Comparative Literature

Faculty
Introduction
Major in Comparative Literature
Minor in Comparative Literature
Comparative Arts Minor
Departmental Honors Program
Overseas Study
Secondary Teacher Certification
Course Descriptions

Faculty

Chairperson

Professor Oscar Kenshur

College Professor

Douglas Hofstadter

Distinguished Professors

Willis Barnstone (Emeritus, Spanish and Portuguese), Peter Bondanella (French and Italian, West European Studies), Bruce Cole (Emeritus, Fine Arts)

Martha C. Kraft Professor of Humanities

Fedwa Malti-Douglas

Chancellor's Professor

James Naremore (Emeritus, English, Communication and Culture), Anya Peterson Royce (Anthropology)

Rudy Professor

Giancarlo Maiorino

Professors

Peter Bondanella (French and Italian, West European Studies), David Hertz (American Studies), Roger Herzel (Theatre and Drama), Douglas Hofstadter (Cognitive Science, Computer Science), Sumie Jones (East Asian Languages and Culture), Eileen Julien (French and Italian, African American and African Diaspora Studies), Oscar Kenshur (English, Philosophy), Giancarlo Maiorino, Fedwa Malti-Douglas (Gender Studies), Bert Breon Mitchell (Director of Lilly Library, Germanic Studies), Anya Peterson Royce (Anthropology), Mihály Szegedy-Maszák (Central Eurasian Studies)

Associate Professors

Bill Johnston (Second Language Studies, Polish Studies), Paul Losensky (Central Eurasian Studies, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures), Herbert Marks (English, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Religious Studies), Rosemarie McGerr (Medieval Studies), Angela Pao

Assistant Professors

Akinwumi Adesokan, Vivian Nun Halloran, Miryan Segal (Jewish Studies)

Adjunct Professors

Maryellen Bieder (Spanish and Portuguese), J. Peter Burkholder (Music), Henry Cooper (Slavic Languages and Cultures), Karen Hanson (Rudy Professor of Philosophy, Dean of Hutton Honors College), Dov-Ber Kerler (Germanic Studies, Jewish Studies), Eleanor W. Leach (Ruth N. Halls Professor of Classical Studies), Rosemary Lloyd (French and Italian), William Rasch (Germanic Studies), Jack Rollins (Hutton Honors College), Suzanne Stetkevych (Ruth N. Halls Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures), H. Wayne Storey (French and Italian, Medieval Studies), Bronislava Volkova (Slavic Languages and Literatures), Marc Weiner (Germanic Studies)

Adjunct Associate Professors

Purnima Bose (English), Fritz Breithaupt (Germanic Studies), Michel Chaouli (Germanic Studies), Deborah Cohn (Spanish and Portuguese), Juan Carlos Conde (Spanish and Portuguese), Joan Hawkins (Communication and Culture), Barbara Klinger (Communication and Culture), Eric McPhail (French and Italian), Edith Sarra (East Asian Languages and Cultures), Rakesh Solomon (Theatre and Drama), Steve Weitzman (English, Jewish Studies)

Adjunct Assistant Professors

Patrick Dove (Spanish and Portuguese), Rebecca Manring (India Studies, Religious Studies), Lin Zou

Professors Emeriti

Salih Altoma (Near Eastern Languages and Cultures), Willis Barnstone (Spanish and Portuguese), Luis Beltrán (Spanish and Portuguese), Ernest Bernhardt-Kabisch (English), Peter Boerner (Germanic Studies), Matei Calinescu (English), Gilbert Chaitin (French and Italian), Claus Clüver, Bruce Cole (Fine Arts), Eugene Eoyang (East Asian Languages and Cultures), Harry Geduld, Kenneth R. R. Gros Louis (English), Ingeborg Hoesterey (Germanic Studies), Yoshio Iwamoto (East Asian Languages and Cultures), Gerald Larson (Religious Studies, India Studies), Merritt Lawlis (English), James Naremore (Communication and Culture), Henry Remak (Germanic Studies, West European Studies), Mary Ellen Solt, Ulrich Weisstein (Germanic Studies), Carl Ziegler (Germanic Studies)

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Vivian Nun Halloran, Ballantine Hall 914, (812) 855-7070

Return to Top

Introduction

The curriculum of the Department of Comparative Literature (CMLT) introduces students to the study of literature in different ages and across national, linguistic, and cultural boundaries. Students learn about texts, themes, literary types, and intercultural relations as well as the methods and theories of comparative literary study. Courses also explore relationships between literature and the visual arts, film, music, and other performance arts as well as other disciplines such as philosophy, history, and religious and cultural studies. Majors may tailor their course work to suit their particular interests by selecting from among our wide course offerings.

