"The Woman in Scandinavian Literature"

 

Scand. St. 420

Lit Trans 343

 

 

Spring 2018

 

Monday-Wednesday-Friday 11-11:50

 

Van Hise 578

 

 

 

Nete Schmidt, Ph.D.  aschmidt2@wisc.edu, 1368 Van Hise,

Office hours T- R 11-11:50 and by appointment

Required Texts:

Gerd Brantenberg   Egalia's Daughters
Astrid Lindgren Pippi Longstocking
Sissel-Jo Gazan     The Arc of the Swallow


Grading Scale:

Participation   15%
2 Presentations and write-ups 30%
Formal Essay 15%
2 Exams 40%

 

                        

                                                

                                        

Participation:

In order to do well in this course, you should attend every class period and participate actively in class discussion and presentations.   You should be prepared for every class by having read and thought about the scheduled text, so you can share your thoughts and insights and benefit from listening to your fellow students.

If you are going to be absent, please let me know in advance.  If you are unable to attend a class, please call a classmate to find out what went on, so you will be up-to-date with assignments.

Presentations:

Each student will give two 20-minute power point presentations of one of our authors and texts. Presentations should provide a general summary of the author’s life and work and discuss, in particular, styles and themes associated with the author.

Students should provide a brief handout for the class including questions to initiate a discussion about the reading by the author chosen for the class.

Students should provide a write-up of the presentation to be handed in at the end of the class. The write-up should consist of power point slides, questions, and a brief summary of the purpose of the presentation.

The Syllabus:

The syllabus shows the reading and discussion topic for each day of the week, so the first entry is the reading for Monday, the second entry the reading for Wednesday, and the third entry the reading for Friday.

Please read the texts listed so you are able to participate in class discussions.

The course will consist of lectures, presentations, and discussion.

Readings marked UW are available on the website in Canvas.

Formal Essay:

You will write one 3-5 page (750-1250 words) analysis of the readings that we have studied during the course. Topics for the essay will be provided. You must include outside sources in your essay to make it more academic.

 

Your essay must be word-processed, double-spaced in MLA format.  All should have a standard heading on the top left corner of the page (your name, date, my name, class), and each paper should have a title.

Prompts for formal essay.

Exams:

The first exam is on Friday, March 23, during class.

The second exam is on Wednesday, May 2, during class.

Plagiarism:

You must give credit to any source you use for ideas or wording. Representing the ideas and words of another as one’s own is a violation of the standards for academic honesty. Do NOT buy papers from the web as that is academic dishonesty and will result in a failing grade for the class.  Plagiarism, which is defined as the deliberate use of another’s ideas or words as if they were one’s own, can take many forms such as:  

- Borrowing, buying or stealing a paper from elsewhere; lending or selling a paper for another’s use as his or her own; using printed material written by someone else as one’s own  
- Getting so much help on a paper from someone else, including a college tutor, that the student writer can no longer legitimately claim authorship  
- Intentionally using source material improperly, e.g., neither citing nor using quotation marks on borrowed material; supplying an in-text citation but failing to enclose quoted material within quotation marks; leaving paraphrased material too close to the original version; failing to append a works-cited page when sources have been used  
- Unintentional misuse of borrowed sources through ignorance or carelessness  

Sanctions recommended for dishonesty are an “F” on the assignment and/or an “F” in the course. More serious violations may be referred to the Academic Dean’s Office for appropriate action.

Syllabus - liable to change!

Date

Readings & Discussions.  UW = reading is online in Canvas.

 

Week 1

Jan. 24, 26

 

Introduction to the class, syllabus,

 

Suzanne Brøgger: “Who Needs Witches?” 1976   UW

Sign-up for presentations

Week 2

Jan. 29, 31, Feb 2 

 

Victoria Benedictsson Money, 1885   UW

 

Victoria Benedictsson “Happiness,” 1884   UW

 

August Strindberg “Miss Julie,” 1888

http://www.emporia.edu/~bartruff/docs/Miss%20Julie.pdf

 

Week 3

Feb. 5, 7, 9

 

 

Amalie Skram: Betrayed, 1892 (M & W)

 

Lecture on Under Observation 1895-99

 

Week 4

Feb. 12, 14, 16

 

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” 1892

 

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/theliteratureofprescription/exhibitionAssets/digitalDocs/The-Yellow-Wall-Paper.pdf

 

Wednesday and Friday Movie Time. “The Yellow Wallpaper”

Watch any or all of these three selections:

 

