Dietz, Morgan
MWF 1 :50 PM
Park Hall 145
In Burnt Sugar, Avni Doshi describes motherhood as an “un-doing,” as a child pulls their mother “safely apart,” while for Mahasweta Devi’s character, Jashoda, motherhood is a “great addiction.” It is an experience variously met with joy, confusion, rage, or fear, and, as such, is neither universal nor easily defined. Representations of motherhood in contemporary global literature offer unique entry points into both literary and women’s studies: from the bodily experiences of pregnancy, labor, or lactation, to representations of unequal domestic labor, transmission of national, religious, or cultural values, issues of access for LGBTQ+ parents, depictions of reluctant mothers, and instances of extreme social, economic, and racial disenfranchisement that may lead to child illness, neglect, or death.
In this class, we will trace the concept of “motherhood” across novels, short stories, poems, and memoirs, considering the ways in which these shifting social, historical, and ideological definitions shape not only one's identity, but the familial, educational, political, and economic structures that surround them. Texts in this course will cover experiences of biological mothers, adoptive mothers, non-kin caretakers, queer and transgender parents, and those of their children, as well as the perspectives of authors from various regions, tentitively including Toni Morrison, Arundhati Roy, Charmaine Wilkerson, Avni Doshi, Mahasweta Devi, Jamaica Kincaid, Chika Unigwe, Grace Nichols, Layli Long Soldier, Catherine Pierce, Jackie Kay, Kiran Desai, Meaghan O’Connell, and Gloria Anzaldua.