239791 Theorizing Gender from a Cultural Studies Perspective (S) (SoSe 2014)

Theorizing Gender from a Cultural Studies Perspective

Gender is one of the chief axes along which inequalities of power are organized. As a principle of classifying human beings, gender is a universal, all-pervasive characteristic of society. The concept denotes both the knowledge of sexual difference and the social organization of that difference. This understanding of gender as a discursively produced construct allows the deconstruction of the multiplicity of meanings of masculinity and femininity, meanings that derive from both terms being oppositional rather than from signifying actual men and women. Moreover, as a doubly relational category gender denotes both inter- and intra-relations of men and women, thus facilitating exploration of the ways in which gender, class and ethnicity i.a. are interlinked, and fractured by, each other. As a social construct, gender is focused as an arena of struggle in which the meanings of femininity and masculinity are contested and negotiated.
This course will introduce you to key theoretical texts that, taken together, chart the increasing sophistication of gender as an analytical concept.
In order to demonstrate at least some of the multifariousness of gender, there are four courses on offer that theorize gender from a linguistic, literary and cultural studies perspective. It is therefore recommended that students choose two courses, each from a different field.

Bibliography

The relevant reading material will be made available at the start of the semester