Novels for the Intro Course

A question about novels to use in an Introduction to Women's Studies course
gave rise to the following discussion, which took place on WMST-L in March
2007.  For additional WMST-L files available on the Web, see the
WMST-L File Collection.

Hello All,

I am teaching an intro to WS course in the fall and am requesting
information on novels that individuals have used in a similar course
that addressess major and broad themes for an intro course, such as
work, families, sexuality, body image, women in politics and so forth.

I have used Nickel and Dimed, 20-Years at Hull-House, The Handmaid's
Tale, and Class Action in the past. Any other suggestions would be
great for reference.

Thanks for any responses in advance,

Tracy Smith
tsmith57 AT mymail.indstate.edu

Linda Hogan, SOLAR STORMS
LeAnne Howe, SHELL SHAKER
Keri Hulme, THE BONE PEOPLE
Winona LaDuke, LAST STANDING WOMAN
Susan Power, THE GRASS DANCER

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
http://www.janetmcadams.org

My favorite novels to use in Intro (plus the "intro topics" that we cover
with each novel) include:

Ruth Ozeki's *My Year of Meats* (racial identification, class politics in
the US, women and work, environmental hormones and reproductive health,
family violence, the power of the media, abortion, activism)

Danzy Senna's *Caucasia* (again, racial identification, the history of
anti-racist activism in the US, class politics, mother/daughter
relationship, developing sexual identity [it's a coming of age novel])

Sue Monk Kidd's *The Secret Life of Bees* (racial politics in the 1950s/60s,
women and spirituality, women and work, family violence, mother/daughter
relationship, sexual awakening [another coming of age novel])

Sapphire's *Push* (family violence and incest [some very graphic scenes],
the importance of education/literacy, teen pregnancy, racism, "welfare"
politics in the US, HIV/AIDS, sexuality)

Julia Alvarez' *In the Name of Salome* (the power of poetry, class politics
and revolution in the Dominican Republic, the US, and Cuba, mother/daughter
relationship, sexuality, women as artists, women as intellectuals)--this
novel has a much more complex narrative structure than the others; I've only
taught it once, to an Honors section, and I did have to spend a little more
time with them on narrative structure at the beginning. By the end, however,
the students agreed it was their favorite text in the class.

Although I've never taught it in Intro WS, I'd also highly recommend Hogan's
*Solar Storms*, which Janet listed. I teach it in my ecofeminism course.

Peace,
Jeannie
--
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Jeannie Ludlow, Ph.D.		jludlow AT bgnet.bgsu.edu
Undergraduate Advisor
Women's Studies
228 East Hall
Bowling Green State U
Bowling Green OH 43403

Although I never taught the following in intro to women's studies, they
worked for other introductory classes with a women and gender theme:

Patricia Highsmith, The Price of Salt (lesbian romance)
Fatima Mernissi, Dreams of Trespass: Dreams of a Harem Girlhood (memoir of a
girl growing up in Morocco in the 1940s)
Etel Adnan, Stitt Marie Rose (women and war)
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, When the Rainbow Goddess Wept (women and war)

Slavenka Drakulic, /S: A Novel About the Balkans (/rape camps)

Jeffery Eugenides, /Middlesex (/immigrants, intersexed)

Lewis Nkosi, /Mating Birds (/Apartheid South Africa)

Good luck,

Amal Amireh
Associate Professor of English
Department of English
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA
www.arabwomanprogressivevoice.blogspot.com

Blowing my own horn, you might want to use SEX WARS or HE, SHE AND IT.

marge piercy

These novels center on themes of mothers/daughters:

Zenzele by J. Nozipo Maraire (Zimbabwean) - an epistolary novel students
enjoy; based on a mother writing to her daughter about African women's
past and potential future.

Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat(Haitian-American) - accessible
and lyrical narrative about migration, coming-of-age, and generational
conflict.  Some attention must be paid to decolonizing the Western gaze
students might bring to the novel when discussing the ritual of "virginity
testing" explored in the story, but there's a great scene of feminist
consciousness-raising across nations and cultures toward the latter part
of the novel.

Oranges are the Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson (British) - an
autobiographical novel about the author's coming to terms with her sexual
orientation and with her mother's religious fundamentalism.  Students
really enjoy the wry humor in which this book is written.  I also like
pairing/contrasting this novel with Marleen Gorris's film Antonia's Line
(Holland), another favorite of students, when addressing mother/daughter
relationships and sexual attitudes.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (Iranian) - students love love this
autobiographical graphic novel, which is also an opportunity to bring in a
different genre into the Women's Studies classroom.  It explores the
author's experiences growing up during the Iranian Revolution and the
Iran-Iraq War.

