Woman and literature in Canada: feminism, gender studies and women's writing related to the author Susan Swan

Abstract

Susan Swan is a Canadian feminist, journalist, professor and above all a writer who has achieved great success in Canada and in other countries, but is not well known in Brazil. In the Brazilian academy, for instance, there are only two master's dissertations and one doctoral thesis about Swan, and none of her books were published in Brazil. In the novel The Wives of Bath, published in 1993, topics such as feminism and post-colonialism. Feminist and post-colonial theories, by the end of the 20th century, were being widely taught in universities throughout the world and gender studies were being developed, including in the Brazilian academy. However, research about Canadian literature related to women's writings and gender studies in the Brazilian academy are limited. This project aims to research the history of the Canadian feminist movement, gender studies and the academic research about women's writing between the years of 1980 to 2000, taking into accounting the publication of Susan Swan's first fiction work, Unfit for Paradise (1981) and The Wives of Bath (1993). After analyzing these texts, this project will situate Susan Swan between the historical and academic backgrounds, and an interview will be scheduled with the author, which will be, so far, the first Brazilian interview with Susan Swan, who now has 72 years old and is currently working on a new novel, The Dead Celebrities Club.