Return to Top

Major in Comparative Literature

Requirements

1. General Methods and Theory C205 and C305.
2. One course each from two of the following groups
1. Genre C311, C313, C315, C318
2. Period C320, C321, C325, C329, C333, C335, C337
3. Comparative Arts C251, C252, C255, C256, C310, C355, C358
4. Cross-cultural Studies C262, C301, C360
3. One advanced course at the 300 level or above that includes the study of a foreign language literature in the original
4. Six additional courses (18 credits) in Comparative Literature, at least three of which must be at the 300 level or above. For students completing a single major in CMLT, up to two courses in other departments may be substituted in accordance with the guidelines established for the optional concentrations (Literature across Cultures, Literature in European Traditions, and Comparative Arts). Consult the Comparative Literature Handbook and the director of Undergraduate Studies for details. Students completing a double major must consult with advisors in each major regarding stipulations.) C145 and C146 may not be used to fulfill major requirements.

Students must also complete the degree requirements of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Recommendations for All Majors

Especially recommended for complementary study are courses in English and foreign language literatures, African studies, African American and African Diaspora studies, Asian studies, folklore, history, history and theory of art, history and theory of music, linguistics, philosophy, religion, theatre and drama, and West European studies. It is recommended that majors continue work in a foreign language and literature through three consecutive years, regardless of their proficiency when entering the program. Students intending to do graduate work in comparative literature are advised to begin a second foreign language.

Return to Top

Minor in Comparative Literature

Requirements

Students wishing to complete a minor (minimum of 15 credit hours) with the Department of Comparative Literature must complete five courses in Comparative Literature. Four courses must be at the 200 level or above with at least two at the 300 level or above. (C146 may be used to fulfill requirements for the minor but not the major.)

Return to Top

Comparative Arts Minor

Requirements

• Five comparative arts courses or approved cross-listed courses (minimum of 15 credit hours)
• At least two courses taken at the 300 level or above
• At least two courses taken in comparative literature

Note: Students who minor in comparative literature may not also minor in comparative arts. Comparative literature majors may obtain the minor in comparative arts but may not count the same courses for both the major and the comparative arts minor.

Return to Top

Departmental Honors Program

Majors who have maintained a high level of academic achievement and who have taken at least one 300-level comparative literature course are eligible for the honors program. Students may qualify for graduation with honors in comparative literature in one of three ways: by completing three honors tutorials, by writing an honors paper, or by completing an honors project. An undergraduate senior seminar in comparative literature or a graduate course may be substituted for one of the honors tutorials. Interested students may obtain detailed information from the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

Return to Top

Overseas Study

All majors in comparative literature are encouraged to participate in one of the university's foreign study programs, where students can continue to make progress toward their degrees and apply financial aid to program fees. For information about study abroad, contact the Office of Overseas Study, Franklin Hall 303, (812) 855-9304.

Return to Top

Secondary Teacher Certification

Students majoring in comparative literature and planning to teach at secondary schools may earn a teacher certificate for English or another language. Students considering teacher certification should consult with an advisor in the School of Education as early as possible for further information.

Return to Top

Course Descriptions

General, Methods, and Theory Courses

C100 Freshman Seminar (3 cr.) A & H Analysis and discussion of selected major works of literature and art illustrating historical and stylistic problems related to specific themes, artists, or genres.

C155 Culture and the Modern Experience: An Interdisciplinary and International Approach (3 cr.) A & H, CSA This course, which is interdisciplinary in method and international in scope, introduces students to an inclusive study of major cultural parallels, contrasts, and developments across the arts and beyond national and continental divides. Syllabi and selections of course materials will reflect the specialties of individual instructors.

