Studies in Literature and Film (386-0-22)
Topic
Besties and Frenemies: Reps of Female Friendship i
Instructors
Johana Staza Godfrey
Meeting Info
Harris Hall L28: Tues, Thurs 3:30PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
What won't girls do for each other? Slumber parties—revenge plots—kissing practice—makeovers—hiding bodies—shoplifting—exorcisms! This class reclaims modern "woman's fiction," a broad and dismissive publishing term, to unpack the strong, consuming, and sometimes combative relationships between best friends on the page and screen. In these texts, queer desire erodes the borders of "just friends," and emotion and attachment dissolve the boundaries of personhood between besties. How do strong female attachments subvert hetero-patriarchal norms through history? How do mimicry, identification, and desire blend together? To explore these questions of identity and attachment, we will begin with twentieth-century short fiction and film, including Nella Larsen's Passing (1929), Dorothy Baker's Cassandra at the Wedding (1962), and Peter Weir's film Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975). Later texts include cult classics Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997) and Jennifer's Body (2009), Sarah Ahmed's blog feministkilljoys, Brit Bennett's historical novel The Vanishing Half (2020), and selected episodes from Insecure (2016-2021) and Yellowjackets (2021). Students will approach these texts through a critical background in the history of emotion and affect theory.
Teaching Method
Seminar discussion, collaborative group exercises.
Evaluation Method
Participation, presentation, short analytical paper, final project.
Class Materials (Required)
Passing (ISBN 9780593437841) and The Vanishing Half (ISBN 9780525536963) Willa Cather, My Mortal Enemy (1926); Nella Larsen, Passing (1929); Dorothy Baker, Cassandra at the Wedding (1962); Peter Weir, Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975); Joyce Carol Oates, Foxfire (1993); David Mirkin, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997); Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half (2020); selected episodes from Insecure (2016-2021) and Yellowjackets (2021).
Texts will be available at: at Norris, all others on Canvas.
Class Attributes
Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area