Masterpiece Theatre, 8 parts. Here is no. 1, and the others will be listed if you play this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAJm6gFJb4I

 

Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/95343563

 

Imbd: http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2524552473

Week 5

Feb.19, 21, 23

Poems by Edith Södergran, 1923   UW (M & W)

 

Poems by Karin Boye   UW  (F)

http://www.karinboye.se/verk/dikter/dikter-en.shtml

 

Week 6

Feb. 26, 28, March 2


 

 

Cora Sandel:  “Thank you Doctor,”  1927   UW

 

Cora Sandel: “A Mystery”, 1927   UW

Cora Sandel: “The Art of Murder,” 1927   UW

Week 7

March 5, 7, 9

Public Lecture, March 6

 

Isak Dinesen: "The Heroine," 1942   UW

 

Suzanne Brøgger: “No Man’s Land,” 1975   UW

 

Week 8

March 12, 14, 16

 

 

 

Isak Dinesen: “Babette’s Feast,” 1958 UW,

 

Wednesday and Friday Movie time (streamed)


Week 9

March 19, 21, 23

 

 

Tove Ditlevsen: The Faces, 1968 UW,

 

First Exam (F)

Week 10

 

Spring Break

 

 

Week 11

April 2, 4, 6

Gerd Brantenberg: Egalia’s Daughters, 1986

Solvej Balle: According to the Law, 1993   UW (F)


Week 12

April 9, 11, 13

 

Bjørg Vik: “The Breakup,” 1979   UW

 

Dorrit Willumsen: “A Couple,” 1982   UW


Kerstin Ekman: “A City of Light,” 1983   UW

Week 13

April 16, 18, 20

 

Astrid Lindgren: Pippi Longstocking, 1945 / 1969

Friday Movie Time.

https://www.svtplay.se/video/2520376/pippi-langstrump/pippi-langstrump-sasong-1-avsnitt-1?start=auto


Week 14

April 23, 25, 27

 

Sissel-Jo Gazan: The Arc of the Swallow, 2008

Formal Essay due

Week 15

April 30, May 2

 

Review

 

Second Exam (W)

Official UW Syllabus:

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Syllabus, Scand. Studies 420 / Lit in Trans 343, The Woman in Scandinavian Literature.
Credits: 4
Course URL: https://canvas.wisc.edu/courses/87413
Course Designation and Attributes: Breadth - Literature. Counts toward the Humanities req
Level - Advanced
L&S Credit - Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Grad 50% - Counts toward 50% graduate coursework requirement
M-W-F 11:00-11:50, Van Hise 578
Instructional Mode: Face-to-Face
Credit hours: Traditional Carnegie Definition
Instructor: Faculty Associate Nete Schmidt
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 11am-1pm
Email: aschmidt2@wisc.edu
Course Description:
The purpose of this class is to explore female and male writers from Scandinavia who, in their works, focus on the role of women. We will read novels, short stories, poems, and theory in both a historical and literary context. Further, we will compare the role of women in Scandinavia to that of women in the U.S. before and now.
We will use movies to enhance our appreciation of the depictions of women.
Requisites: 2 years of Scandinavian language or equivalent. Instructor’s consent.
Course Learning Outcomes: Ability to read, understand, discuss, and write about the position of women as portrayed through various works of literature
Grading:
Participation:                                                  15%
2 presentations and write-ups:                     30&
Formal Essay:                                                 15%
2 exams:                                                          40%
Required Textbooks:
Gerd Brantenberg: Egalia’s Daughters
Astrid Lindgren: Pippi Longstocking
Sissel-Jo Gazan: The Arc of the Swallow
A number of short stories, plays, and poems.
Exams etc:
The class has two presentations with write-ups, two exams, and one formal essay
Homework is assigned every week according to the detailed syllabus.
Accommodations for students with disabilities:
The University of Wisconsin-Madison supports the right of all enrolled students to a full and equal educational opportunity. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Wisconsin State Statute (36.12), and UW-Madison policy (Faculty Document 1071) require that students with disabilities be reasonably accommodated in instruction and campus life. Reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities is a shared faculty and student responsibility. Students are expected to inform faculty [me] of their need for instructional accommodations by the end of the third week of the semester, or as soon as possible after a disability has been incurred or recognized. Faculty [I], will work either directly with the student [you] or in coordination with the McBurney Center to identify and provide reasonable instructional accommodations. Disability information, including instructional accommodations as part of a student's educational record, is confidential and protected under FERPA.
Diversity:
Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.