Comparative Literature
Course Descriptions 2015/16
CO100: Introduction to Comparative Literature
What is literature? What are genres? How should they be read, interpreted and
evaluated? What social and personal functions does writing have? How is writing
related to oral tradition? How do writers compare themselves to others (admiration
and imitation, rejection, transformation)? Study of literary of texts from ancient to
modern and from a variety of languages and cultures. Emphasis on close reading of
literary texts as well as critical research, analysis, and writing. Meets the Critical
Perspectives: The West in Time requirement.
2 units — Hughes, Davis, Scheiner
CO210 – Introduction to Literary Theory
Introduction to the major twentieth-century theories of literature, including such
approaches as formalism and structuralism, hermeneutics, reception theory,
feminist theory, psychoanalytic approaches, post-structuralism and new historicism.
Study of important theoretical texts as well as literary works from a variety of
language traditions, exploring the ways in which theory informs possibilities of
interpretation. Also listed as English 250.
1 unit—Naji
CO200: Topics in Comparative Literature
Intermediate level consideration of various topics in comparative literature. Topics
might include a single genre, a period or a theme. Texts usually in English but with
reference to non-English materials within the competence of students. (May be
offered as a January half-block.)
Also listed as Classics 219, 220, 222; Comparative Literature 220; English 280, 360;
Race and Ethnic Studies 200; Feminist and Gender Studies 206, 220; Film and New
Media Studies 202; French 318; Film Studies 205; German 328; History 200; Italian
320; Music 227; Philosophy 262; Political Science 234; Psychology 120, 203; Southwest
Studies 253; Theatre 220, 222, 223.
1 unit —
American Political Novel
Also listed as PS203
Introduction to Anglophone Arabic Literature
This course will provide a broad overview of the rich literary heritage produced in
the twenty first century by Arab authors writing in English. We will trace the
developments, achievements and trajectories of this emergent literature, and the way
this literary creativity reveals the transnational visions of Arab immigrant
communities in the United States and Britain. We will examine how culture,
religion, race and gender complicate the question of nationalism and identityformation. The readings will focus on works of fiction including novels and short
stories as well as poetry representing several Arab countries and diverse perspectives
on Arab history and culture. Also listed as Arabic 320
--Naji
The Bible As Literature
The Bible considered as one of the great literary works of the Western world
and, in the King James translation, a masterpiece of English prose. Emphasis on
its narrative , structure, its characterization, and the beauty and power of its
language, with some attention to its influence on later works of literature. Also
listed as EN223.
--Hughes
Chinese Cinema and Society
Also listed as CN250, PA250 and FM2016
--Jiang
Contemporary Performance 1950-Present
Using an interdisciplinary arts approach, investigates varied performance aesthetics,
theory and practices of the later 20th and early 21st century with a focus on the
American experience, new and disenfranchised voices, and hybrid genres in the arts.
Considers perspectives in music, dance, directing, multimedia, and of theorists and
playwrights. Disillusionment of the post-WWII era, voices of protest,
agitation/propaganda, performance art, and identity politics; Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual
and Transgender performance, race relations, and the feminist aesthetic. Meets the
Critical Perspectives: Diverse Cultures and Critiques requirement. Meets the Critical
Perspectives: Global Cultures requirement. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Social
Inequality requirement. Also listed as TH224 and DA224
--Platt
Topics in Film Genre and History: Crime Films
Also listed as FM200, FS205 and EN280
--Simons
Dante and His World.
In this course, we will explore the world of Dante: his main works, world view, the
political unrest of his age, his fellow writers. We will also follow the legacy of Dante
across the centuries until today, through citations, re-writings and adaptations in
film, including Dan Brown’s Inferno, videogames, and graphic novels. (Taught in
English) Also listed as IT320. 1 unit
-- Minervini
David Foster Wallace
Described by The New York Times as a “writer of virtuosic talents who can
seemingly do anything,” novelist, short-story writer, and essayist David Foster
Wallace dramatically changed the face of contemporary fiction. The course explores
Wallace's fiction and non-fiction, focusing both on his use of language and on what
he might have termed the preoccupations, that is the central concerns, of his writing.
