Finch, Burney, Barbauld and the Brontes: feminine identity
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The Department of English seeks to provide all university students with the skills of effective communication and critical thinking, as well as imparting knowledge of literature, creative writing, linguistics, speech and technical communication to students within and outside of the department.
History
The Department of English and Speech was formed in 1939 from the merger of the Department of English and the Department of Public Speaking. In 1971 its name changed to the Department of English.
Dates of Existence
1939-present
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- Department of English and Speech (1939-1971)
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- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (parent college)
- Department of English (predecessor, 1898-1939)
- Department of Public Speaking (predecessor, 1898-1939)
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Abstract
Modern readers of literature have occasionally noticed similarities in the themes and imagery of British women writers. These similarities have been argued as springing from either a shared cultural heritage or a gender-specific biological experience. Proponents of the 'nurture' camp suggest that common life experiences within western culture, including a shared literary history, political invisibility, and domestic responsibilities which set definite limits on intellectual pursuits worked to create in these women a shared consciousness, intimately connected to their personal identities, which encodes a distinctly feminine imprint on much of their work. Proponents of the 'nature' camp, on the other hand, suggest that not cultural experience, per se, but the biological differences between men and women are largely responsible for the similarities in women's writing.