Comparative Literature

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This is an archived copy of the 2013-2014 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.uchicago.edu.

Contacts

Undergraduate Primary Contact

Director of Undergraduate Studies
Boris Rodin Maslov
F 401
702.8486
Email

Secondary Contact

Director of Undergraduate Studies
Tamara Chin
Cl 120

Email

Administrative Contacts

Department Administrator
Rose Watson
Cl 116
773-702-8486
Email

Department Assistant
Vicky Lim
Classics 116

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Website

http://complit.uchicago.edu

The major in Comparative Literature leads to a BA degree. This program is designed to attract students who wish to pursue an interdisciplinary plan of course work focused on the study of literature as written in various languages and in various parts of the world.

Such a student might come to the University with a strong background in languages other than English and want to work in two or more literatures (one of which can be English). Another student might have a strong interest in literary study and wish to address general, generic, and/or transnational questions that go beyond the boundaries of national literature offered by English and other literature departments. Or, a student might wish to pursue an in-depth study of the interrelationship of literature and culture, as well as issues that transcend the traditional demarcations of national literary history and area studies.

These descriptions of academic interest are not mutually exclusive. Each student will design a plan of course work that will suit his or her individual goals and that will take advantage of the rich offerings of this university.

Program Requirements

The aim of the following guidelines is to help students develop a balanced and coherent plan of study. The Director of Undergraduate Studies in Comparative Literature is available to discuss these guidelines with students who are interested in comparative literature.

In addition to the thirteen courses counted toward the major, students must complete a second-year sequence in a language other than English or demonstrate language ability of an equivalent skill through accreditation. Students should have completed this requirement, or be well on their way to its completion, by the time they apply to the program, typically the end of their second year. See Participation in the Program below for further details.
Six courses in a primary field, or in closely integrated subject areas in more than one field, are required.
Four courses in a secondary field, or in closely integrated subject areas in more than one field, are required.
All students will be asked to take two quarters of a sequence that introduces the theoretical, scholarly, and critical practices relevant to comparative literature. The first quarter, taught by a Comparative Literature faculty member, will be CMLT 29701 Introduction to Comparative Literature: Problems, Methods, Precedents. The second quarter will be a free-standing but related course taught by an advanced graduate student. Students are expected to take both courses in the same year. Critical methods classes taken prior to the 2012–13 inauguration of this sequence may count as the equivalents to one or both of the two new required courses.
Students who are majoring in Comparative Literature are required to complete a BA project. The project will be supervised by a faculty member of the student's choice, with that faculty member's consent and the approval of the Director of Undergraduate Studies; that faculty member may be, but need not be, on the faculty of Comparative Literature. A graduate student in Comparative Literature will serve as preceptor for all BA projects through the BA workshop, moderating discussions, working with students on the mechanics of writing, and providing tutorial assistance. For details, see the following information on the BA workshop and the BA paper.
As part of the process of writing the BA paper, fourth-year students are required to register for CMLT 29801 BA Project and Workshop: Comparative Literature and attend its meetings. The workshop begins in Autumn Quarter with readings and discussion of themes and methods in Comparative Literature. It continues through the middle of the Spring Quarter with workshops in which students provide written and oral feedback on each other's work in progress toward the BA project. While the BA workshop meets in all three quarters, it counts as a one-quarter course credit. Students may register for the course in any of the three quarters of their fourth year. A grade for the course will be assigned in the Spring Quarter based partly on participation in the workshop and partly on the quality of the BA paper.

Summary of Requirements

6 primary field courses		600
4 secondary field courses		400
2 critical/intellectual methods courses		200
CMLT 29801	BA Project and Workshop: Comparative Literature	100
Total Units		1300

The department encourages students to pursue further language study by taking courses in a second or third language. NOTE: Those language courses will be approved for use in the major only if they are at an intermediate or advanced level; elementary-level courses cannot be counted toward the total number of courses needed to complete the major.