Texts include: The Broom of the System, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and
Infinite Jest; stories from Girl with Curious Hair and Oblivion; Everything and
More; and essays from A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again and Consider
the Lobster. Also listed as English 280.
–Scheiner
The Discipline of Love.
From Lancelot and Guinevere to Sleeping Beauty and her prince, this course will
examine how the stories and characters of French literature have shaped the way we
conceive of romantic love in the West. We will explore the topic of love as a
discipline, in the sense of a body of knowledge to be learned, but also how this
model of love has been used to discipline human sexuality by limiting our
understanding of what “true love” is. We will discover and discuss how various
narratives of love, while dictating what true love looks like and who may fall in love,
serve to reinforce the economic interests of certain groups within the patriarchal
societies of early modern France, and finally, what those models and lessons have
come to mean in modern Western cultures. Critical perspectives: Social Inequality.
Also listed as FR316
-- Tallent
Discovering the Unconscious
Major psychoanalytic perspectives of the late 19th and 20th centuries on the
concept of the unconscious in theory, case studies, and fiction. Emphasis on
unconscious processes as they relate to the formation of identity. Readings from
such authors as Freud, Jung, Klein, Winnicott, Kohut, and Yalom. Also listed as
Philosophy 262 and Psychology 120.
--Dobson
Topics in Francophone Culture Taught in English: Exploring Cajun and Creole
Cultures in the US. (Extra $$$, Includes 6-day trip to New Orleans and Lafayette)
This course, taught in English, explores the historical presence and significance of
Cajun and Creole cultures in North America, in the US particularly. The course also
studies the social and cultural significance of processes of Creolization of French, as
well as French as a heritage language in the US. This investigation is carried through
the reading and critical study of works by U.S. authors of Cajun and Creole origins.
In this course, students view and explore filmic representations of histories and
cultures of Creoles, and Cajuns in Louisiana. Filmic productions such as Ann Rice’s
popular television series, Feast of All Saints, amongst others, will be studied. The
course’s critical exploration of Cajun and Creole cultures culminates with a 6-day
guided visit in the historical cities of New Orleans and Lafayette in Louisiana. Also
listed as FR317
-- Wade
Gender and Sexuality in Japanese Literature Film and Manga
This course explores how Japanese writers have dealt with the issues of gender and
sexuality from the Heian Period through the modern era. Drawing on literary sources
such as The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibi (11th c.), Five Women Who Loved
Love by Ihara Saikaku (17th c.), and Kitchen by Yoshimoto Banana (20th c.), as well
as films and manga, we will analyze how both male and female authors have
portrayed gender and sexuality within an ever changing landscape. Also listed as
JA252, PA250, and FG206
--Ericson
Good and Evil
Also listed as TH200
--Lindblade
Greek Drama: Origins and Early Forms of Theater
A study of origins, early texts, performance practices and developing theatrical
conventions in various cultures, with special emphasis on ancient Greek and Roman
theatre. Also listed as Classics 219 and Theatre 220.
German Film since 1945 Love, Death and Other Demons: Faith Akin’s
Turkish-German Cinema
A study of German cinema of the post-war era, including more contemporary films.
Discussions and films shown will reflect the concerns of a younger generation of
filmmakers, including coming to terms with the legacy of the Third Reich in such
films as 'The Murderers are Amongst Us,' 'The Tin Drum,' and 'The Nasty Girl,' the
'New German Cinema' of Fassbinder, Wenders and Herzog; and alternative points of
view by women and gay filmmakers such as Dorrie, von Trotta and von Praunheim.
Readings and discussions are in English. All films have English subtitles. (Offered
alternate years.) No prerequisites. Also listed as GR211, FM206 and ES200
--Steckenbiller
Medieval and Renaissance Theatre
A study of theories about the ‘rebirth’ of theatre during the middle ages, tracing its
development throughout Renaissance Europe, with special emphasis on Elizabethan
England. Also listed as TH221 and EN280
--Lindblade
Mexican-American Literature
This course provides a broad overview of movements in Mexican American
literature in the twentieth century, from Revolutionary corridos, to Chicano
movement documents, through the development of Chicana feminism. This
interdisciplinary course emphasizes a relation between historical events and
literary production. Authors to include Americo Paredes, Tomas Rivera, and
Sandra Cisneros. Also listed as English 280, Race and Ethnic Studies 200 and
Southwest Studies 253.
