Current Course Offerings
Course offerings for each semester are listed on the Registrar's web site. The information presented there will tell you which courses are offered, whether space remains in them (if registration has begun), and so forth. When you click on the web site, (1) choose the semester you want; (2) choose the campus you want -- this is important -- the list is alphabetical, beginning with Abington, but in most cases, you will want to scroll down to University Park; and (3) then choose CMLIT as the course abbreviation.
All Comparative Literature Courses
Courses numbered 1-297 may be taken before freshman English has been completed. In fact, these courses are suitable for all students; there are no prerequisites. Further information about our courses is available from the department's Office in 427 Burrowes Building. Except if otherwise noted, all are 3-credit courses. Booklists are posted on the bulletin board outside the office door at University Park and may be available at other campus locations, too.
CMLIT 083: FIRST YEAR SEMINAR IN COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
One of the most important trends of our time is the increasing emphasis on internationalism and globalization. Comparative Literature 83 offers an international, intercultural approach to the study of literature, crossing the boundaries of time, place, nationalities, languages, and cultures. The range of literature taught in Comparative Literature as a discipline draws from every continent of the globe and from the ideas, experiences, and inspiration of women and men across thousands of years. With an entire world of literature to choose from, the content of CMLIT 83 varies with the expertise and interests of the faculty member. Sample topics include "Literature and Illness," "Literary Reflections of Biblical Themes," "The Power of Literature to Change Our Lives," and "America Seen Through Foreign Eyes." Each seminar focuses on a specific topic that highlights the nature of literary study and research, presents debates in the discipline, and opens the way to further investigations. Topics for each semester are posted on the department's website
CMLIT 001: INTRODUCTION TO WESTERN LITERATURE THROUGH THE RENAISSANCE.
Universal themes and cultural values on the one hand, and the diversity of cultural and literary components on the other hand, are articulated and compared in works by writers from Western tradition, beginning with Homer and ending with the Renaissance (or early modern period). This course offers a survey of various literary genres from a 2500 year period comprised of the Ancient World, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Comparative study focuses on the understanding and appreciation of not only of the individual works, but also of their influence on other literary works and artistic forms and the ways in which they represent their cultures. A comparative lens brings into focus the variety of the Western tradition and a critical understanding of canon-formation. This course is offered to an all-university audience of students who, regardless of background, would like to encounter great literature. Along with CMLIT. 002 (see below) it forms a 6-credit overall Western Literature series--but either half may be taken separately.
CMLIT 002: INTRODUCTION TO WESTERN LITERATURE SINCE THE RENAISSANCE
Beginning after the Renaissance, this course examines literature in multiple genres from various European and American traditions. The course provides students with a broad historical understanding of differences between the Enlightenment, Romanticism, Realism/Naturalism and Modernism. A comparative lens brings into focus the heterogeneity of the Western tradition and a critical understanding of how literary canons are formed. This course is offered to an all-university audience of students who, regardless of background, are interested in encountering great literature. Along with CMLIT. 001 (see above), it forms a 6-credit overall Western Literature series--but either half may be taken separately.
CMLIT 003: INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN LITERATURES
This course provides an introduction to the incredible variety of African literary production, from early oral epic traditions, to the colonial/post-colonial period, to recent Nobel Prize winning authors. We will read texts written in English or translated from French or African languages, including several recorded from the oral tradition, as well as some texts from the African Diaspora. These literatures come from different geographic and cultural areas of Africa, and are composed in a variety of forms (novel, drama, epic, poetry), and range in date from 2,000 BCE to the colonial period to the modern national era. The focus of the course, however, is on the 20th century. We will also consider the ways in which history, culture and geography impact literary production. African literary and cultural influences on Western traditions may also be explored. Readings are in English for students who are unfamiliar with African literature, but who would like to learn something about it, this course offers an introductory survey of the most important African works, both modern and earlier.
