Abstract
IN A FIELD AS NEW AS WOMEN'S STUDIES, to protest the traditional reading list or approach may seem premature. However, after several traumatic semesters one might argue convincingly for a reevaluation. Whereas generally the task of choosing texts for Women's Studies courses in literature is an exciting experience because of the anticipation of introducing students to many writers who are left out of their regular curricula, it also posits the difficulty of achieving a balanced representation of the various images of women. particular difficulty in point is finding sufficient representations for that section of the course that should be entitled The Liberated Woman or She Who Succeeds. In American Literature, the shortage is acute. Having made a study of the dearth of self-actualized, positive heroines in works by American Male Novelists for the Educational Resources Infor7nation Center, the problem was not unexpected. Nor has this deficiency gone without critical comment. Caroline Heilbrun discussed the implications of this problem in her article for Saturday Review, The Masculine Wilderness of the American Novel. Wendy Martin's conclusion in Seduced and Abandoned in the New World is that daughters of Eve, American heroines are destined to lives of dependency and servitude as well as to painful and sorrowful childbirth because, like their predecessor, they have dared to disregard authority or tradition in search of wisdom or happiness... . problem is not limited to fiction. Studies abound that lament the lack of positive female role models in everything from the Dick and Jane primary readers to high school history books. Adding women writers to the reading lists, whether they be writers newly discovered or resurrected by feminist criticism or already acclaimed writers, does little to alleviate the problem. resultant mood created by the reading material in Women's Studies courses in American Literature is rage or despair. This is true though there are several excellent short story and poetry anthologies that can be used in combination with any number of novels. same is true, though to a lesser extent, in a course that focuses on biography or autobiography. After going mad with Zelda, attempting suicide in Bell Jar, and agonizing through
- Journal
- College English
- Published
- 1978-02-01
- DOI
- 10.2307/375869
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