Comparative Literature

Literature is a cultural and aesthetic phenomenon that takes on many different forms in different periods, regions, and languages. In all of these forms, literature reflects in one way or another the society in which it emerges. This course connects the complex relations between literature and society and teaches how to write and speak about them in an academic way. The characteristics of narrative, interpretation, poetics, and textuality, and place literary texts and analyses in specific historical and cultural contexts are considered. Questions are considered via the analysis of one novel from a number of key theoretical perspectives in literary studies, such as narratology, memory studies, and reader-response theory. 

This course examines works of Mediaeval and Tudor drama.

This course centers around medieval literary texts and traditions: pastoral tales, lyric dialogues, the characters of the berger and her lover, the intervening and often violent interests of the chevalier. Texts are studied as social as well as literary documents; they are treated in the original Old French as well as modern translations. Manuscripts are consulted online as primary source material. Themes covered include the role and the voice of the female characters, their sexuality, as well as the treatment of sexual violence and the implication of this cultural dialogue.

This course analyzes the overlap between literature and painting at the end of the pivotal 19th century. It studies the representations of the artist Emile Zola, the process and the system of creating at the time, the aesthetic and social circumstances at play, and the emergence of modern painting. The course considers, as a means of understanding this phenomena, the exchanges between literature and visual art, notably analyzing ekphrasis and the "tableau en texte."

This course explores the interplay of parody, rewriting, and intertextuality in eighteenth-century British fiction and will examine how authors of the period and beyond engage with each other's works and with broader cultural contexts and norms. Through close reading, analysis, and discussion students will gain an understanding of the evolution of the novel form and its relationship to other forms, texts, and contexts.

This course examines the manner in which modern Japanese literature reflects issues of concern in Japanese society, among them discrimination, family life, the ageing population, war, disaster, identity, gender, and sexuality. Students will read a range of translated Japanese literature including fiction, non-fiction, academic articles, and short-form literature (i.e. poetry, short stories) written from the early twentieth century to the early twenty-first century. Students will also engage with material written about Japan by non-Japanese writers (i.e. news articles, academic articles etc.). 

This course focuses on an analysis of French literary, philosophical, and critical texts and how they overlap, concerning notably the "woman question" in its 17th century incarnation. The central text is Molière's LES FEMMES SAVANTES (1672) play. Supplemental texts include excerpts from Descartes and Poulain de la Barre. Central philosophical and literary themes include notions of the body (socially, medically) and the spirit as well as the self-determination of women, socially and literarily.

The course is an exploration of the nature of the German fairy tale as a literary genre and institution. It examines its historical origins in the late 18th century, its cultural significance for Germany, the formalistic elements and thematic features developed in the German fairy tale over time and its dissemination in literary and pop culture in the contemporary world.

This is an independent research course with research arranged between the student and faculty member. The specific research topics vary each term and are described on a special project form for each student. A substantial paper is required. The number of units varies with the student’s project, contact hours, and method of assessment, as defined on the student’s special study project form.