CMLIT 004: INTRODUCTION TO ASIAN LITERATURES
This course is an introduction to Asian cultures through literary readings and other cultural texts. No knowledge of Asian languages is needed. Though concentrating on East Asian and modern/contemporary literature, the course allows for the study of race, gender, culture, religion, philosophy, and ethnicity in a comparative, global, and historical perspective. While improving your understanding of difference and diverse cultures, this course incorporates no only works recognized as major, but also lesser known and even marginalized works by Asian writers as we study cultural and social identities and contexts. The course often focuses on fiction, though it includes readings from several literary genres. We will question generalizations about the meaning of “Asian” by showing the wide range of characteristics that can be found in Asian literary productions in different times and places.
CMLIT 005: INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURES OF THE AMERICAS.
This course allows students to explore the great variety of literatures of the Americas, including translations of texts written in Spanish, French , Portuguese, and Amerindian languages, as well as texts originally written in English. Readings include many genres and artistic forms dealing with histories and accounts of “American” issues, such as conquest, nationalism, slavery, diaspora, and immigration. Students will also consider the various influences among these traditions in terms of time period and genre. This course investigates the literary and cultural notion of “America,” and what it means to be “American,” in terms of the entire hemisphere. This course will deal with issues of race, ethnicity, class, religion, as well as other vital concerns of identity and “Americanness” as reflected in both oral and written literary traditions through the history of the Americas. At the conclusion of this course, students should be able to understand and make comparisons among the many “American” literary traditions.
CMLIT 010: THE FORMS OF WORLD LITERATURE: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE.
As a one-semester introduction to the range and diversity of world literature from the ancient past to the present, CMLit. 010 is intended to help you read (or listen to) a work of literature from any time or place and to appreciate it more fully -- whether it belongs to the more familiar types of literature you may have read in the Western tradition, or is a fable, folktale, hero story, play, or narrative from another cultural tradition. You will practice expressing your ideas through written exams and in-class and on-line discussions/activities. Discussion sessions allow interaction with the instructor and with other students in the class. This course presents a global sampling of masterpieces of world literature. Through active class participation, you will become familiar with various literary genres and become proficient in the analysis of the similarities and differences between texts from many different time periods and cultures. CMLit. 010 is one of the choices of survey courses which can count towards the Comparative Literature major and the World Literature minor.
CMLIT 011: HEROISM IN WORLD LITERATURE
This course will examine the concept of heroism and of heroes throughout the world in different time periods and different literary genres. We will examine different types of heroes and theories of heroism, as well as gender relations involved in concepts of heroes/heroines, and the roles of anti-heroes, villainous heroes, and the enemies of heroes. Heroes represent the most ideal values of a particular society. By examining heroes revered by a variety of societies, a greater awareness of values both specific to individual cultures and universal across cultures can be reached. Through an investigation of literary heroes, literature's, as well as society's, role in the formulation and manipulation of heroic types can be assessed. The objectives of this course include expanding your awareness of the values of different cultures, examining the consequences of value systems as explored in literature, and increasing your skills of critical analysis on a body of literature designed to encourage you to accept, reject, or question specific ideas of good and evil, proper behavior, and appropriate action within cultural contexts.
CMLIT 100: INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
This an introductory course to the discipline of Comparative Literature. The course is built around a central theme (or series of themes) and the reading assignments are chosen to complement this central concept of the course. Past themes have included “Literatures of the Body,” “Mortality and Immortality,” “Art and Life,” “Personal Narratives: The Diary,” “Close Encounters: Africa and the West,” “Knowledge and Power,” among others. Through various traditional (books) and non-traditional (film, multimedia, hypermedia) texts from around the world, students will develop the ability to analyze literature in different ways. Students will examine the works both within their cultural context, and their relationship to universal themes that transcend the boundaries of time and place. As an introductory course, CMLit 100 is intended to lay a solid foundation for further study in any college-level courses on cultures or literature. Note: CMLit 100 is a required course for students intending to major in Comparative Literature.
