What are Jewish Women's Writing Courses About?
These courses aim at presenting and discussing the works of extraordinary Jewish writers, thinkers, philosophers and activists. Among authors the course wishes to engage with are: Kadia Molodowski, Khana Levin, Anna Margolin, Debora Vogel, Rachel, Leah Goldberg, Zelda, Else Lasker Schuler, Agi Mishol, Irena Klepfisz, Adrienne Rich, as well as Irit Amiel, Rukhl Fishman and many many others from the end of the 19th century till the 21st century. They are writers are from Europe, Israel and America as well as writing originally in Yiddish, Hebrew or English, or other languages (like Russian and Polish). The courses develop all the time, we change the reading every term and sometime devote our reading and discussion to one or two author only. And then we come back to the author discussed before. It is all about continuous discussion and making a literary history a fairer space Language(s): All classes will be held in English and the reading will be preliminary in English and (if available) in Swedish (as well as in the original language).
Aims: Among the aims of the course is to learn about Jewish women’s literary heritage and to enjoy discussion about literature in various contexts, so apart from taking a role of the literary critics and informed readers, who will often use the feminist perspective, we will - at times - need to be historians, trying to understand ideological contexts of the works, at times – we will be the religious scholars, seeking the doctrinal contexts of the texts, or - at times - political commentators, using also the thought of philosophers like Hannah Arendt or Susan Sontag. Among the main key concepts that are relevant to all the sessions are: women’s history and Jewish history (herstories), the Jewish women’s voices in the 20th-century literature, women’s Jewish literature from various part of the world, the intertwinement of politics and private life, happiness and struggle through songs, poetry, short stories, novels and intellectual debates. |
1. Jewish Women's Writing and Notion of Identity in 20th Century2. Contemporary Jewish Women's Writing3. Short Stories by Women |
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?
How to see literary history differentlyUltimately, the main aims of the course are:
|