Comparative Literature

This course introduces Bachelor students to the evolution of African literary canons from the late 19th to the 21st centuries. Emphasis is laid on acquainting students to central debates that have preoccupied African writers and how these debates have unmasked the complexities of African societies before and at the dawn of colonialization. In exploring the texts, developing basic skills such as reading, interpreting, analyzing, and critiquing novels, short stories, drama, and poetry is a major objective of the seminar. Further, debates regarding the historical and cultural contexts of the literary productions shall be engaged in the course of the seminar. To have a better appreciation of African literatures, texts, and critical discourse from the African Diaspora shall be part of the literary corpus. The course also discusses major theoretical approaches to literature such as, structuralism, narratology, new historicism, and African feminist critical perspectives. The postcolonial theory is, however, a major critical discourse in the seminar.

This course analyzes Francophone literature and the stylistic choices authors make to enhance and create certain points in their writing. It focuses on contemporary Francophone literature with a postcolonial approach, its different forms in comedy/humor/irony, and different genres such as the novel, poetry, theater, and essay. It covers historical background and analyzes different literary details.

A survey of Chinese narrative with its differing topical approaches: justice, history and fiction, romance, and the supernatural. Students are expected to comprehend the legacy of Chinese culture by examining its continuing articulations of archetypes and masterpieces. This class explores diverse narrative forms across time and genre: from the Han dynasty inceptions of historical records to Lu Xun`s personal essays; from the Tang romance to the Ming-Qing vernacular fiction; from the musical theatre in the Yuan dynasty to the revolutionary model plays during the Cultural Revolution, and also to contemporary cinematic representations of those popular themes.

This course provides an in-depth look at how French history and culture influenced French literature. It utilizes textual analysis and brief history lessons to contextualize literary movements. Poems and passages are critically analyzed for historical accuracy, biases, et cetera.

This course focuses on two classics in English literature: OLIVER TWIST by Charles Dickens published in 1838 and JANE EYRE by Charlotte Brontë published in 1847. Both novels focus on the hero and the heroine’s struggle in a hostile world. The course is based on close analyses of extracts of both novels and weekly presentations on the context. The last four sessions closely analyze the movie adaptations (OLIVER TWIST (2005) starring Barney Clark and JANE EYRE (1996) starring Charlotte Gainsbourg).