Images of Women

Module overview

Cultural representations of women shed important light on notions of female subjectivity, sexuality and racial identity in the modern world. Medical discourses on gender, mental pathology and the rise of modern feminism are just some of the pivotal histories that can be traced through images of women in this period. Works by H. G. Wells, Virginia Woolf and Sigmund Freud highlight the influences fiction, feminist criticism, and psychoanalytic theory had in moulding and recasting images of women, as they appeared in American and European cultural contexts at the turn of the century.

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

evaluate critically a range of textual material
analyse key concepts and ideas
employ an understanding of the theoretical debates on feminist theory and, in particular, on sexuality, identity and hysteria
contextualise the work of the writers studied and consider critical responses to it

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

images of women in literary and psychological texts of the period in the context of changing roles and women’s perceptions of self
critical responses to the authors studied
the literary, historical and cultural contexts of the works of the chosen writers

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

write critically, accurately and in some depth on a range of views
use your research to draw on a wide variety of secondary and supplementary sources

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include • background lectures • seminars • independent study Learning activities include • close reading and careful analysis of selected texts and themes • engagement in seminar discussions as participator and listener • preparation for and completion of two coursework essays This module includes a Learning Support Hour. This is a flexible weekly contact hour, designed to support and respond to the particular cohort taking the module from year to year. This hour will include (but not be limited to) activities such as language, theory and research skills classes; group work supervisions; assignment preparation and essay writing guidance; assignment consultations; feedback and feed-forward sessions.

Study time
Type	Hours
Teaching	36
Independent Study	114
Total study time	150

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Showalter, Elaine (1998). Hystories: Hysteria, Gender and Culture. Picador.

Mills, Sara (1996). Feminists Readings/Feminist Reading. Prentice Hall.

Appinignanesi, Lisa and John Forrester (eds.) (2001). Freud’s Women. Virago.

Ussher, Jane M (1991). Women’s Madness: Misogygny or Mental Illness?. Harvester Wheatsheaf.

Abel, Elizabeth (1996). Virginia Woolf and the Fictions of Psychoanalysis. CUP.

James, Joy (ed.) (2000). The Black Feminist Reader. Blackwell.

Assessment

Assessment strategy

Assessments designed to provide informal, on-module feedback • you will be encouraged to discuss preparation for your two coursework assignments with your tutor • you will have the opportunity to seek individual advice on your work in progress with your tutor • you will be given guidance and advice in class on preparation, completion and presentation of assignments

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Essay	50%
Essay	50%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Resubmit assessments	100%

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Resubmit assessments	100%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External