--Cucher, Lozano
Modern Theatre: 1880-1940
A study of the 20th-century movements in playwriting and theatre practice. Topics
will include realism (Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov, Schnitzler) and the anti-realistic
revolts against it, such as the work of Maeterlinck, Cocteau, Kaiser, Brecht,
Pirandello, and various artists of alternative theatre. Also listed as: Also listed as
TH223.
--Lindblade
Myth & Meaning
Religion and myth of ancient Greece and Rome in relation to that of the ancient
Mediterranean (Akkadian, Hittite, Sumerian, Egyptian). Female presence in art,
literature and religion compared to treatment of women in their respective cultures.
Theoretical approaches to the understanding of myth (Comparative, Jungian,
Structuralist) in relation to myths as they are encoded in their specific cultures.
Students may trace a myth through Medieval, Renaissance and modern
transformations in art, music, poetry and film, or study myth in other cultures (e.g.
Norse and Celtic). Meets the Critical Perspectives: Diverse Cultures and
Critiques requirement. May meet either the Critical Perspectives: Global
Cultures or Social Inequality requirement. Also listed as Classics 220 and
Feminist and Gender Studies 220
--Dobson
Queer Performance
Examines how performances since 1960 by queer artists have challenged
conventional ideas about the body, sexuality and selfhood. Uses readings by
theorists such as Michael Foucault, Michael Warner, and Jose Esteban Munoz to
identify strategic positions adopted by artists working in literature, film, drama,
musical theatre, dance and performance art. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Social
Inequality requirement. Also listed as DA329 and TH329
--Platt
Representing the Holocaust in Film and Literature
Topics in German Literature and Culture: Holocaust. Even though such writers as
Jean Paul Sartre, Theodor Adorno and George Steiner questioned whether one could
ever create imaginative writing after Auschwitz, the Holocaust has been a presence
in German literature from the 1940’s to the present. Because the Nazis employed so
many lies to pervert the truth, it has been the concern of a number of post-World
War II writers and film-makers to render the horrendous truth in their art. In this
class we will focus on the formal as well as on the moral responsibilities those artists
had to face in order to understand and communicate the complexities of the
Holocaust through literary or filmic representation. Prerequisite: (Taught in English).
Also listed as GR220, ES200 and FM206
--Steckenbiller
Romantic Comedy: The Birth, Death and Re-Birth
Is the romantic comedy dead? Was it killed by the sexual revolution and the
women’s movement? Where was it born, anyway? (ancient Athens, of course). This
class explores how Greece exists in the American cinematic imagination, and studies
contemporary American romantic comedy of “The Blue World Cycle” (1982-2013)
where the setting is Greece, and the structures and plots follow ancient
patterns. Contextualizing our study with Greek, Roman, and Shakespeare’s “New
Comedy”, we see that with remarkably consistent situations and characterization
they all explore the persistent questions about and the interconnectedness of love,
romance, sex, marriage, family, and freedom. In “Blue World Cycle” films, dazzling
waves of blue flood the screen with the sea and sky meeting so that often even the
land appears blue. Through the blueness Greece, the place itself, and what it means,
emerges as an important notion, as it had been to Roman comedy. Thus the course
will be taught in Greece with careful attention to how meaning is derived from
landscape and culture. For if romantic comedies can bereborn anywhere, it will be
here, in the birthplace of Aphrodite. Films include: Paul Mazursky’s Tempest (1982)
and Randal Kleiser’s Summer Lovers (1982) and includes Phyllida Lloyd’s Mamma
Mia! (2008) and Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight (2013).
--Hughes
Sex and the Modern City: Literature and Film 1890-1933
Also listed as GR334.