Additional courses in critical/intellectual methods may be counted toward the six courses in the primary field or toward four courses in the secondary field if their materials are appropriate for those purposes, but the total number of courses presented for the major must total thirteen.

A student wishing to work in two literatures (one of which can be English) might choose two literatures as the primary and secondary fields. A student interested in literary study across national boundaries with a focus on generic and transnational questions might create a primary field along generic lines (e.g., film, the epic, the novel, poetry, drama, opera); the secondary field might be a particular national literature or a portion of such a literature. A student interested in literary and cultural theory might choose theory as either a primary or secondary field, paired with another field designed along generic lines or those of one or more national literatures.

Courses in the various literature departments and in Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities are obviously germane to the building of any individual program. A student is likely to find courses in the Humanities Collegiate Division and in the Department of History that extend beyond the usual definitions of literature (e.g., film, art, music, history) to be appropriate to her or his individual program of study. Study abroad offers an attractive means of fulfilling various aims of this program as well.

Participation in the Program

Students should express their interest in the major as soon as possible, typically before the end of their second year. The first step is to meet with the Director of Undergraduate Studies to consult about a program of study. Thereafter, students are required to submit a written proposal of about one thousand words in length that consists of two parts:

a statement explaining how the proposed plan of study will take advantage of existing College offerings and meet departmental requirements
a list of proposed courses (as well as alternates) and indications of how they will fulfill the department's requirements

Applicants must also submit a list of completed courses and a list of courses in which they are currently registered. Special mention should be made of language courses or other language training that affirms a student's level of language proficiency. Each proposal will be evaluated on the basis of the interest of the student and his or her achievement in the languages needed to meet the goals of the intended course of study. Students will be notified by email of their acceptance to the program.

Comparative Literature majors should demonstrate proficiency in a literary language (other than English) that is relevant to their proposed course of study (as indicated in requirement number one above). This requirement must be met at the time of application or shortly thereafter. Such proficiency is measured by the completion of a second-year sequence in the language, or by demonstration of an equivalent skill. Language ability is essential to work in comparative literature of whatever sort. The Department of Comparative Literature takes language preparation into consideration when evaluating applications, but it will also help students achieve their individual goals by suggesting programs of study that will add to their language expertise as appropriate.

BA Project

One obvious choice for a BA project is a substantial essay in comparative literary study. This option should not, however, rule out other possibilities. Two examples might be a translation from a foreign literature with accompanying commentary, or a written project based on research done abroad in another language and culture relating to comparative interests. Students are urged to base their project on comparative concepts, and to make use of the language proficiency that they will develop as they meet the program's requirements. Visit humanities.uchicago.edu/depts/complit/undergraduate for details on the BA project.

This program may accept a BA paper or project used to satisfy the same requirement in another major if certain conditions are met and with the consent of the other program chair. Approval from both program chairs is required. Students should consult with the chairs by the earliest BA proposal deadline (or by the end of third year, when neither program publishes a deadline). A consent form, to be signed by both chairs, is available from the College adviser. It must be completed and returned to the College adviser by the end of Autumn Quarter of the student's year of graduation.

Grading

All courses to be used in the major must be taken for a quality grade, which must be a B- or higher.

Honors

To be eligible for honors in Comparative Literature, students must earn an overall cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher, and a GPA of 3.5 or higher in the major. They must also complete a BA essay or project that is judged exceptional in intellectual and/or creative merit by the first and second readers.

Advising

In addition to their College adviser, students should consult on an ongoing basis with the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Further advice and counseling will be available from the preceptor for the program and from the faculty member who supervises the student's BA project.

Comparative Literature Courses

CMLT 20500. History and Theory of Drama I. 100 Units.

