COMPLIT 278: Women Writing War (FEMGEN 278A, GERMAN 278)

Course Description

War stories, ubiquitous as they are, are not typically women's stories. More often than not, they are written by men, about men, and, in many cases, for men - often told from the front lines and battlefields. The horrors of war test the boundaries of representation in any case, but how might we begin to see military conflicts and their aftermaths differently when women tell the story? This seminar investigates writings about war by female authors of fiction and reportage, primarily, but also of poetry and drama. We will focus on 20th- and 21st-century conflicts from around the globe - World Wars I and II; conflicts in the Middle East, including the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Lebanese Civil War, and the Iraq War; the Nigerian and Rwandan Civil Wars; and the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War - as we explore how feminist literary praxis decenters and subverts classic war stories. All texts will be read in English translation.