Comparative Literature

This course invites students to explore the history of the Netherlands and Belgium guided by literary texts reaching back to the seventeenth century and moving to the twentieth century (using English translations). From the fight for independence against Spanish oppression into the Golden Age of Dutch and Flemish culture when the Netherlands became a European superpower, through the changes of industrialization in the nineteenth century, on into the twentieth century with Modernism, Fascism, the German occupation in World War II and the ensuing times of the Cold War. The selected texts for this class, written by leading Dutch and Flemish authors and recognized as being part of World Literature, provide an authentic view of the history and culture of the “low countries” within the European context. Starting with Vondel and his dramatized discussion of cultural and religious struggles in the seventeenth century, followed by a portrait of Holland in the nineteenth century, the literary journey reaches the realms of decadence at the turn of the century. The turbulent events of the twentieth century and the effect they had on the “low countries” is then explored from Dutch and Flemish perspectives, including comic book-art, a movie viewing, the depiction of the Maastricht region in fiction and vice versa views from the United States with Williams Carlos Williams and Joseph Heller. Artistic concepts and writing styles from Symbolism to Post-modernism are central elements of the class discussion, together with the continuing presence of the Dutch and Flemish past. The class comes with a day-long academic field trip to the UNESCO World Heritage city of Bruges in Belgium, exploring and tasting one of the European capitals of Decadence.

This course examines concepts of contemporary Spanish literature and the process for translating the works from Spanish to French. 

This course provides an overview of the fundamental works of British and American literature. It provides an opportunity to read and reread texts and analyze and argue both orally and in writing. The course includes reading and discussing two assigned works: William Shakespeare, TWELFTH NIGHT; and Vladimir Nabokov, PNIN.

This course situates and interrogates the discipline of Comparative Literature and explores a range of theories and practices. Students are encouraged to formulate their own disciplinary definitions.

Exploring the nature of myth, this course asks where we see myths being created and retold in the modern era and why a form that is often considered to be ancient still has such prominence today. Students read a range of modern mythic narratives, from the Caribbean to Japan, from the United States to the UK, considering how and why myth takes shape in 20th- and 21st-century literature. Examining the modern reception of ancient myths from Greek and Yoruba culture and delving into the creation of new mythic tales in graphic novels and performance poetry, students ask questions about what makes a text mythic and explore the ways in which myth continues to be used to address and think through very contemporary concerns.