The course is a survey of major trends and theatrical accomplishments in drama from the ancient Greeks through the Renaissance: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, classical Sanskrit theater, medieval religious drama, Japanese Noh drama, Kyd, Marlowe, Shakespeare, and Molière, along with some consideration of dramatic theory by Aristotle, Sir Philip Sidney, Corneille, and others. Students have the option of writing essays or putting on short scenes in cooperation with other members of the course. The goal of these scenes is not to develop acting skill but, rather, to discover what is at work in the scene and to write up that process in a somewhat informal report. End-of-week workshops, in which individual scenes are read aloud dramatically and discussed, are optional but highly recommended. (D, E)

Instructor(s): D. Bevington Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Preference given to students with third- or fourth-year standing.
Note(s): May be taken in sequence with ENGL 13900/31100 or individually. This course meets the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts.
Equivalent Course(s): ENGL 13800,CLAS 31200,CLCV 21200,CMLT 30500,ENGL 31000,TAPS 28400

CMLT 20600. History and Theory of Drama II. 100 Units.

This course is a survey of major trends and theatrical accomplishments in Western drama from the eighteenth century into the twentieth (i.e., Sheridan, Ibsen, Chekhov, Strindberg, Wilde, Shaw, Brecht, Beckett, Pinter, Stoppard, Churchill, Kushner). Attention is also paid to theorists of the drama (e.g., Stanislavsky, Artaud, Grotowski). Students have the option of writing essays or putting on short scenes in cooperation with other members of the course. The goal of these scenes is not to develop acting skill but, rather, to discover what is at work in the scene and to write up that process in a somewhat informal report. End-of-week workshops, in which individual scenes are read aloud dramatically and discussed, are optional but highly recommended. (D, G)

Instructor(s): D. Bevington, H. Coleman Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Third- or fourth-year standing
Note(s): May be taken in sequence with ENGL 13800/31000 or individually. This course meets the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts.
Equivalent Course(s): ENGL 13900,CMLT 30600,ENGL 31100,TAPS 28401

CMLT 21101. Roman Elegy. 100 Units.

This course examines the development of the Latin elegy from Catullus to Ovid. Our major themes are the use of motifs and topics and their relationship to the problem of poetic persona.

Instructor(s): D. Wray Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): LATN 21100,CMLT 31101,LATN 31100

CMLT 21202. Decolonizing Drama and Performance in Africa. 100 Units.

Equivalent Course(s): ENGL 24404,ENGL 44509,CMLT 41202,CMST 24508,CMST 44508,TAPS 28418

CMLT 21600. Comparative Fairy Tale. 100 Units.

For some, fairy tales count as sacred tales meant to enchant rather than to edify. For others, they are cautionary tales, replete with obvious moral lessons. Critics have come to apply all sorts of literary approaches to fairy tale texts, ranging from stylistic analyses to psychoanalytical and feminist readings. For the purposes of this course, we assume that these critics are correct in their contention that fairy tales contain essential underlying meanings. We conduct our own readings of fairy tales from the German Brothers Grimm, the Norwegians, Asbjørnsen and Moe, and the Dane, Hans Christian Andersen. We rely on our own critical skills as well as on selected secondary readings.

Instructor(s): K. Kenny Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): NORW 10400 or consent of instructor
Equivalent Course(s): NORW 28500,GRMN 28500,HUMA 28400

CMLT 21801. Caribbean Fiction: Self-Understanding and Exoticism. 100 Units.

The Caribbean is often described as enigmatic, uncommon, and supernatural. While foreigners assume that the Caribbean is exotic, this course will explore this assumption from a Caribbean perspective. We will examine the links between Caribbean and Old World imagination, the relationship between exoticism and Caribbean notions of superstition, and the way in which the Caribbean fictional universe derives from a variety of cultural myths.

Instructor(s): D. Desormeaux Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): The course will be taught in English and all required texts are in English and English translations from French. A weekly session in French will be held for majors and graduate students in French and Comparative Literature.
Equivalent Course(s): FREN 33500,CMLT 31801,FREN 23500

CMLT 21851-31851. Zhuangzi: Lit, Phil, or Something Else.

CMLT 21851. Zhuangzi: Lit, Phil, or Something Else. 100 Units.

