Comparative Literature

This course provides a solid understanding of post-war American novels—their historical background, style of writing, and some recurrent themes. The American writers discussed in the course include Kurt Vonnegut, Jerzy Kosinski, John Barth, Ishmael Reed, E. L. Doctorow, Don Delillo, and Robert Coover. The course also surveys contemporary Chinese novels, with a focus on works since the 1980s, the core writers include Mo Yan, Yu Hua, Su Tong, Ye Zhaoyan, Wang Xiaobo, and Yang Xianhui, who have adopted a similar way of writing characterized by the use of metafictional skill and parody, the blending of historical fact and fiction, the fusion of generic boundaries, etc. The course also explores, from a comparative perspective, such themes as war, trauma, ideological interventions, the writing and rewriting of history, etc. 

This courses examines a widespread phenomenon in the history of narrative that deals with the fantastic. Taking a transcultural and transmedia approach to the study of the fantastic, this course investigates its expressions in literary and cinematic narratives from a variety of historical periods and cultural traditions, in association with genres as diverse as fairy tales, science fiction, gothic romances, psychological thrillers, legends, love stories, and so on. This expansive view not only allows us to appreciate the adaptability of the fantastic as a discursive narrative mode, but also creates opportunities for us to understand its varying connections with its native cultures, as it migrates across cultural boundaries.

This course introduces ways of thinking about culture and society in an international frame. “Culture” and “society” are familiar yet difficult terms. The main purpose of this class is to arrive at a sense of why each of them represents something important, something that speaks to everyday, real life and not just the dominant accounts of what is going on. It will introduce students to some of the key terms, techniques, and interpretive strategies that enable them to think about culture and society in complex ways. Thinking in this sense means being familiar with a range of concepts, issues, and “isms” and being able to relate them to other texts and problems. But to think is also to read. Thus we will also study the ways of reading in its broadest and narrowest senses – how we make sense of texts and problems and do “readings” of them. To do this we must place texts into their contexts and analyze them rhetorically. This includes the ability to do “practical criticism” or “close reading” – to make advanced sense of the words on the page, or what people actually say and do.

This course examines critical and creative texts that engage with narrative ethics as they appear in different cultural and linguistic traditions. This focus on ethics will simultaneously redirect us back to narrativity and the constructedness of texts.

This course examines the connection between modern media and Korean dramatic culture. By analyzing literary elements inherent in TV dramas, animation, and popular music, as well as elements of these genres introduced into literary works, students explore interconnectedness between literature and popular culture and gain a deeper understanding of both literature and popular culture.  

The course surveys dramatic literature trends both in relation to the media through which they are broadcast as well as the cultural, social, and historical environments in which dramas and plays are situated.  

This course examines classical Chinese literary tradition in translation by focusing on genres including fiction, poetry, essays, and biographies in relation to three major themes and traditions: 1) the fantastic, the immortal, and the ghostly; 2) the moral, the loyal, and the outlaws; and 3) the romantic, the scholar, and the beauty. Through these themes and traditions, we analyze key issues regarding the formation of literary canon in China and how Han Chinese literati define the relationship between the Han and the non-Han, male and female, lawful subjects and outlaws in the process of literary canonization.

This course considers the profound changes which marked British literature from the Restoration to the beginning of the Romantic Age and contributed to the cultural shaping of the country. The first half of the century (the Augustan Age) saw a revival of classical standards in prose and verse, appealing to reason to edify, amuse, and criticize. With the reopening of theatres in 1660, new forms of drama also emerged, especially the “comedy of manners,” which reflected on the corrupt morals and hypocrisy rife in the upper-classes. Satire and parody thus became the main literary weapons during the Enlightenment period. The rise of the middle-class, the development of newspapers, the increase in literacy, together with the domination of Empiricism in philosophy and science and a new interest in feelings led to the invention of the novel. The latter not only appealed to wider audiences than previous literary genres but offered unprecedented insight into contemporary British society and history. Finally, in the second half of the century (the Age of Sensibility), public concerns yielded to more private ones and reason gradually lost ground to sensibility and imagination, thus paving the way to Romanticism.

This course studies excerpts of literary texts from the late 19th century to the present day, that propose a variety of crucial different meaning-of-life insights and meaning-in-life potentialities, all of which resonate to some extent with ideas from meaning-providing wisdom traditions (e.g., Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Sufism) and philosophical movements (e.g., existentialism and perennialism). Each work is furthermore explored in conjunction with thought-provoking intertexts. For example, Etty Hillesum is read alongside Rainer Maria Rilke and Martin Buber. The course all engages with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in conjunction with interviews with Maya Angelou and speeches by James Baldwin. Previous coursework in LIterature and English writing are required.

This course examines postcolonial literature.

This is a special studies course involving an internship with a corporate, public, governmental, or private organization, arranged with the Study Center Director or Liaison Officer. Specific internships vary each term and are described on a special study project form for each student. A substantial paper or series of reports is required. Units vary depending on the contact hours and method of assessment. The internship may be taken during one or more terms but the units cannot exceed a total of 12.0 for the year.