Comparative Literature (COLT)

The terms indicated are expected but are not guaranteed. For the courses offered during any given term, consult the Schedule of Classes.

150xg Literature and Western Civilization (4, FaSp)Introduction to major literary works of Westerncivilization from antiquity through the Renaissance intheir historical and cultural contexts (periodization,genres, society, and the arts). Not available for majorcredit.

151x Literature and Western Civilization II (4,Sp) Introduction to major literary andphilosophical works of Western civilization from the 17thto 20th centuries in their historical and cultural contexts(periodization, genres, society, and the arts). Notavailable for major credit.

155x Third World Literatures and Cultures (4)Issues common to African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin Americansocieties: underdevelopment, change and revolution; thecolonial heritage; parallels and contrasts with the West.Not available for major credit.

210 The Bible as Literature (4, FaSp) The Biblewill be read as an expression of man's literary creativity.Examination of literary genres, themes, and styles in theOld and New Testaments.

250g Cultures of Latin America (4) Comparativestudy of Latin American cultural forms andself-representations, especially vis-a-vis Europe and theU.S. Materials drawn from literature, history, film, opera,cultural theory.

261 Comparative Studies in Black Culture (4) Blackculture and identity in Africa and the Americas: dilemmas ofracial, cultural conflict and integration, vis-ˆ-vis UnitedStates and Western culture in general.

262 Masterpieces in East Asian Literature (4)Introduction to the literature of East Asia in translation,principally the literature of Japan and China.

264g Asian Aesthetic and Literary Traditions (4) Acomparative study of the Asian aesthetic heritage of poetry,painting, music, and drama; of literary themes, trends, andmyths.

270 The Short Story in World Literature (4) Studyof the development of the short story as a specificliterary genre in various literatures from the Middle Agesto the present.

271 The Novel in World Literature I (4) Originsand development of the novel in the Western and non-Westerntraditions up to the modern period.

272 The Novel in World Literature II (4) The studyof selected modern novels, in the Western and non-Westerntraditions, with particular attention to the various genres.

274 The One-Act Play in World Drama (4)Development of the one-act play as a specific dramaticgenre from the Middle Ages to the present; the influence onradio and television drama.

301 Introduction to Comparative Literature (4, Fa)Introduction to methods of comparative analysis andinterpretation. Works will be studied through variouscomparative categories that may include genre, period,movements, and interdisciplinary approaches.

310 Spirituality and Literature (4) Cross-culturalstudy of the literary forms, from ethno-poetic chants tocontemporary novels and plays, through which writers haveexpressed their religious and spiritual beliefs.(Duplicates credit in former COLT 360.)

312 Heroes, Myths and Legends in Literature and the Arts(4) Study of transformations of characters andthemes from myth, legend or fairytale (Oedipus, Antigone,Faust, Don Juan, Cinderella, Comic and Tragic Twins, Heroand Monster). (Duplicates credit in former COLT 383.)

324 Women in the European Middle Ages (4) Study ofthe literary, social and cultural lives of women during theEuropean Middle Ages by reading and analyzing texts writtenby and about women. (Duplicates credit in former COLT 460.)

330 Lyric Interactions: Poetry, Self and Society(4) Lyric poetry as communicative interactionbetween individuals and groups in premodern to modernsocieties, with interdisciplinary approaches fromcommunication theory, cultural history and socialpsychology. (Duplicates credit in former COLT 302.)

343 The Rise of the Novel, 1500-1800 (4) A survey of influential pre-modern narratives, frompicaresque and epistolary designs to psychological,sociomoral, and historicist strategies by Cervantes, Defoe,Fielding, Richardson, Voltaire, Laclos, Goethe. (Duplicatescredit in former COLT 463.)

345 Realist Fiction (4) Study of the waysliterature presents the "real" (social and/or individual)through readings of selected novels and short stories inthe realist and naturalist traditions. (Duplicates creditin former COLT 465.)

