Gender, Genre, and History

In this seminar we will examine the relationship between gender, literary genre, and history. As we consider how different genres have helped to define, enforce, or question the logic of binary gender, we will also investigate their relationship to their original and shifting historical conditions. Topics we may explore include the relationship between the romance and femininity, gender in sci-fi and fantasy, and whether experimental forms enable gender play. Texts may include Octavia Butler’s Bloodchild, Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, Ridley Scott’s Alien, Leslie Feinberg’s Stone Butch Blues, and various poetry, theory, and film.