This module will explore some of the issues and obstacles encountered by women writing in a range of European traditions during the "long twentieth century" - continuing into the 21st with the award of Nobel Prizes for Literature to the controversial Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek (2004 and the Romanian-German writer Herta M??ller (2009). Taking a broadly chronological approach, the focus will be primarily on the impact of the two "women's movements" of the twentieth century on perceptions of writing and subjectivity as they affect women writers in a range of European countries. Within this chronological context and under a number of themed headings, examples will be taken primarily from Western Europe, in particular the German-speaking, French and English literary traditions. Students are however encouraged to make connections with the work of other writers beyond those on the reading list and to make comparisons with the position and role of women's writing in other literatures with which they may be familiar. Seminar discussions will thus consider not merely geographical and physical boundaries but the wider social and textual frameworks within and against which, arguably, a distinctive women's voice (or voices) may be said to emerge.