CMLIT 101: THE THEME OF IDENTITY IN WORLD LITERATURE: RACE, GENDER, AND OTHER ASPECTS OF DIVERSITY
This course examines issues of race, gender, religions, and ethnicity as expressed in literary, social, and cultural contexts. We will address these questions in works from a variety of traditions and time periods. Literary works from around the world show a wide range of response to the "other" -- idealization of difference as exotic, fear of difference as threat, the desire to suppress difference or force it into conformity, the recognition of difference within ourselves, etc. The scope includes authors who are themselves members of racial, sexual or ethnic groups with which you may be less familiar. You will also consider the question of who and what constitutes identity as perceived by oneself and by others.
CMLIT 105: THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY HUMOR
This is a broadly international course dealing with the nature of comedy and humor in literature. You will read samples from a broad spectrum of humor, including comedy, wit, satire, parody, irony, and farce. Through discussion and writing, you will also examine the techniques through which humor criticizes human nature, analyzes society, and expresses differing world views. The syllabus may be represented chronologically or divided into topics or literary forms that suggest various emphases, functions, and objects of literary humor. This course will provide opportunity to discuss both the widespread, or even universal, aspects of literary humor, and the diversity of literary humor across cultures and time periods. At the conclusion of this course, you should be able to understand and compare various literary forms and social, political, and cultural contexts that define humor and to assess the extent to which literary humor is or is not translatable across cultures or ethnic communities, or other groups.
CMLIT 106: THE ARTHURIAN LEGEND
This course is designed to familiarize students with the legends about and surrounding King Arthur and the Round Table fellowship. Through a series of readings, students will survey the development of the legends of Arthur from their beginnings in early medieval Europe to their modern adaptations in many cultures around the world. The Arthurian legend is an ideal vehicle for showing the ways in which literary works capture and express changing value systems in different cultural and historical situations, and thus the course is a good example of comparative (international) approaches to literary study. Classes will discuss the changing cultural ideals represented, the different characterizations of the central figures, and the literary techniques employed. Lectures and discussions will be supplemented by overheads, slides, music, and films or film clips dealing with Arthurian themes. Throughout, the course will ask why and how the stories of Arthur and the Round Table fellowship have captured the imagination of artists, political and religious leaders, and readers throughout the ages and around the world. Finally, it will ask how the practical concerns of daily life are developed in this literature—for example, how does this highly imaginative literature address practical concerns such as striking a balance between one's short-term goals and personal gratifications, and one's long-range obligations to other people?
CMLIT 107: LITERATURE OF EXPLORATION: INCREDIBLE VOYAGES FROM ANTIQUITY INTO THE FUTURE
This course compares the literatures of travel and exploration from ancient times to the future, from narratives of journeys actually experienced through narratives of journeys imagined in the mind. The notion of the journey is broadly defined as encompassing both literal and metaphorical experiences, including travel journals and diaries, epic adventures, quests of introspection, dreams and visions, and depictions of the future. Through reading, discussion, and writing, you will examine and compare the different roles that travel can play in the imaginations of both the individual writers and the cultures from which they come. You will not only explore recurrent themes and timeless topics, but also the ways in which travel writing can both reinforce and subvert the basic value-systems, stereotypes, or other assumptions present in its cultural context. For many writers, traveling elsewhere is a means of evaluating their own societies, as well as a means of recording their responses to encountering real or imagined new places. The journeys of this course, which vary greatly from each other, will also allow you to consider some of the vast unknowns of the individual human mind and imagination. By traveling through this course, you will have the opportunity to develop the analytic reading, thinking, and writing skills necessary for the understanding of a variety of literatures and cultures, as well as the exploration of your own identity as an individual.
CMLIT 108: MYTHS AND MYTHOLOGIES
This course offers a survey of several different cultural traditions as expressed in myth, as well as discussion of myth in its literary, social, geographical, political, and religious contexts. Various theories of the evolution and analysis of myth will be examined. Mythological traditions from around the globe will be compared in order to determine qualities which they share and examine ways in which they are unique. This course will help you see the world in new and exciting ways, based on the wide variety of global myths. At the same time, you will consider the permanent human issues which connect all of these traditions to each other, to the modern world, and to you.
