WGSS 37.01 Female Monstrosities

This course will explore how the concept of the female monster has been foundational to the construction of gender as well as of race, class, and sexuality. We will begin in Ancient Greece by analyzing female monstrosities like Medusa and Medea, as well as the Lilith figure from the Hebraic tradition, in order to then explore Black feminist reworkings of these figures. Particular attention will be paid to the figure of the witch and to the female vampire, as these figures travel from the heart of Europe to its peripheries in the modern world, to what Katherine McKittrick has termed the “demonic grounds.” The course will cover texts by authors that include Maryse Condé, Toni Morrison, Jewelle Gomez, and Octavia Butler. We will explore how these authors offer a feminist embrace of monsters as an imaginative way to combat heteropatriarchy as well as white supremacy.

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:LIT; WCult:CI

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Department-Specific Course Categories

Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies