is a 3 credit senior (or graduate) seminar on the coming of age women’s novel. We will explore important themes of identity, “mirror-stage” awareness, the quest-motif for women & themes of exile and escapism, conflict with parental figures, conformity vs. noncomformity. Since the texts are multi-cultural, we will also explore whether/how these themes are different when we look at various places, time periods, and senses of identity. The course requires a heavy reading load; stay on your feet and don’t get behind! Grading: Annotated
Bibliography & Proposal 10% Your final assignment for this class will be an essay on your research for the semester. The purpose of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to produce a potentially publishable essay reporting on research that you have conducted this semester. The final paper should be at least 15 pages in length (double-spaced, typewritten, 1" margins, 12-point font, and documented using the 6th edition of the MLA Guide). The draft of this paper must include a recognizable beginning, middle, and end; be proofread carefully; and be at least 12 pages in length. Daily Reports: A one-page summary of a scholarly article or book chapter is due each day. Sign up for your report in the first class meeting. You should bring a print copy AND post your summary on your Blog. You should have a handout for each member of the class summarizing the main points of the article/chapter you read/report. Required Texts/Reading Schedule: Week 1:
Edith Summers Kelley. Weeds.
Some critical/theoretical works that may be helpful.
Abel, Elizabeth. "(E)Merging Identities: The Dynamics of Female Friendship in Contemporary Fiction by Women." Signs, 6 ( 1961), 413-435. ----. Marianne Hirsch, Elizabeth Langland, eds. The Voyage In: Fictions of Female Development. Hanover and London: Published for Dartmouth College by University Press of New England, 1983. Baym, Nina. Woman's Fiction: A Guide to Novels by and About Women in America, 1820-1870. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1978. Bolotin, Susan. "Voices from the Post-Feminist Generation." New York Times Magazine. 17 Oct. 1982: 28, 20 Feb. 2003. Boes, Tobias. “Modernist Studies and the Bildungsroman: A Historical Survey of Critical Trends.” Literature Compass 3 (2) :230–243. Braendlin, Bonnie Hoover. "Bildung in Ethnic Women Writers." Denver Q 17 (1983): 75-87. Buckley, Jerome. Seasons of Youth: The Bildungsroman from Dickens to Golding. Harvard UP, 1974. Christ, Carol. Diving Deep and Surfacing: Women Writers on Spiritual Quest. Boston: Beacon Press, 1979. Dalsimer, Katherine. Female Adolescence: Psychoanalytic Reflections on Literature. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1986. DeMarr, Mary Jean, and Jane S. Bakerman. The Adolescent in the American Novel Since 1960. New York: Ungar Publishing Co, 1986. Frye, Joanne. Living Stories, Telling Lives: Women and the Novel in Contemporary Experience. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1986. Heller, Dana. The Feminization of Quest-romance: Radical Departures. Austin: U of Texas P. 1991. Hirsch, Marianne. The Mother/Daughter Plot: Narrative, Psychoanalysis, Feminism. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1989. Keller, Barbara. Woman's Journey Toward Self and its Literary Exploration. Lang, Peter Publishing. 1986. Pratt, Annis. Archetypal Patterns in Women's Fiction. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1981. Barbara White. Growing Up Female: Adolescent Girlhood in American Fiction. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1985. Wittke, Gabriele. Female Initiation in the American Novel. Lang, Peter Publishing, Incorporated. 1991. Yaszek, Lisa. "I'll be a Postfeminist in a Postpatriarchy, or, Can We Really Imagine Life after Feminism?" Electronic Book Review. 29 Jan. 2005, 5 March 2005.
Scholarly Journals that may prove useful in your research: Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy. See especially the Special Third Wave Feminism issue from 1997 vol 12 issue 3. A/B: Auto/Biography Studies Feminist Studies Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society Women's Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal
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