CMLIT 109: NATIVE AMERICAN MYTHS, LEGENDS, AND LITERATURES
This course will allow you to read many traditional tales and selected works of modern literature representing a variety of American indigenous peoples. We will be examining the ways in which the myths, legends, and literary works reflect the cultural values and religious beliefs of the tribal nations from which they derive. You will learn how to read critically, analyzing symbols, archetypes, and motifs through the comparison of selected tales to others from the same and from different cultures, allowing you to recognize the rich diversity and unique oral traditions of Native American culture. You will also examine various geographical, historical, political, and social conditions which contribute to myth-making. Through the application of various theories of myth analysis, you will also synthesize the information learned about various Native American traditions with a view both toward understanding the distinctive identities of Native American cultures, including where applicable their position as minority cultures, and seeing their participation universal human beliefs and concerns.
CMLIT 110: JEWISH LITERATURE--AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
This course will provide an introduction to the multiple worlds of Jewish experience and the different literatures they continue to inspire. Jewish literary creativity has varied widely with the personal and communal experience of writers in many parts of the world, and in many different time periods. Readings usually range from the first Jewish literary text, the Hebrew Bible, to twentieth-century works, including writings about the Holocaust. The course typically includes units such as Jewish writing and culture in Eastern Europe, in the Americas, in Spain during the Middle Ages, and in Israel and the Middle East today. The material may be organized chronologically, thematically, or by regions or languages. Texts that critique or apparently suppress Jewish identity, as well as texts with representations of Jews by writers of other heritages, may be included for comparative purposes. We will include writings by Jewish authors who have written in languages usually associated with Jewish tradition (such as Hebrew and Yiddish) and in other languages (such as Spanish, Arabic, German, English, etc.). Topics discussed in the literature may focus on questions of Jewish identity and continuity, the situation of Jews as a minority people, the immigrant and diasporic experience, representations of the Holocaust, and the establishment of Israeli culture as a mixture of several traditions. We will question generalizations about the meaning of “Jewish” by showing the wide range of characteristics associated with Jewish literary productions, and the great diversity of depictions of Jews and Jewish lifestyles, in different times and places. In addition to our primary focus on literary texts, we may include examples of other cultural productions (film, music, the visual arts, philosophy, etc.).
CMLIT 111: INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURES OF INDIA
This course examines readings and cultural texts from India and other parts of South Asia, including both classical and modern texts from a variety of traditions. Readings from languages other than English will be in translation. Students will read, discuss, and write about these texts from the viewpoint of race, gender, culture, religion, philosophy, and ethnicity in a comparative, global, and historical perspective. While improving student understanding of difference and diverse cultures, this course incorporates lesser known and even marginalized works by Asian writers in this study of cultural and social identities and contexts. CMLit. 111 will also help students understand the influence of classical texts, as well as classical and modern culture, on recent literary productions of South Asia. Participants will gain an understanding of different national literatures and cultures, as well as knowledge of the historical, philosophical, and political contexts that produced them. Ideas such as “the other”, gender, and Orientalism will also be included in discussions of the texts.
CMLIT 120: LITERATURE OF THE OCCULT
This course is the study of literatures of the occult. Through readings of creative and critical works, you will develop an enhanced awareness of the variations among cultures and historical periods in accepting , fostering, tolerating--or sometimes suppressing--unorthodox traditions. Our range of readings from world literature will show that what is rejected or scorned in one cultural context may be tolerated or even honored in another. You will also explore the social, political, ethical and religious implications of occult. The course will be designed to compare various manifestations of the occult in literatures from around the globe and throughout history. You will explore issues of difference, and will develop an awareness of the tendency to demonize the 'strange' and 'inaccessible.' Through various texts from around the world, you will develop the ability to analyze literature in different ways. Readings will be examined both within their cultural context, and in relation to widely found or perhaps universal themes of the occult which transcend the boundaries of time and place.
