Feminist Literary Utopias

What is a literary utopia? What is its purpose and what are the forms it can take? How does gender complicate and influence both its structure and objectives? This course will explore answers to these questions by employing the general foundations of utopian literary theory and feminist theory along with specific textual examples drawn from French, Italian, and English literature from diverse historical moments. We will analyze different types of literary utopias: from the “traditional” model of imaginary cities, communities, or peoples; to “conceptual utopias” that act as ideological blueprints for societal functioning; and finally “transgressive utopian thought” as a mode of thinking that redefines “utopia” as a change in consciousness.

Through close reading and comparative analysis, we will discuss the feminist implications of shifting an understanding of “utopia” as place to utopia as conceptual space and even as a way of being. In addition to concept, we will closely consider form — the structure, format, and poetics of the texts — in order to see how the authors express specific feminist and gendered concerns through language. We will ultimately seek to answer the question: Is there a “language of utopia” that female writers speak in a way that is different from male writers? If so, how does this language function and is it effective?