dr. J.M.L. (Jeanette) den Toonder

Theories of Gender and Intersectionality (BA year 3, Semester 1, 2024-2025)

This course familiarises you with key theories and concepts in gender studies, including some of the most recent developments. It provides conceptualizations of the distinction between sex and gender and several constructivist theories about the categories of ‘women’ and ‘men’. Particular emphasis is placed on the collapse of these binary categories as well as their intersection with other categories of difference such as, for example, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, religion and dis/ability. We aim to look at theoretical frameworks and analytical tools relevant to the study of Gender and Intersectionality from a global perspective. We will discuss major critical articles and chapters to encourage you to conceptualise your thinking about gender and diversity and to examine contemporary developments and challenges in the field.

Text and Context (BA, Semester 1, 2024-2025)

Modern Literature in the Second Language Classroom (MA, Semester 1, 2024-2025)

In this course we will focus on transferring the academic expertise on literature and culture to secondary education. We will particularly focus on the connection between citizenship (burgerschap), an essential element of the most recent curriculum changes in secondary education in the Netherlands. Additionally we will address the possibilities of teaching literature to “bovenbouw” pupils by examining innovative ways of presenting literary texts in the classroom, such as a thematic approach rather than a historical one. The purpose of the course is not only to familiarise Educational Master students with existing research, but also to reflect on possibilities to actually implement the proposed innovative ways to actively engage pupils in reading and discussing literature in the classroom.

This module is offered in combination with a 5 ECTS Masterlanguage course in block 1b. For French: “Un.e auteur.e, une œuvre”; for German: “Literatur, Kultur und Diskurs”; for Spanish: “La imagen del mundo hispánico”. For more information: https://masterlanguage.nl/en/courses/

Students are offered the possibility to write their assignments in the the language of their expertise (French, German, Spanish).

Culture and Context (BA, Semester 2, 2024-2025)

What is the power and relevance of culture and literature in the current climate of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity)? And how do people determine what is relevant? Actually, these questions are not new. Texts and writers have pondered them since time immemorial. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is paralysed by relativity when stating that “there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” (II,ii) Nuanced thinking is a transferable analytic skill that is essential to students of all profiles. In this course we will take a closer look at the crucial role which culture and literature and reading play in making connections and balancing different perspectives. Building upon the foundations laid in Culture & Literature A, this course will expand on the real-world challenges introduced earlier. In this series of lectures and seminars, we will explore pathways in which such challenges impact you as Humanities students today, and we will practise responding to them by applying multidisciplinary critical tools that will help turn your ideas and opinions into convincing critical arguments. By engaging in the close reading and contextualisation of selected key texts from European culture and literature, we will discuss not only how texts are shaped by their contexts, but also how culture and literature shape social and political realities.

Seminars are offered in English and Dutch.

Culture and Literature French 1 (BA, Semester 2, 2024-2025)

In this course we examine literary texts in French by paying particular attention to four genres: prose (the novel, autobiographical writing and autofiction), poetry, theatre and the graphic novel (in French: bande dessinée). You will develop analytical skills by identifying and applying narratological tools and poetic devices which will allow for an in-depth exploration of texts in the four genres and subgenres. You will also situate the texts in their historical, cultural and/or political contexts. By reading excerpts from a variety of books produced by a diverse group of authors you will discover the plentifulness that literature in French has to offer.

This course is offered in French.

European Literatures in a (Dis)Connected World (MA, Semester 2, 2024-2025)

We live in interesting times disrupted by multiple entangled crises of connection which call for new imaginaries and narratives. We will therefore discuss the role of literature in today’s complex society through transnational networks, border crossings and bridge building across diverse cultures. We examine the ways in which literature can connect individuals as well as communities by focusing on the question of how literature can offer new ways of relating with others. The course is organised in four subthemes; a) Otherness; b) Migration; c) Postcoloniality/ Decoloniality; and d) Modernity and Nostalgia. For each theme, a variety of cultural and literary texts will be analysed with the focus on how they make sense of a world that is divided and polarised on the one hand, and hyperconnected on the other. We will engage with different theories developed for example in mobility, memory, transnational and decolonial studies, and apply a variety of methodological approaches at an advanced level, including empirical approaches, discourse analysis and social network analysis.

Migrant and Minority Writers (MA, Semester 2, 2024-2025)

In this course we propose to examine theories of mobility and migration in relation to migrant writing and the notion of minority cultures. We are interested in the role of migrant and minority writers as cultural transmitters and bridge builders between cultures. We will contextualize literature of migrant authors from a historical perspective, and compare past migration to current developments and questions. We will also investigate to what extent literature of historical minorities can be contextualized in the same way. In order to define the notion of migrant and minority cultures and to have a critical tool-set ready, we will discuss theoretical texts that focus on a range of concepts, such as: globalisation, transculturality, (de)coloniality, subalternity and intersectionality. We will consider different methodological approaches such as discourse analysis, linguistic self-fashioning, rhetorics and close reading and examine texts written by authors that pinpointed cultural and linguistic minorities in different eras.