348 Modernist Fiction (4) Study of the Modernistaesthetic in narrative texts by Gide, Joyce, Kafka, Woolfand others; possible focus on related trends in otherliterary traditions. (Duplicates credit in former COLT 470.)

351 Modern and Contemporary Drama (4) Comparativestudy of major modern dramatic trends, subgenres, andtechniques, through representative works from Strindberg tothe Theatre of the Grotesque and the Absurd. (Duplicatescredit in former COLT 305.)

357 The Avant-Garde (4, max 8) Study of therelationship between literary modes and other arts since1900, focusing on particular avant-garde movements.(Duplicates credit in former COLT 306ab.)

365 Literature and Popular Culture (4) Study ofpopular culture (e.g., movies, science fiction, detectivenovel, mass media, the occult, and other popular modes) inEuropean and American literatures. Comparisons withnon-Western literatures. (Duplicates credit in former COLT375.)

374g Women Writers in Europe and America (4, Fa)Introduction to works of major women writers from theMiddle Ages to the 20th century in their literary, social,and cultural contexts. (Duplicates credit in former COLT265g.)

376 Women in Contemporary Literature and the Arts(4) Cross-cultural study of contemporary works bywomen throughout the world in both literature and thevisual arts. (Duplicates credit in former COLT 386.)

382g Zen and Taoism in Asian Literature (4, Fa) Studies of the presence and influence ofZen Buddhism and Taoism in Asian literature, with a focuson China and Japan.

385 Pan-African Literature and Culture (4)Comparative studies in African writers; examination ofcomparable works by European and Black writers in the West.(Duplicates credit in former COLT 462.)

388 U.S. Latino Fiction and the Literatures of the Americas(4) Reading and comparative study of narrativefiction by U.S. Latino, Spanish American, and Americanwriters. Spanish majors prepare assignments in Spanish.Conducted in English. Recommended preparation: readingknowledge of Spanish.

390 Special Problems (1-4) Supervised, individualstudies. No more than one registration permitted.Enrollment by petition only.

391 Seminar in Literary Criticism (4) Introductionto major critical texts in the Western tradition from thebeginnings to the present; particular attention to20th-century criticism and selected literary texts.

401 Senior Seminar on a Comparative Literary Topic (4, Sp) Study of a selected topicemploying a comparative perspective on literature.

420 The Fantastic (4) Representative works fromthe "fantastic" and related currents within the European,U.S., and Spanish American traditions; reading of texts byauthors such as Borges, Cortazar, Kafka, and Poe.Discussion of relevant theoretical concepts and criticalworks.

426 Utopias (4) Examination of selected utopias intheir historical context as "no places" whose projections ofalternate cultures always comment on their own. (Duplicatescredit in former COLT 355.)

445m Eurocentrism (4) Analysis of European texts,music and art from ancient Greece to the present, demonstrating prevalent cultural biases inEuropean dealings with other cultures. (Duplicates creditin former GERM 350.)

448 Transcultural Representations (4) Study offictional texts, chronicles and travel narratives in whichauthors depict cultures other than their own; reading anddiscussion of literary and cultural theory.

452 Representation and Cognition in Photography(4) Analysis of documentary photo-representationin its historical context through study of the work ofselected 20th century documentary photographers and ofpertinent critical writings.

454 Aesthetic Philosophy and Theory (4)Introduction to philosophical and critical writings on thenature of art and aesthetic experience. Special attentionto technology's impact on art.

472 Criminal Fictions (4) Selected works of crimefiction from European, U.S., and Spanish Americantraditions of the 19th and 20th centuries by authors suchas Borges, Chandler, Chesterton, Christie, Puig,Robbe-Grillet, and Vargas Llosa. Discussion of relevanttheoretical concepts and critical works.

475 Politics and the Novel (4) Examination of themodern realist novel with special focus on therepresentation of social change (revolution, classconflict, sexual politics).

480 Dada and Surrealism (4) A comparative study ofDada and Surrealism in literature in relation to painting,sculpture, photography and cinema.