CMLIT 141: RELIGION AND LITERATURE
This course is an introduction to literature, religion, and the many ways in which literature draws upon or interacts with religion. Among the many possible relationships between religion and literature are straightforward dramatization of sacred texts, allegory, expression of mystical experience, exploration and dramatization of theological issues, the creation of literature to promote or meet the needs of piety, and utilization of religious imagery and symbolism as a poetic resource. Readings will include both sacred texts and literature that draws upon or responds to sacred texts and religious traditions. It may also include avowedly secular literature that shows some relationship to religious tradition, and even literature questioning or critical of specific religious traditions or their adherents. Students will read works from a range of historical periods and world societies, both Western and non-western. Since so much of the world's literature is religious, including Greek drama, the Bible, the epics of India, the poems of Dante and Milton, and much of the fiction and lyric poetry of all nations, there is no shortage of material to consider. Reading material expressing beliefs and values that have been important to people in other places and other times can help you assess and define your own beliefs and values and express them more clearly to others in your time and place.
CMLIT 153: INTERNATIONAL CULTURES THROUGH LITERATURE AND FILM
Comparative Literature 153 is an introductory course on literature and film in their cultural contexts. This course compares narrative and artistic techniques employed by literature and film in portraying different social and cultural environments, which will range widely around the globe and may include Africa and the Middle East, East Asia, and South America, as well as European and American examples. Students will view approximately twelve to fourteen films and read five or six novels or other texts such as short stories, plays, or poems. The purpose of this course is to allow students to examine how the selected artists have developed their intentions and their subject matters in their respective medium (literature or film) and guide students through the study of narration across different cultures and media. Through a combination of lectures and comparative discussions, students will examine how narrative components, including plot, genre, environment, character, and point of view, are developed in films and fiction from diverse cultures. The comparative nature of this course allows students to understand, evaluate, and appreciate both the universal and unique qualities of the human condition. The study of narrative technique will help students develop analytical skills in discussing and writing about the literary and cinematic expression of cultural values.
CMLIT 184: THE SHORT STORY
CMLit./English 184 is designed to introduce students to the art of the short story and to acquaint them with some of its most talented writers. During the semester we will read short stories from various cultures and countries, ranging from stories written in the early nineteenth-century to those written within the last few years. Readings will include works from authors like Hawthorne, Melville, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Bierce, Chekhov, Kafka, Chopin, Crane, Gilman, James, Cather, Joyce, Woolf, Faulkner, Hemingway, Lawrence, Orwell, O'Connor, Baldwin, Olson, Silko, Erdrich, Ondaatje, Coover, Barth, Barthelme, DeLillo, Atwood, Mukherjee, Walker, Tan, Calvino, Garcia Márquez, and Cortázar. All readings will be in English. This course is intended to help one learn how to read fiction, how to understand it, and how to talk about it. The desire to tell stories and to be told stories is one of the most basic human needs, and all cultures have been defined in part by the stories they hear and the stories they tell. We will also explore the historical development of the short story genre, and examine how historical contexts relate to the content and style of the stories under discussion. We become familiar with how stories are put together and with the vocabulary that is used to discuss fiction--terms such as plot, narrative, character, tone, language, closure, irony, imagery, and so forth.