The early Chinese book attributed to Master Zhuang seems to be a patchwork of fables, polemical discussions, arguments, examples, riddles, and lyrical utterances. Although it has been central to the development of both religious Daoism and Buddhism, the book is alien to both traditions. This course offers a careful reading of the work with some of its early commentaries. Requirement: classical Chinese.

Instructor(s): H. Saussy Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Requirement: classical Chinese
Equivalent Course(s): EALC 31851,FNDL 22306,CMLT 31851

CMLT 31851. Zhuangzi: Lit, Phil, or Something Else. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): H. Saussy Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Requirement: classical Chinese
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 21851,EALC 31851,FNDL 22306

CMLT 22302. Literatures of the Christian East: Late Antiquity, Byzantium, and Medieval Russia. 100 Units.

After the fall of Rome in 476 CE, literatures of the Latin West and—predominantly Greek-speaking—Eastern provinces of the Roman empire followed two very different paths. Covering both religious and secular genres, we will survey some of the most interesting texts written in the Christian East in the period from 330 CE (foundation of Constantinople) to the late 17th century (Westernization of Russia). Our focus throughout will be on continuities within particular styles and types of discourse (court entertainment, rhetoric, historiography, hagiography) and their functions within East Christian cultures. Readings will include Digenes Akritas and Song of Igor’s Campaign, as well as texts by Emperor Julian the Apostate, Gregory of Nazianzus, Emphraim the Syrian, Anna Comnena, Psellos, Ivan the Terrible, and Archbishop Avvakum. No prerequisites. All readings in English.

Instructor(s): Boris Maslov Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 32302,CLAS 31113,CLCV 21113,SLAV 22302,SLAV 32302

CMLT 22303. Prosody and Poetic Form: An Introduction to Comparative Metrics. 100 Units.

This class offers (i) an overview of major European systems of versification, with particular attention to their historical development, and (ii) an introduction to the theory of meter. In addition to analyzing the formal properties of verse, we will inquire into their relevance for the articulation of poetic genres and, more broadly, the history of literary (and sub-literary) systems. There will be some emphasis on Graeco-Roman quantitative metrics, its afterlife, and the evolution of Germanic and Slavic syllabo-tonic verse. No prerequisites, but a working knowledge of one European language besides English is strongly recommended.

Instructor(s): Boris Maslov Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 32303,CLCV 21313,CLAS 31313,SLAV 22303,SLAV 32303

CMLT 22400-22500. History of International Cinema I-II.

This sequence is required of students majoring in Cinema and Media Studies. Taking these courses in sequence is strongly recommended but not required.

CMLT 22400. History of International Cinema I: Silent Era. 100 Units.

This course introduces what was singular about the art and craft of silent film. Its general outline is chronological. We also discuss main national schools and international trends of filmmaking.

Instructor(s): J. Lastra Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Prior or concurrent registration in CMST 10100 required. Required of students majoring in Cinema and Media Studies.
Note(s): This is the first part of a two-quarter course.
Equivalent Course(s): CMST 28500,ARTH 28500,ARTH 38500,ARTV 26500,ARTV 36500,CMLT 32400,CMST 48500,ENGL 29300,ENGL 48700,MAPH 36000

CMLT 22500. History of International Cinema II: Sound Era to 1960. 100 Units.

The center of this course is film style, from the classical scene breakdown to the introduction of deep focus, stylistic experimentation, and technical innovation (sound, wide screen, location shooting). The development of a film culture is also discussed. Texts include Thompson and Bordwell's Film History: An Introduction; and works by Bazin, Belton, Sitney, and Godard. Screenings include films by Hitchcock, Welles, Rossellini, Bresson, Ozu, Antonioni, and Renoir.

Instructor(s): T. Gunning Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Prior or concurrent registration in CMST 10100 required. Required of students majoring in Cinema and Media Studies.
Note(s): CMST 28500/48500 strongly recommended
Equivalent Course(s): CMST 28600,ARTH 28600,ARTH 38600,ARTV 26600,CMLT 32500,CMST 48600,ENGL 29600,ENGL 48900,MAPH 33700

CMLT 23201. Returning the Gaze: The Balkans and Western Europe. 100 Units.

