FRENCH 281: Women in Africa and the Caribbean: Tales of Agency

Course Description

This course explores forms of women¿s agency in African and Caribbean cultural productions. Drawing on literature, visual art and feminist theory we will grapple with the concept of agency in different socio-historical and economic contexts while examining texts and films at the intersection of race, gender and agency. In addition to considering the acts of subversion, negotiation, resistance and transgression, throughout the semester, our investigations of gendered agency will pay particular attention to creativity as a tool to challenge power relations specific to each context explored. Topics include race, class, nationalism, métissage, oral tradition, Afro-Caribbean religions, sexuality, marriage, food and the body. Taught in English.