Speaking of new genre and war, I'm planning to teach for the first time a
blog, "Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog in Iraq" which documents "Riverbend's"
experience during the present Iraq War, told from a young woman's
perspective.  I'm also interested in exploring the impact of the Internet
and new media in telling women's stories.  I'd appreciate any comments
from anyone who's taught this particular blog, which is available:
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

Best,
Janell Hobson
jhobson AT albany.edu

--
Janell Hobson
Department of Women's Studies
University at Albany, SUNY
1400 Washington Ave.
SS 341
Albany, NY 12222
www.albany.edu/faculty/jhobson

Those interested in the pedagogical uses of Persepolis (along with other
materials) might want to look at the latest issue of Transformations: The
Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy (volume XVII No.2 -- special
issue on "Teaching in Translation"). Janell Hobson writes a wonderful review
of Satrapi's graphic novel in her essay "Teaching Global Feminist
Consciousness."

To obtain a copy of this issue or for more information contact the editors
at transformations AT njcu.edu or check out the website:
www.njcu.edu/assoc/transformations

Jacqueline Ellis

> Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (Iranian) - students love love this
> autobiographical graphic novel, which is also an opportunity to bring in a
> different genre into the Women's Studies classroom.  It explores the
> author's experiences growing up during the Iranian Revolution and the
> Iran-Iraq War.

I teach Alice Walker's The Color Purple in my Gender
Studies section of The Literary Experience.  Every
year, I think, maybe this year I should teach
something new, but every year, my students fall in
love with it (and the vast majority have never read it
or seen the film version).

Jessica Nathanson

Dr. Jessica Nathanson
Visiting Assistant Professor
English and Gender Studies
Augustana College
janathanson AT yahoo.com
nathanson AT augie.edu

One of the nice things about teaching The Color Purple, is that the students
find it both fun and enlightening to compare it to the film (which you'd
also need to show, of course) to see the differences and decide why/if they
matter.  Even back when most people had already seen the film and had its
imprint in their minds, they vastly preferred the book with its richer
treatment of the relationships between the women.  It's also interesting to
speculate about what different purposes Spielberg might have had for the
film than Walker had for the novel.

Linda Payne
lpayne AT jaguar1.usouthal.edu
University of South Alabama

I would also add to this the politics of black women speaking out through
their literature on the subject of sexual violence.  Presenting to your
students the whole controversy surrounding The Color Purple as a
"male-bashing" novel when it first premiered - which was later exacerbated
by Spielburg's film - is worth discussing.

There's a video segment that I've taught with the novel, it was part of a
PBS program, "I'll Make Me a World," featuring African-American artists of
the 20th century.  The Alice Walker segment addressed the birth of The
Color Purple and the controversy surrounding it.

I don't think the film is an absolute requirement but I recommend it to
students.

I also recommend teaching Alice Walker's essay "In the Closet of My Soul,"
included in Beverly Guy-Sheftall's Words of Fire, which addresses her
characterization of Mister.

Addressing the Color Purple controversy when teaching the novel is a great
way to infuse interdisciplinary methods so that you're not just discussing
the "text" but also the "context" in which it was written and in which it
was received.

Best,
Janell Hobson
jhobson AT albany.edu

--
Janell Hobson
Department of Women's Studies
University at Albany, SUNY
1400 Washington Ave.
SS 341
Albany, NY 12222
www.albany.edu/faculty/jhobson

I, too, most often show the film when I teach the
novel.  My classes do discuss some of the larger
controversies re. the film and the novel, including
criticisms of the film's portrayal of Black men (it
seemed to me that much of the criticism of Walker,
even of the novel, came from people who hadn't read
the book?), Spielberg's skittishness about portraying
a lesbian relationship, and Mr.'s transformation in
the novel and his friendship with Celie, neither of
which are evident in the film (we see him "do the
right thing," but it's not a full transformation and a
moving back into community as it is in the novel).

The new DVD has interviews with Spielberg, Walker, and
the cast, so I also like to show some of these so that
the class can hear what they were trying to accomplish
with certain scenes and then evaluate how effective
those attempts were (for example, Spielberg argues
that the scene in which Celie sees Mr. standing at a
distance and looks away is a scene in which she
forgives him - an argument I don't find convincing).

I'm now going to photocopy the piece from Words of
Fire to give to my students!

Jessica Nathanson

Dr. Jessica Nathanson
Visiting Assistant Professor
English and Gender Studies
Augustana College
janathanson AT yahoo.com
nathanson AT augie.edu

In addition to Marjane Satrapi and LeAnne Howe, who others have
mentioned, I have found Lan Cao (Monkey Bridge), Edwidge Danticat (The
Dewbreaker) and Arundhati Roy (The God of Small Things) useful.  Lan
Cao works really well with Marjane Satrapi to discuss themes of home
and exile.  Students live Persepolis!

Best, Beth

Elizabeth Currans, Ph.D. Candidate
Dept. of Religious Studies and Women's Studies Program
University of California, Santa Barbara
myrtyl AT juno.com