This course investigates the complex relationship between South East European self-representations and the imagined Western "gaze" for whose benefit the nations stage their quest for identity and their aspirations for recognition. We also think about differing models of masculinity, the figure of the gypsy as a metaphor for the national self in relation to the West, and the myths Balkans tell about themselves. We conclude by considering the role that the imperative to belong to Western Europe played in the Yugoslav wars of succession. Some possible texts/films are Ivo Andric, Bosnian Chronicle; Aleko Konstantinov, Baj Ganyo; Emir Kusturica, Underground; and Milcho Manchevski, Before the Rain.

Instructor(s): A. Ilieva Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SOSL 27200,CMLT 33201,NEHC 20885,NEHC 30885,SOSL 37200

CMLT 23301. Balkan Folklore. 100 Units.

This course is an overview of Balkan folklore from ethnographic, anthropological, historical/political, and performative perspectives. We become acquainted with folk tales, lyric and epic songs, music, and dance. The work of Milman Parry and Albert Lord, who developed their theory of oral composition through work among epic singers in the Balkans, helps us understand folk tradition as a dynamic process. We also consider the function of different folklore genres in the imagining and maintenance of community and the socialization of the individual. We also experience this living tradition first hand through our visit to the classes and rehearsals of the Chicago-based ensemble "Balkanske igre."

Instructor(s): A. Ilieva Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SOSL 26800,CMLT 33301,NEHC 20568,NEHC 30568,SOSL 36800

CMLT 23401. The Burden of History: A Nation and Its Lost Paradise. 100 Units.

This course begins by defining the nation both historically and conceptually, with attention to Romantic nationalism and its flourishing in Southeastern Europe. We then look at the narrative of original wholeness, loss, and redemption through which Balkan countries retell their Ottoman past. With the help of Freud's analysis of masochistic desire and Žižek's theory of the subject as constituted by trauma, we contemplate the national fixation on the trauma of loss and the dynamic between victimhood and sublimity. The figure of the Janissary highlights the significance of the other in the definition of the self. Some possible texts are Petar Njegoš's Mountain Wreath; Ismail Kadare's The Castle; and Anton Donchev's Time of Parting.

Instructor(s): A. Ilieva Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 33401,NEHC 20573,NEHC 30573,SOSL 27300,SOSL 37300

CMLT 23702. Making a Scene. 100 Units.

Equivalent Course(s): ENGL 25931,ENGL 42409,CMLT 33702

CMLT 23901. Gender in the Balkans through Literature and Film. 100 Units.

This introductory course examines the poetics of femininity and masculinity in some of the best works of the Balkan region. We contemplate how the experiences of masculinity and femininity are constituted and the issues of socialization related to these modes of being. Topics include the traditional family model, the challenges of modernization and urbanization, the socialist paradigm, and the post-socialist changes. Finally, we consider the relation between gender and nation, especially in the context of the dissolution of Yugoslavia. All work in English.

Instructor(s): A. Ilieva Terms Offered: Winter

CMLT 24402. Early Novels: The Ethiopian Story, Parzifal, Old Arcadia. 100 Units.

The course will introduce the students to the oldest sub-genres of the novel, the idealist story, the chivalric tale and the pastoral. It will emphasize the originality of these forms and discuss their interaction with the Spanish, French, and English novel.

Instructor(s): T. Pavel, G. Most Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 34402,SCTH 35914,RLLT 24402,RLLT 34402

CMLT 24408. Before and After Beckett: Theater and Theory. 100 Units.

Beckett is conventionally typed as the playwright of minimalist scenes of unremitting bleakness but his experiments with theatre and film echo the irreverent play of popular culture (vaudeville on stage and screen, e.g., Chaplin and Keaton) as well as the artistic avant garde (Jarry). This course will juxtapose these early 20th century models with Beckett’s plays on stage and screen and those of his contemporaries (Ionesco, Genet, Duras). Contemporary texts include Vinaver, Minyana, in French, Pinter, Churchill, Kane in English. Theorists include Barthes, Badiou, Bert States, and others. Comparative Literature students will have the opportunity to read French originals. (D, G, H)

Instructor(s): L. Kruger Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): PQ: HUM and TAPS course; this course is for juniors and seniors only; not open to first-year College students
Equivalent Course(s): ENGL 24408,TAPS 28438

CMLT 24902. Mimesis. 100 Units.