C200 Honors Seminar (3 cr.) A & H Selected authors and topics, ranging from traditional to modern (for example, Athens and Jerusalem: The Origins of Western Literature). Traditional or current debates and issues of a critical, theoretical, or historical nature. Comparative methodology, interdisciplinary approach. May be repeated once for credit with a different topic.

C205 Comparative Literary Analysis (3 cr.) A & H Introduction to basic concepts of literary criticism through comparative close readings of texts from a variety of literary genres-fiction, poetry, drama, essay-from diverse traditions. I Sem., II Sem.

C305 Comparative Approaches to Literature: Theory and Method (3 cr.) A & H P: C205. Introduction to modern critical theory based on the study of literary texts and of critical and theoretical works.

C400 Studies in Comparative Literature (3 cr.) A & H P: 6 credit hours of literature. Specific problems concerning the relationship of two or more literatures or of literature and another area in the humanities. May be repeated twice.

C405 Senior Seminar in Comparative Literature (3 cr., 6 cr. max.) A & H P: At least one 300-level comparative literature course or consent of instructor. Selected topics treated in seminar fashion. Recommended for majors. May be repeated once with different topic.

Genre Courses

C216 Science Fiction, Fantasy, and the Western Tradition (3 cr.) A & H Historical and comparative survey of science fiction and fantasy narrative from antiquity to the present. The origin of scientific narrative in ancient Greek literature, its relation to ancient myths, and its history and development. Emphasis on philosophical, cognitive, and scientific aspects of the genre.

C217 Detective, Mystery, and Horror Literature (3 cr.) A & H Origins, evolution, conventions, criticism, and theory of the detective and mystery story; history of the Gothic novel; later development of the tale of terror; major works of this type in fiction, drama, and film.

C219 Romance and the Western Tradition (3 cr.) A & H Origins, evolution, conventions, criticism, and theory of the romance, from antiquity to the present; representative texts from Apuleius to modern pulp fiction.

C311 Drama (3 cr.) A & H P: 6 credit hours of literature. R: C205 or ENG L202. Analytical and historical study of various forms of dramatic literature emphasizing differences between drama and other literary genres. Survey of periods and dramatic conventions, close reading of selected plays, some concern with theoretical problems.

C313 Narrative (3 cr.) A & H P: 6 credit hours of literature. R: C205 or ENG L202. Historical and analytical study of various forms of narrative literature. Discussion of narrative as a primary literary genre and analysis of such diverse forms as myth, folktale, epic, romance, gospel, saint's life, saga, allegory, confession, and novel.

C315 Lyric Poetry (3 cr.) A & H P: 6 Credit hours of literature. R: C205 or ENG L202. Close reading of exemplary poems with an emphasis on interpretation and on the interplay between literal and figurative language. Topics will include the way poems are shaped, their ambiguous status as private and public statements, and their relation to tradition, to their readers, and to one another.

C318 Satire (3 cr.) A & H P: 6 credit hours of literature. R: C205 or ENG L202. Historical and analytical study of forms, techniques, and scope of satire from antiquity to the Internet. Consideration of the role of ridicule in defending or attacking institutions, values, and beliefs. Credit given for only one of C218 or C318.

C415 Medieval Lyric (3 cr.) A & H, CSA P: One course in medieval literature or consent of instructor. Medieval religious and secular lyric. Cultural contexts and formal concerns, such as the influence of medieval rhetorical theory and the continuation and transformation of classical poetic conventions.

C417 Medieval Narrative (3 cr.) A & H, CSA P: One course in medieval literature or consent of instructor. Medieval literary theory (as it applies to narrative forms) and comparative analysis of works within their cultural contexts. Topics and works vary, but they may include the allegorical narrative, shorter narrative forms, the romance, fabliaux, saint's life, and pulpit literature.

Period Courses

C320 World Literature before 1500 (3 cr.) A & H Survey of selected genres of literature from earliest written texts through the end of the Middle Ages, covering the major centers of world civilization­the Mediterranean, India, and East and West Asia.

