Spring 2009

E 397N • Twentieth-Century Caribbean Women's Writing

Course Description

In this survey, we will explore not only the historical developments in twentieth-century Caribbean women's writing, but also the spectrum of intellectual and political changes represented by this body of work. Issues of particular interest will include the intersection of race, gender, and place in identity construction; women writers' creative yet no less politicized interventions in key regional artistic and political movements, and the figure of the traveling intellectual in late twentieth-century fiction. How does relocation to the Metropole impact one's experience and articulation of racialized gender identities? What constitutes "theory" or a viable "manifesto"? What is the nature and relevance of intellectual work--and intellectuals--situated outside the academy? Secondary readings may include texts by A. James Arnold, Carole Boyce Davies, Maryse Condé, Frantz Fanon, Vera M. Kutzinski, and Paulette Nardal.

Texts

Proposed Texts Julia Alvarez, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent Lydia Cabrera, Afro-Cuban Tales: Cuentos negros de Cuba Mayotte Capécia, Je suis Martiniquaise/La négresse blanche (I Am a Martinican Woman/The White Negress) Marie Chauvet, Amour (Love) Michelle Cliff, Abeng Hilma Contreras, Entre dos silencios (Between Two Silences) Edwidge Danticat, Brother, I'm Dying Ramabai Espinet, The Swinging Bridge Paule Marshall, The Chosen Place, the Timeless People Gisele Pineau, Chair piment (Devil's Dance) Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea Ana Lydia Vega, True and False Romances (Masks)

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