--Lim
Theatre and Performance in French
Explores theatre as a literary genre and as a form of communication. Students
study texts by major French and Francophone playwrights such as Racine,
Moliere and Ionesco and (when possible) adapt them for a campus performance
in French. Also listed as French 318. Not offered 2015/16
CO220: Topics in Comparative Literature: Literature and Other Disciplines
Intermediate level consideration of various topics in comparative literature with particular
emphasis on comparisons between literature and other disciplines. Topics might include a
particular period or theme. Texts usually in English but with reference to non-English
materials within the competence of students. (May be offered as a January half-block.)
Also listed as English 280; Biology 100; German 334, 336; Japanese 250; Asian Studies
250; Classics 222; Philosophy 203; Film Studies 205.
The Life of the Soul
Since the beginning of time, humans have been searching into the nature of the soul,
its life and its meanings. Starting from the Greeks, this course seeks to discover how
the concept of “soul” is understood, and how its life is conceived. We will explore
the roots of these questions in ancient Greek epic, drama and philosophy, how these
answers transform in medieval and renaissance literature, and how modernity offers
strikingly new answers to them. Also listed as Philosophy 203, Classics 222 and
Religion 200.
--Dobson
--Not offered 2015/16
CO300 – Practice in Comparison
Deepening of comparative reading and critical writing begun in 100. Specific topics,
themes or genres as well as texts to vary from year to year. Designed to promote the
'practice' and encouragement of more sophisticated textual work, greater perception of
literary issues, and clarity of writing. Prerequisite: consent of instructor or Comparative
Literature 100. Also listed as: Also listed as English 380.
Homeric Epic
The Iliad and Odyssey as oral traditional poems, preservers of Bronze Age and
archaic lore, locus of the creation of classical Greek culture and predecessors of
European epic; together with Hesiodic epic and Homeric hymns. Reading in
English with attention to the formal Greek diction and the problems of translation,
except that students who know Greek will read parts of the original text.
Comparative Literature students will pay special attention to the genre and
historical aspects of this course: development of the monumental epic in the ancient
Near East (Gilgamesh) and of Indo-European oral epic into Homeric/Hesiodic (also
into Vedic, Old English and South Slavic) text; reception of heroic poetry in later
Graeco-Roman culture (Apollonius, Vergil, Roman Epic), and the development of
modern, sometimes “national” narrative poems in the vernaculars of Europe: Dante,
Ariosto, Camões, Milton. Comparatists may also want to relate the genre of epic to
the more monumental forms of novel (“the Great American Novel”) and film.
Students will undertake individual projects, choosing texts/works out of this wide
variety. Also listed as Classics 218.1 unit
– Cramer, not offered 2015/16
Pastoral Tradition
As a preparation for advanced work in English and Comparative Literature this
course is a seminar style study of the elusive genre (or mode) called The
Pastoral. The Pastoral impulse started out as a preference of the simple world of
shepherds over the corrupt city, but now we see it also in our longing for
authenticity in food, wine, art, and love. Though taught in English with English
texts, the course will look at and compare Pastoral texts from a variety of linguistic
traditions, cultures, and historical perspectives. Primary texts will be heavily
supplemented by theoretical texts, which will frame all of our readings and
discussions. The course is designed to promote sophisticated textual work, more
refined perception of literary issues and clarity in writing about them. Texts include
ancient Greek and Roman lyric poetry, Shakespeare, Cather’s My Antonia, and
Proulx's “Brokeback Mountain”. Also listed as English 280. 1 unit
--Hughes
CO310: Junior/ Senior Seminar in Comp Lit:
Preparation for the senior thesis; opportunity for students to discuss their work, the work
of their colleagues, and theoretical texts of common interest in a workshop setting.
Examination of what it means to engage in the study of Comparative Literature and, in
particular, of current issues and debates within the discipline. Contextualizing of students'
work within a larger, disciplinary framework.
Prerequisite: Junior standing, reading knowledge of a language other than English, and a
300 level course in English, or other literature, or consent of instructor.