C321 Medieval Literature (3 cr.) A & H, CSA P: 6 credit hours of literature. R: C205 or ENG L202. Secular directions in philosophy, scholarship, history, epic, romance, and lyric poetry within medieval Christian tradition. Rise of humanism during Dark Ages; its manifestation in Carolingian and twelfth-century renaissances.

C325 The Renaissance (3 cr.) A & H, CSA P: 6 credit hours of literature. R: C205 or ENG L202. Prose fiction, long narrative poems, lyric poems, essays, tracts, and plays written between 1350 and 1650 in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and England. Such authors as Petrarch, Boccaccio, Chaucer, Machiavelli, More, Castiglione, Rabelais, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Cervantes, and Hobbes.

C329 The Eighteenth Century (3 cr.) A & H, CSB P: 6 credit hours of literature. R: C205 or ENG L202. The dominant literary and intellectual trends of the century, such as neoclassicism, rococo, Enlightenment, and preromanticism. Authors such as Pope, Swift, Montesquieu, Richardson, Voltaire, Diderot, Kant, Rousseau, Lessing, and Sterne.

C333 Romanticism (3 cr.) A & H, CSB P: 6 credit hours of literature. R: C205 or ENG L202. The rise of romantic tendencies in eighteenth-century Europe; the romantic revolution in early nineteenth-century Western literature. Such authors as Goethe, Chateaubriand, Wordsworth, Byron, Novalis, Hoffmann, Hugo, Pushkin, and Poe.

C335 Realism, Naturalism, and Symbolism (3 cr.) A & H, CSB P: 6 credit hours of literature. R: C205 or ENG L202. The rise of realism in nineteenth-century fiction and its development into naturalism and impressionism; the symbolist reaction in poetry; the reemergence of the drama as a major genre. Such authors as Dickens, Flaubert, Tolstoy, Mallarme, Ibsen, Hauptmann, Strindberg, Chekhov.

C337 The Twentieth Century: Tradition and Change (3 cr.) A & H, CSB P: 6 credit hours of literature. R: C205 or ENG L202. Such authors as Thomas Mann, Proust, Rilke, Pirandello, Joyce, Kafka, Pound, Eliot, Valery, Lorca, Brecht, Faulkner, Borges, Beckett, and Robbe-Grillet. The search for new forms and a new language to express the twentieth-century writer's views of art and reality.

Comparative Arts

C151 Introduction to Popular Culture (3 cr.) A & H, CSB Explores the scope and methodologies for the serious study of entertainment for mass consumption, including popular theater and vaudeville, bestsellers, mass circulation magazines, popular music, phonograph records, and popular aspects of radio, film, and television. Provides the basic background to other popular culture courses in comparative literature.

C251 Lyrics and Popular Song (3 cr.) A & H, CSB Survey of popular songs of Europe and the Americas, including modern ballads, cabaret songs, Spanish flamencos, Mexican rancheras, Argentine tangos, country western, and rock lyrics. Discussion of literary qualities of lyrics in context of musical setting and performance and independently as literature.

C252 Literary and Television Genres (3 cr.) A & H Comparative study of popular literary and television genres, such as farce, domestic comedy, melodrama, biography, mystery, adventure, western, the picaresque. Theoretical, technical, and ideological contrasts between the literary and television media.

C255 Modern Literature and the Other Arts: An Introduction (3 cr.) A & H, CSB Analyzes the materials of literature, painting, and music and the ways in which meaning is expressed through the organization of the materials. Investigates similarities and differences among the arts. Examples selected from the past 200 years. No previous knowledge of any art required. I Sem., II Sem.

C256 Literature and the Other Arts: 1870-1950 (3 cr.) A & H, CSB P: C255 or consent of instructor. Interaction of the arts in the development of Western literature, painting, and music in movements such as impressionism, symbolism, constructivism, expressionism, dada, and surrealism.

C257 Asian Literature and the Other Arts (3 cr.) A & H, CSA Selected literary texts of China, India, or Japan studied in the context of the art forms and cultures of these countries. Concentration on one culture each time course is offered. May be repeated once with different topic.

C261 Introduction to African Literature (3 cr.) A & H, CSA Oral and written poetry, epic, fiction, drama, and film from around the continent with reference to historical and cultural contexts, and debates on language choice, "authenticity," gender, and European representations of Africa.