CMLIT 185: THE MODERN NOVEL IN WORLD LITERATURE
In CMLit./English 185,students will read examples of the modern novel from around the world. Focusing on novels written outside of America and England, this class will explore the development of the modern novel as a genre across a number of world cultures. As an example, moving from the beginnings of literary modernism (the late nineteenth century) through the early and mid twentieth century, the course will consider works by writers such as the following: Chinua Achebe, Italo Calvino, Albert Camus, Simone deBeauvior, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Isak Dinesen, Marguerite Duras, Natalia Ginzburg, Herman Hesse, James Joyce, Thomas Mann, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Kenzaburo Oe, and Marcel Proust. This course will address the ways in which the world novels under consideration constitute examples of various literary forms and styles. The class will examine the differences and distances between literary movements such as social realism and magical realism, modernism and postmodernism. The goals of this course will be to hone students' critical reading and writing skills while granting them the ability to think about the modern novel as a distinct genre in a comparative global context. Students will be asked to read a minimum of five to six novels, spending an average of two weeks studying each work. They will be asked to complete at least three writing assignments including at least two kinds of writing such as the: essay, essay exam, or semester-long reading journal. This course will prepare students for additional college-level literature courses by helping them to develop the analytical skills necessary to analyze complex written texts. This course fulfills a General Education Humanities requirement.
CMLIT 187: FRESHMAN SEMINAR
This is a special course, part of the college's series of Freshman Seminars, in which students consider the nature of a Liberal Arts education in the context of a specific body of subject-matter. In recent years, as the comparative literature subject-matter we have used (a) the Arthurian Legend, (b) the diary as a form of personal literature, (c) Africa and the West, (d) family structures, (e) autobiography, and (f) literature of the fantastic. Enrollment is limited to first-semester students.
CMLIT 189: THE FOUNDERS OF MODERN DRAMA
English/CMLIT 189 will constitute a wide ranging study of plays by authors often credited with the making of modernist drama. The class will approach these plays from a variety of thematic, historical, and/or generic vantages. Authors under consideration will vary from class to class, but may include writers such as Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov, Shaw, Wilde, Galsworthy, O'Neill, Beckett, and Yeats. Topics under consideration will vary from class to class, but may include a chronological introduction to the development of modern drama, a consideration of a principal theme or themes in modern drama through a number of plays, or a consideration of plays in the context of historical events or formal or aesthetic elements. Time allotted for the study of the works under consideration will vary. This class will prepare students for advanced courses in dramatic literature as well as other academic courses that engage in the verbal and written analysis of complex written texts.
CMLIT 199: FOREIGN STUDY-COMPARATIVE LITERATURE. (3-6 credits)
Course offered on comparative literary topics as part of a foreign-study program.
CMLIT 296: INDEPENDENT STUDIES. (1-12 credits)
Creative projects, including research, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses. The CMLIT Career Development course is a one credit 296 Independent study.
CMLIT 299: FOREIGN STUDY IN COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
This variable-credit course allows students who are participating in foreign study programs to acquire credits in comparative literature there. If you are interested, ask your adviser.
CMLIT 300W: HONORS THESIS
Individual projects involving research, reading, and writing; preparation of an honors thesis in comparative literature will be done. For students who are majoring in comparative literature and those participating in The Schreyer Honors College.
CMLIT 400W: SENIOR SEMINAR IN LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY.
Discussions of theories of literature, of literary criticism, and particularly of the distinct methods of comparative study; individual projects. Prerequisite: seventh semester standing and eighteen credits in literature.
CMLIT 401W: WESTERN LITERATURE I
Western literature from Antiquity through the Middle Ages will be studied. This course will begin with the ancient Mesopotamian epic of Gilgamesh and end with Chaucer. The aim of the course is to study, against their cultural backgrounds, the major literary traditions of Western civilization before the Renaissance. Readings will be organized by major periods and, within these, by genres. Attention is also given to recurrent themes which transcend genres (e.g., romanticism, pastoralism). Works of major authors, such as Homer, Sophocles, Vergil, Dante, Chaucer, as well as anonymous works, will be read. Readings will be assigned in English, although comparative literature majors will work in foreign languages according to their language preparation and interests.
CMLIT 402W: WESTERN LITERATURE II
Literature of the Western World from the Renaissance through Romanticism. Works of major authors such as Boccaccio, Ronsard, Rabelais, Cervantes, Shakespeare, and Milton will be read. Beginning with the end of the Renaissance, this course is concerned with major traditions and periods in Western literature--the Enlightenment, Romanticism as a literary era, Realism, etc., through contemporary literature. As in CMLIT 401W, the course provides both a chronological overview and a consideration of major authors, genres, and themes. Readings will be assigned in English, although comparative literature majors are expected to use foreign languages according to their preparation. This course qualifies as a Writing Intensive course.