--Scheiner
CO351: Advanced Topics in Comparative Literature
Topics to include periods, genres, themes, movements or other groupings of texts. (May
be taught as a January half-block.) Also listed as Spanish 316; Religion 346; Italian 321;
Feminist and Gender Studies 206; Philosophy 314.
Prerequisite: 200 or 300-level lit course in CO, EN, or other literatures or consent of
instructor. 1 unit —
Hispanic Culture
The study of Hispanic Societies and their cultural productions, such as film, art,
music, language and literature. Ordinarily taught as part of a foreign study program.
Meets the Critical Perspectives: Diverse Cultures and Critiques requirement. Also
listed as Spanish 307 and Music 398.
Philosophy of Technology
Explores the ways in which technology serves as a compromise between mind and
matter. Technology may begin as an idea in the mind of an inventor, but
technologies only come into existence through unpredictable processes that involve
historical, cultural, and environmental limitations. In those moments when
technology begins to operate unpredictably, independently of its inventors or
intended purposes, it opens up possibilities for philosophical insights into culture,
society, and human subjectivity. Investigates examples in film and new media,
including cybernetics, special effects, digital cinema, and virtual reality. Also listed
as Film and Media 303
1 unit — Krzych
CO352 – Topics in Comparative Literature: Literature and Other
Disciplines:
Examination of post-communist political and economic changes in Eastern Europe,
Central Europe, and Russia following the fall of communism through the lenses of
political theory, economic theory, and literature. Exploration of how literature not only
reflects and comments on political and economic developments but also enacts them.
Prerequisite: 200 or 300-level literature course in Comparative Literature, English or
other literature course; any 100 or 200 level Political Science course or Consent of
Instructor. Also listed as Race and Ethnic Studies 200 and Film and Media Studies 200
and Spanish 316.
Contemporary Spanish Film
Also listed as Spanish 316 and Film and Media 200
Repeating Islands: Contemporary Literature and Music in the Caribbean.
(Taught in Spanish) Also listed as Spanish 316
CO390: Theory and Practice of Translation
This course will combine the practical experience of translating literary texts with
reading and discussion in the rich field of translation studies. The first third of the
block will be devoted to exploring the questions that translation raises about
language, literature, authority, and power, both through readings and through
exercises in translation and in translation criticism. The second third of the block
will consist of translation workshops and discussion of the more practical issues of
translation. We will end the block with a discussion of translations themselves as a
cultural force, and with individual research projects on translation. or AN 258, and a
300 level course in a foreign language (or equivalent); or consent of instructor.
1 unit – Scheiner Not offered 2015/16
CO391 – Advanced Literary Theory
In-depth study of important 20th-century movements of thought about literature and art.
Topics vary from year to year and may include Russian Formalism, semiotics, New
Criticism, phenomenology and hermeneutics, reader response criticism, psychoanalytic
theory, feminist theory, post-colonial theory, queer theory and gender theory., and
another, 200-level literature course, or consent of instructor. Prerequisite: 210 (or English
250) or consent of instructor. Also listed as: Also listed as English 380 and Film and
Media 305
Digital Theory and Posthuman.
The 21st century has seen the rise of cultural theories that respond to life in the
digital era. Some of these, such as the “posthuman” theories of N. Katherine Hayles
or the “cyborg feminism” of CC alumna Donna Haraway, attempt to come to terms
with changing notions of what it means to be “human.” Other theorists, such as Alan
Kirby with “digimodernism,” wish to theorize life in the age of binary codes. At the
same time, and certainly intertwined, we currently see a proliferation of “new
materialist” theories that hope to overcome the “linguistic turn” of 20th century
theory and turn our gaze toward the raw materiality of the world in which we live.
Jane Bennett (“thing power”), Karen Barad (“agential realism”), Graham Harman
(“object-oriented ontology”), are all theorists invested in the project of reclaiming
materiality or thingness in the 21st century. In this course, we will work together to
understand the basic ideas of these recent theories, contemplate what is at stake for
them, and discuss ways in which they have application for our reading of cultural
texts such as literature and film.
--Davis