C355 Literature, the Arts, and Their Interrelationship (3 cr.) A & H P: C255 or consent of instructor. Discussion of theoretical foundations for study of the relationship of the arts; detailed analysis of specific works illustrating interaction of literature with other arts.

C357 The Arts Today: From 1950 to the Present (3 cr.) A & H, CSB P: C255. R: C256. Shared trends in literature, the visual arts, music, dance, and theatre. The heritage of the grotesque and the absurd, dada and surrealism, and constructivism; the new realism. New materials; mixed media and multimedia; environmental and participatory art; happenings; minimal art, conceptual art, antiart.

C358 Literature and Music: Opera (3 cr.) A & H, CSB P: Two courses in literature, theatre, or music history. Selected opera libretti from various periods. Comparison of libretti with their literary sources; emphasis on specific problems connected with the adaptation of a literary work to the operatic medium. Evaluation of representative libretti as independent literary works.

C361 African Literature and Other Arts (3 cr.) A & H, CSA Regional, national, or ethnic traditions, including oral and written poetry, theater, fiction, film, and popular culture. Focus varies: literature of Senegal and the Mande; of Nigeria and Ghana; of Cameroon and the Congo; of East Africa and Southern Africa. May be repeated once with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.

Cross-Cultural Studies

C262 Cross-Cultural Encounters (3 cr.) A & H, CSA Encounters between different cultures explored in the literature, art, film, and music resulting from various forms of cultural contact (travel, colonization, religious diffusion, print and electronic technologies). Topics include transformation of cultural institutions, processes of cross-cultural representation, globalization of the arts and culture, development of intercultural forms. Historical and regional focus may vary. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.

C265 Introduction to East Asian Poetry (3 cr.) A & H, CSA The major poetic modes in East Asian literature, with consistent concern for their historical development and occasional reference to Western traditions.

C266 Introduction to East Asian Fiction (3 cr.) A & H, CSA Readings in the major novels of the Far East, such as Monkey, Water Margin, Dream of the Red Chamber, and The Tale of Genji, along with studies of the short story, colloquial and literary, as it developed in East Asian literature.

C301 Special Topics in Comparative Literature (3 cr.) A & H, CSA Special topics concerning two or more literary traditions or literature and other areas in the humanities. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.

C340 Women in World Literature (3 cr.) A & H, CSA Study of literature by women from different ages and societies. Consideration of such issues as the relationship to literary tradition and cultural context, the creation of an authoritative voice, or the representation of women in literature. Course may focus on one genre or mode (such as drama, lyric, autobiography, or satire).

C360 Diasporic Literatures (3 cr.) A & H, CSA Study of literature by writers of different regional and religious diasporas, with particular attention to issues relating to cultural identity and location. Consideration of closely related categories and concepts such as immigrant, ethnic minority, hybridity, and deterritorialized cultures.

C365 Japanese-Western Literary Relations (3 cr.) A & H, CSA Japanese influences on Western poets and dramatists: color prints, haiku, and Noh plays. The Western impact on Japanese literature: the Japanese adaptation of such movements as romanticism, realism, naturalism, and symbolism, with special emphasis on the Japanese traits that these movements acquired.

C370 Arabic-Western Literary Relations (3 cr.) A & H, CSA Emphasis on Greek influences on early Arabs and Arab influences on medieval Europe. Impact of modern European and American culture on Arabs.

C375 Chinese-Western Literary Relations (3 cr.) A & H, CSA R: 6 credit hours of literature. Familiarity with Chinese recommended but not required. An examination of historical contacts between China and the West; an analysis of translations from the Chinese into Western languages; an exploration of the influences of Chinese on Western literature; and a critique of the images of China and the Chinese in Western cultures. May be repeated once.

C377 Topics in Yiddish Literature (3 cr.) A & H, CSA Selected topics focusing on Yiddish fiction and drama (1810-1914) or twentieth-century Yiddish fiction, drama, and poetry. Taught in English. No prior knowledge of Yiddish required. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours. Credit given for either C300, C377, or GER Y300 per semester.