485 The Shoah (Holocaust) in Literature and the Arts (4) A critical analysis, in theirhistorical contexts, of representative literary, dramatic,musical and artistic works created by or about the victimsof the Shoah (Holocaust).

490x Directed Research (2-8, max 8) Individualresearch and readings. Not available for graduate credit.Prerequisite: departmental approval.

495 Senior Honors Thesis (4) Writing of an honors thesis under individual faculty supervision.

499 Special Topics (2-4, max 8) Intensive study ofselected author or authors in the context of a majorliterary tradition.

502 Introduction to Literary Theory (4, Sp) Majordevelopments in 20th-century literary criticism, withspecial attention to theoretical work of the past threedecades.

524 Topics in Classical to Early Modern Literature (4, max12) Literary currents from classical antiquitythrough to the 17th century. Varying focus on specificgenres, periods, movements, or problematics.

526 Topics in Modern Literature (4, max 12)Literary currents from the 19th century to the present.Varying focus on specific genres, periods, movements, orproblematics. Views of the modern in different culturalcontexts.

541 Seminar in Drama (4, max 12) Problems indramatic theory, in the history of the drama, and incomparative analysis of dramatic forms, techniques, andthemes. (Duplicates credit in former COLT 610.)

542 Seminar in Poetry (4, max 12) History andtheory of poetic genres, communicative contexts, periodsand movements. Possible focus on epic, lyric, orality,literacy, visual media, modernism, postmodernismtranslation. (Duplicates credit in former COLT 670ab.)

543 Seminar in Prose (4, max 12) Readings of prosetexts from various genres. Possible focus on narrativefiction, the essay, travel writing, chronicles,autobiography, or testimonial literature. (Duplicatescredit in former COLT 650.)

555 Studies in Literatures of the Americas (4, max8) Comparative study of literary currents in theU.S., Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

565 Studies in Literatures of East Asia (4)Advanced study of major cultural paradigms and theirdivergent influences in East Asian literature.

568 Seminar in East-West Literary Relations (4, max8) Problems in literary borrowings and influencesbetween the principal literary traditions of the East andWest.

575 Studies in Literature and Ethnicity (4, max 8) Study of literary expression indifferent cultural, racial, or religious communities.Possible focus on African, Asian, Hispanic, or Jewishthemes across several national traditions.

585 Studies in Literature and Gender (4, max 8) Emphasis on gender difference andsexual difference as signifying categories for literaryworks, criticism, or theory.

590 Directed Research (1-12) Research leading tothe master's degree. Maximum units which may be applied tothe degree to be determined by the department. Graded CR/NC.

600 Topics in Comparative Literary Analysis (4, max12) Intensive study of fictional or poeticlanguage, with emphasis on techniques of literary analysis.

602 Topics in Literary Criticism and Theory (4, max12) Intensive study of a theoretical tradition orcritical movement, or of an individual topic or thinker, inliterary criticism or theory. May be repeated for credit.

620 Seminar in Literature and Social Thought (4, max12) Inquiry into relationships among literature,social and political ideologies, principles of politicalsystems, and social or intellectual theory.

640 Seminar in Literature and Visual Culture (4, max 12) Topics in reciprocal relationof visual arts and theory to narratology, semiotics,psychoanalysis, and other areas.

660 Seminar in Literature and Psychoanalysis (4, max12) Problems in the psychoanalytic study ofliterature and culture, or in the literature and culture ofpsychoanalysis.

680 Seminar in Literature and Philosophy (4, max12) Emphasis on questions raised when literatureconfronts philosophical discourses: aesthetics, philosophyof law, ethics, philosophy of language, politicalphilosophy, and others.

790 Research (1-12) Research leading to thedoctorate. Maximum units which may be applied to the degreeto be determined by the department. Graded CR/NC.

794abcdz Doctoral Dissertation (2-2-2-2-0) Crediton acceptance of dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.

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