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Comments

Alex

'one immediately becomes not a scholar of literature, but a feminist scholar of literature, or worse, a scholar of "Women's Literature."'

I can totally relate to this. It's really frustrating to hear that what you have to say is not relevant enough, it's part of a "fad".

"if you're not a man, it can get a bit dull reading yet another bildungsroman about some guy trying to find his way in the world, where most of the female characters are either good and wifely or bad and succubus-ish."

Amen, sister. How to describe the void one feels when reading flat female characters?

"But what about Circe's version of the story? Ah, that, gentle readers, is women's literature. That will be covered (maybe) in a course on modern women poets, or maybe American woman's writing, or perhaps even in a "Revisionist Feminist Literatures" class. It will be a part of a course that's offered as an elective, not as a requirement."

I took a Peruvian literature course last semester and it was a disaster. No women anywhere. I was beginning to wonder if Peruvians had found a way to get males pregnant. I had to do separate research, and yes, there were women in Peruvian lit. Two examples: Florinda Matto de Turner and Mercedes Cabello de Carbonera. Did my paper on them :)

I liked your thoughts and the Gluck poem. Made me feel less alone in the world. Greetings from Puerto Rico.
:)


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