CMLIT 404: LITERARY MODES OF ASIA
Selected works from the major poetry, fiction, and drama of such countries as India, China, and Japan. The content may vary from time to time. For example, one offering might concentrate on drama, another on poetry and fiction, another on traditional works or modern works. In all cases, however, literatures from several countries and languages will be studied, with a range in time, and students will practice a comparative perspective.
CMLIT 405: INTER-AMERICAN LITERATURE
The development of literature in Canada, the United States, Spanish America, the Caribbean area, and Brazil. The course will range chronologically from the pre-European period through the twentieth century, and geographically throughout the Americas. Its purpose is to study the literatures of the Americas comparatively, emphasizing their shared qualities and mutual influences rather than (as is more often done) seeing each as the separate offshoot of a European stem.
CMLIT 406: WOMEN AND WORLD LITERATURE
Literature written by women, especially women from non-Western cultures; the spectrum of genres in which women writers have excelled. This course offers an exploration of women writers of the world, with an emphasis on the contemporary period and its major trends. The course seeks to illustrate the variety of forms and concerns found in women's writing, as well as reflecting the status of women in various cultures. Students can achieve a historical perspective and a broadly international appreciation of the best literary achievements of women.
CMLIT 408: HEROIC LITERATURE
Traditional heroes, their traits and adventures; typical themes and examples chosen from the epics and sagas of world literature. The course attempts to arrive at a characterization of "heroic literature," a kind of literature often associated with antiquity and the Middle Ages, but in fact represented in many times, societies, and cultures. Examples will be drawn from heroic literature of a worldwide scope. Different theories of the nature of heroic narrative and its cultural functions will be discussed.
CMLIT 410: PROBLEMS IN TRANSLATION
Emphasizing literary translation, this course offers a study of the theoretical and practical problems encountered in the process of translation, transmission, and interpretation. A working knowledge of a foreign language (at least 18 credits) will be necessary. An understanding of translations is fundamental to comparative studies--both because translation has been an important part of the evolution of literature, and because all comparatists themselves use translations (none of us can read every language in the original). The course provides an overview of the role and importance of translation in literary studies, and offers practice in translating.
CMLIT 422: AFRICAN DRAMA
Traditional and popular dramatic forms; modern anglophone and francophone drama; nationalism and social criticism in contemporary African drama. CMLIT 422 centers upon 1) traditional dramatic forms in African cultures, and 2) the ways in which contemporary African dramatists have blended Western and African forms to create an African drama, as both a repository of tradition and as a form of social criticism, in independent Africa. This course qualifies as a B.A. "Other cultures" course.
CMLIT 423: AFRICAN NOVEL
From traditional oral narratives to modern autobiographical, historical, satirical, sociological, and allegorical forms; the novelist as social critic.CMLIT 423 deals with 1) the development of the African novel from traditional oral narratives to contemporary experiments in a variety of forms, 2) the ways in which African novelists have blended African themes and Western languages to create the African novel, and 3) the role of the modern African novelist as social critic in independent Africa.
CMLIT 443: LITERARY RELATIONS OF GERMANY WITH ENGLAND AND AMERICA
Nature and extent of the literary relations between Germany and England, or Germany and America. A reading knowledge of German is recommended, but not required. Content varies from year to year according to the interests and preparation of the students. The Pattee Library at University Park includes special collections for studying German/English and German/American literary influences.
CMLIT 453: NARRATIVE THEORY: FILM AND LITERATURE
Comparative study of the aesthetics and techniques of film and literature; close analyses of masters of each art form. Prerequisite: Communications 150, or 3 credits in literature. This course examines innovative trends in contemporary film and in prose fiction, exploring the relationship between the two media and studying the common and unique characteristics of each art form. Films and novels will be supplemented by critical studies.
