This is a research-oriented class in which we will look at literature that was written and circulated in the context of the British women’s suffrage movement. Writing and writers were consistently part of efforts to ensure the vote for women. Writers in support of women’s suffrage organized themselves in the Women Writers’ Suffrage League (WWSL) and for their protests suffragettes dressed up as esteemed writers from the past (e.g. Jane Austen) amongst other historic figures, drawing on them as models of women’s achievements. Further, there were numerous periodicals associated with the cause, such as Votes for Women, The Freewoman and The Vote, demonstrating that journalistic and political writing were central to women’s suffrage organizing. Memoirists like Constance Lytton (Prisons and Prisoners, 1914) and Emmeline Pankhurst (My Own Story, 1914) similarly used writing in pursuit of their political goals. Despite this, women’s suffrage literature has received comparatively little scholarly attention. In this class, we will read and analyze women’s suffrage writing as well as the material conditions of its production and circulation. Questions of nationalism vs. internationalism as well as different mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion in the women’s suffrage movement(s), such as class and race, will be part of our discussions.

Course Design

Because this is a topic with rich potential for new scholarly exploration and students are encouraged to develop their own innovative research for their term papers, this class is divided into two parts. Until the beginning of December (see specific dates), we will meet weekly and establish common ground with regard to the historic context, the literary field we are looking at and a number of set texts from different genres (definitely including drama and the novel, potentially including life writing, poetry and other genres) as well as related areas of writing like late nineteenth-century ‘new woman fiction.’ In January and February we will meet for a one-day workshop each. These days are designed to provide instruction and a structure for students to develop their research skills and original project ideas.

Set texts will be announced at the beginning of term. Students will have some say in what they would like to study.

Kurs im HIS-LSF