Comparative Literature

This course studies utopian and speculative literature as narrative tools to imagine the future. Students learn that these utopian texts reflect a historical setting and mind set. The course studies the function and meaning of utopian texts at two turning points in history: the age of colonialism and the scientific revolution (sixteenth through eighteenth century) and the social-economic tensions and changes in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Central in these two periods is the focus on the interplay between the European and non-European visions on possible futures. In the early modern period, utopian writers and thinkers have to adapt to a broader geographical (The New World) and philosophical (a New World view) perspective. They have to deal with their role as colonizers (cultural superiority vs. cultural relativism) and scientists (positivism vs. skepticism). In the second period, utopian writing itself is becoming a global endeavor, and often takes the shape of a literary dialogue between former colonizing and colonized countries. In both periods the role of utopias and dystopias in social and political constellations is addressed. Students consider how literature intervenes in conflicts and debates on science, religion, and politics; how utopian optimism or irony can develop into pessimism and (dystopian) skepticism. 

We live in times that seem increasingly apocalyptic. From our current pandemic, we look around us and see catastrophic climate change, systemic racism, food insecurity, and youth unemployment. Since the turn of the century, we have experienced 9/11, nuclear meltdowns, and financial crises. We live on a peninsula which is technically still at war, seven decades after a cease-fire armistice. In popular culture, we see these themes reflected in film and other media, ranging from the zombie apocalypse to AI cyborgs to futuristic interstellar journeys. In this course, we will explore the idea of the apocalypse/post-apocalypse in English literature through the ages. Our main reading will be a trio of powerful contemporary novels (Mitchell, Foer, Ozeki) that treat these topics within defining events of our generation. In between, we will take a step back into history, reading eighteenth and nineteenth century selections (Defoe, Malthus, Shelley, and Jefferies).

This course studies the work of young writers that at first sight seem to engage in the sort of genres we easily associate with the received practices and institutions of literature, and these young writers not only address the major issues and concerns in our society – racial injustice, class and gender inequalities, climate change, the rights of migrants and refugees, discrimination of LGBTQ+ people, domestic violence, sexual abuse, political violence, etc. – these are in fact at the core of their work. A closer look reveals that these young writers seem to break with the accepted boundaries between genres. To give one example: many of them challenge the binary between form and content, which too often has been broken down along racialized lines. The work of writers of color usually are more appreciated for its political activism rather than for its experimentation with form. The work of Claudia Rankine however shows a subtle combination of poetry, essay, and visual art, approaching race through form. Rankine is an exponent of the hybrid genre of the lyric essay. Other genre developments the course addresses are autofiction, spoken word, and relational theatre.

This course examines the history and development of the fairytales in Europe from the 16th century to the present day. The course begins with an overview of the most well-known fairytales collections by Giovanni Straparola, Giambattista Basile, Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, before exploring modern retellings in children’s picturebooks, young adult literature, and children’s film. The course is grounded in contemporary psychological and socio-historical fairytale theory and encourages students to reflect on the form, purpose and content of classic fairytales over time.