CMLIT 470: OLD MASTERS OF THE MODERN NOVEL
Major novels of Joyce, Proust, Kafka, Thomas Mann, and others; their contributions to the art of the novel. The course often centers upon the two most important novelists of the twentieth century: James Joyce and Thomas Mann. Approximately three weeks each may be spent on Ulysses and The Magic Mountain, though obviously in this time we would only be able to scratch their surfaces. Other writers to be dealt with may include Beckett and Hesse.
CMLIT 480: THE INTERNATIONAL FOLKTALE
Traditional tales from various parts of the world; their origin, characteristics, forms; their transmission as oral narrative and as written literature. The course will include a survey of theories about the nature of folktales, from Jungian psychology to Proppian structuralist analysis; selected readings in folktales from different cultures; a discussion of the techniques of collecting and preserving oral narratives, so that we can add to the known corpus of folktales; and then an opportunity to compare, evaluate, and reconsider folk narratives.
CMLIT 485: THEORY AND TECHNIQUES OF WORLD FOLKLORE
This course provides essential background to major folklore approaches, and gives direction to the application of analytic methods. If you are interested in collecting and preserving folktales, or in fieldwork methods, or in other aspects of oral literature as it existed in the past and still exists today in many parts of the world, this course should be useful for increasing your understanding of the theories that folklorists have developed, and the methods they use as they try to apply those theories to real situations.
CMLIT 486: TRAGEDY
Development of tragic drama and its relationship to social background and philosophical theory. This course will concern itself with the development of the theory of tragedy from the earliest times. Students will trace the history of views on the nature of tragedy, reading the principal theoretical documents on the subject. These will be studied in conjunction with individual tragic dramas of each period. The greatest emphasis will be put on contemporary theories of tragedy with a view to arriving at a viable contemporary definition.
CMLIT 487: COMEDY
The development of comic drama and its relationship to social backgrounds and philosophical theory. This course will be a study of comedy in representative historical periods from antiquity to the present. It will be oriented toward the formal or structural relationships that exist between comic drama, on the one hand, and ritual, folk culture, and popular comic traditions, on the other. The plays read in the course will be supplemented by appropriate critical studies.
CMLIT 488: MODERN CONTINENTAL DRAMA
From Ibsen to the drama of today: Strindberg, Chekov, Hauptmann, Maeterlinck, Pirandello, Giraudoux, and others. This course will concern itself with the major twentieth-century continental dramatists after and including Ibsen. Individual authors such as Ibsen, Chekhov, Pirandello, Anouilh, Giraudoux, Lorca, Brecht, Beckett, Ionesco, and Genet will be given major attention: It is hoped that through individual reading the student will also become familiar with other playwrights. Students are encouraged to discover and pursue their own interests.
CMLIT 496: INDEPENDENT STUDIES. (1-12 credits)
Special projects, including research, which are supervised on an individual basis, and which fall outside the scope of formal courses. Students have used the 496 number to pursue in depth a topic from a course they have taken; to prepare, under faculty supervision, a special project such as a paper to be presented at a conference; or to complete a special list of readings on a topic not represented in regular course offerings.
CMLIT 497: SPECIAL TOPICS. (1-6 credits)
Formal courses given infrequently to explore, in depth, a comparatively narrow subject which may be topical, or of special interest.
CMLIT 499: FOREIGN STUDY IN COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
This variable-credit course allows students who are participating in Education Abroad Programs to acquire upper-level credits in comparative literature. If you are interested, ask your adviser. The offerings will depend on your interests, and on what is available in the country you are visiting.
500-LEVEL COURSES
Seniors and students in The Schreyer Honors College are sometimes eligible to take 500-level graduate courses as part of their undergraduate programs. If you would be interested, ask your comparative literature adviser for information about the 500-level courses.
phone: 814.863.0589 | fax: 814.863.8882 | email: cmlit@psu.edu
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