This course introduces the concept of mimesis (imitation, representation), tracing it from Plato and Aristotle through some of its reformulations in recent literary, feminist, and critical theory. Topics include desire, postcolonialism, and non-Western aesthetic traditions. Readings may include Plato, Aristotle, Euripides’s Bacchae, Book of Songs, Lu Ji’s Rhapsody on Literature, Auerbach, Butler, Derrida, and Spivak.

Instructor(s): T. Chin Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course meets the critical/intellectual methods course requirement for students who are majoring in Comparative Literature.
Equivalent Course(s): GNSE 24903,EALC 24902

CMLT 25001. Foucault and The History of Sexuality. 100 Units.

This course centers on a close reading of the first volume of Michel Foucault’s The History of Sexuality, with some attention to his writings on the history of ancient conceptualizations of sex. How should a history of sexuality take into account scientific theories, social relations of power, and different experiences of the self? We discuss the contrasting descriptions and conceptions of sexual behavior before and after the emergence of a science of sexuality. Other writers influenced by and critical of Foucault are also discussed. (A)

Instructor(s): A. Davidson Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): One prior philosophy course is strongly recommended.
Equivalent Course(s): PHIL 24800,FNDL 22001,GNSE 23100,HIPS 24300

CMLT 25007. The Places of Memory, 1780-1880. 100 Units.

This course will investigate the affinities between place and memory in literature. In considering works that span a century of literature, we will reflect on memory as a force that emerges as an expression of self – or nation – that is tethered to objects, places, or structures. Course readings will be drawn primarily from German, Russian, and Anglophone literatures (Eichendorff, Tieck, Hoffmann, Fet, Tiutchev, Pushkin, Elliot, Scott, Brontë, others). Supplementary readings drawn from literary criticism, philosophy, historiography, and complementary fields will help us to consider the intersection of literature and history as it relates to questions of a historically constructed subject or nation. Topics include collaborative memory, romanticism, intertextuality, historical representation, historical fiction, and nostalgia. No prerequisites. All readings in English with optional reading groups to discuss German and Russian works in the original for all interested students.

Instructor(s): M. Felix
Prerequisite(s): None
Equivalent Course(s): GRMN 25014,RUSS 25007

CMLT 25102. Problems Around Foucault. 100 Units.

Equivalent Course(s): PHIL 21910,PHIL 31910,CMLT 35102,DVPR 35100,CHSS 31910,HIPS 21910

CMLT 25801. Machiavelli and Machiavellism. 100 Units.

This course is a comprehensive introduction to Machiavelli’s The Prince in light of his vast and varied literary corpus and European reception. The course includes discussion of Machiavelli as playwright (The Mandrake), fiction writer (Belfagor, The Golden Ass), and historian (Discourses, Florentine Histories). We will also closely investigate the emergence of myths surrounding Machiavelli (Machiavellism and anti-Machiavellism) in Italy (Guicciardini, Botero, Boccalini), France (Bodin and Gentillet), Spain (Ribadeneyra), and Northern Europe (Hobbes, Grotius, Spinoza) during the Counter Reformation and beyond.

Instructor(s): R. Rubini Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): Course conducted in English. Those seeking Italian credit will do all work in Italian.
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 21603,REMS 33001,ITAL 23000

CMLT 26400. Introduction to the Renaissance. 100 Units.