C378 Topics in Yiddish Culture (3 cr.) A & H, CSA Selected topics on history of Ashkenazic Jews; Old Yiddish and pre-modern Yiddish folklore and popular culture; history and sociology of Yiddish; modern Yiddish culture; and centers of modern Yiddish culture. Taught in English. No prior knowledge of Yiddish required. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours. Credit given for either C350, C378, or GER Y350 per semester.

C464 French Language Literature of Africa and the Americas (3 cr.) A & H, CSA Literary texts and films, their poetics and historical contexts. Particular consideration of the tension surrounding the use of French language in Africa and the Caribbean and the creation of French language literatures, their relationship to local oral traditions and metropolitan French literature. Course will be conducted in French.

Themes in Literature; Literature and Ideas

C145 Major Characters in Literature (3 cr.) A & H, CSB Comparative analysis of characters who reappear in literature from different periods and cultures. These include the quester, the lover, the artist, the trickster, the rebel, and the outsider. Readings come from diverse genres and national traditions. Fulfills half of College of Arts and Sciences composition requirement, if taken with ENG W143 (1 cr.). I Sem.

C146 Major Themes in Literature (3 cr.) A & H, CSB Comparative analysis of themes and motifs that reappear in literature from different periods and cultures. These include friendship, madness, self-sacrifice, the relationship of parents and children, the relationship of men and women, and the relationship of individuals and society. Readings come from diverse genres and national traditions. Fulfills half of College of Arts and Sciences composition requirement, if taken with ENG W143 (1 cr.). II Sem.

C147 Images of the Self: East and West (3 cr.) A & H, CSA Such considerations as the individual in society, the outcast as hero, and the artistic sensibility examined in selected works of Western and Eastern literature from ancient to modern times.

C347 Literature and Ideas (3 cr.) A & H, CSB P: 6 Credit hours of literature. Historical interrelations between literature and philosophy. Recent topics have included free will and the problem of evil; mysticism, criminality, and suffering; existentialism and the literature of the absurd. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.

C445 Traditions of Christian Literature I (3 cr.) A & H, CSA P: 6 credit hours of literature or religious studies. Imaginative literature of the Christian culture from the second to the twelfth century; relationship to Jewish and classical cultural traditions; emergence of new genres; development of early medieval themes and forms and their transformation in the High Middle Ages.

C446 Traditions of Christian Literature II (3 cr.) A & H, CSB P: 6 credit hours of literature or religious studies. Religious literature of the later Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the baroque, and the transformation of its themes and forms in more recent writings. Close reading of individual texts as well as consideration of their cultural and theological contexts.

Film

C291 Studies in Non­Western Film (3 cr.) A & H, CSA Study of adaptations of literary works, both Asian and Western, by Asian filmmakers. Discussion of traditions and conventions shared by original films with Asian literature and theatre. Concentration either on Japan, India, or China each time course is offered. May be repeated once with a different topic.

C310 Film and Literature (3 cr.) A & H Analysis of the processes and problems involved in turning a literary work (novel, play, or poem) into a screenplay and then into a film. Close study of literary and film techniques and short exercises in adaptation.

C490 Individual Studies in Film and Literature (1-3 cr.) P: Consent of chairperson of film committee. May be repeated once with a different topic. I Sem., II Sem., SS.

C492 Comedy in Film and Literature (3 cr.) A & H Evolution, styles, and techniques of film comedy in America and Europe from the beginnings of cinema to the present. Theories of comedy and humor; relationship of film comedy to comedy in fiction, drama, pantomine, circus, and vaudeville. Work of leading film comedians.

Individual Studies

C495 Individual Readings in Comparative Literature (2-3 cr., 6 cr. max.) P: Consent of chairperson. May be repeated for a total of 6 credit hours. I Sem., II Sem., SS.

C496 Foreign Study in Comparative Literature (3-8 cr.) P: Consent of chairperson. May not be repeated for credit.

C499 Studies for Honors (2-6 cr.; 12 cr. max.) P: Consent of departmental honors committee. Independent reading and research in conjunction with an advanced course in comparative literature or an honors paper or project. I Sem., II Sem. SS.

Return to Top