Department of English

This course takes the shifting nature of sexual and gender concepts as an opportunity to reflect on the history of sexuality. Focusing on the period that forged many of the sexual concepts we have with us today (1870-1930), we will reflect on the historically determined nature of the sexual concept and the philosophical problem of whether the experiences they describe are equally changeful. We will pay special attention to literary form throughout, asking how the confessional mode, naturalist description, poetic address, and the character sketch, among other literary modes and genres, not only describe, but determine knowledge of gender and sexuality.