The Renaissance, which first and foremost flourished in Italy, founded our modern concept of the self. The way we see ourselves, the values we cherish, derive from the Renaissance. Modernity is a product of the Renaissance. This course emphasizes the importance of introspection in Renaissance culture, poetry, and philosophy. The books I have selected have a strong autobiographical element. However, they also illuminate how the Renaissance theorizes the relationship between the individual and society. We will read, in Italian, passages from major Italian texts in prose, such as Castiglione's Il cortigiano, Machiavelli's Discorsi, Campanella's Città del Sole, and poetry by Michelangelo, Monsignor della Casa, and numerous women poets, such as Veronica Franco, Vittoria Colonna, and Veronica Gambara.

Instructor(s): A. Maggi Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): Taught in Italian.
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 22200

CMLT 26600. Ren/Lit Imagination. 100 Units.

CMLT 26610. Kinds of Narratives: the Novella. 100 Units.

The course will discuss the place of the novella among nineteenth-century prose narratives. We will read works by Balzac, Gogol, Stifter, Mérimée, Melville, Fontane, Chekhov, and Henry James.

Instructor(s): T. Pavel Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): Taught in English. For French majors and graduates there will be a weekly one-hour meeting to study the original French texts.

CMLT 26913. Anagnorisis and the Cognitive Work of Theater. 100 Units.

In the Poetics Aristotle conceives anagnorisis or recognition as one of the three constitutive parts of the dramatic plot and defines it as the “a change from ignorance (agnoia) to knowledge (gnosis).” Implying the rediscovery of something previously known anagnorisis refers to the emplotment and staging of a certain kind of cognitive work characteristic of theater (as a locus of theoria or theory). For recognition is not only required of the dramatis personae on stage but also of the spectators who need to (re)-cognize a character whenever s/he enters. Just as the characters’ anagnorisis isn’t restricted to the filiation, i.e., identity, of other characters the audience’s cognition concerns the understanding the plot as a whole. In short, by focusing on anagnorisis we can gain insight in the specific cognitive work of theater (and drama). Naturally we will begin in antiquity and examine the instantiation of recognition in Homer’s Odyssey and several Greek tragedies as well as its first theorization in Aristotle’s Poetics. Then we will jump to the modernes, specifically Enlightenment theater’s obsession with anagnorisis and the cognitive work it performs, and investigate dramas by Diderot and Lessing. Kleist’s dramatic deconstructions of German bourgeois and classical theater test the Enlightenment’s claim to reason and reform of human cognition. Our last stop will be Brecht’s theater of “Entfremdung” that makes the alienation at the heart of anagnorisis into the centerpiece of his aesthetic and political project. If we have time, we will also take a look at comical recognition as self-reflection of its tragic counterpart. Readings and discussions in English.

Instructor(s): C. Wild Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): GRMN 26913,CLCV 25513,CLAS 35513,CMLT 36913,TAPS 28441,GRMN 36913

CMLT 27402. Contemporary Chinese Writers and the Literary Field. 100 Units.

Equivalent Course(s): EALC 28620,EALC 38620,CMLT 37402

CMLT 27414. Interpolation: Towards a Poetics of Philology in Early-Modern Europe. 100 Units.

This course will examine the philological notion of interpolation—the insertion of new material into a text perceived to be faulty or lacking—not only as an operation of textual reparation or editorial alteration, but more importantly as constituting in and of itself a form of literary writing or authorship, whose poetics we will explore. What is, we will ask, the relation between literary scholarship and literary creation? We will concentrate primarily, but not exclusively, on early-modern writings, employing a comparative perspective which will allow the examination of other artistic practices beyond the literary, including music and sculpture. Among the authors to be considered will be Euripides, Pascal, Mme de Sévigné, Mme Dacier, Furetière, Milton, Swift and Baudelaire. In addition, theoretic readings will be discussed to examine problems such as the coherence and identity of literary texts, the role of the author, and the status of philology and literary criticism.

Instructor(s): S. Rabau Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): Taught in English, but students registering under the French course number will read French texts in their original language and conduct all written work in French.
Equivalent Course(s): FREN 37414,REMS 37414,CMLT 37414,FREN 27414

CMLT 28610. The German Romantic Lied. 100 Units.

In the romantic genre of the German Lied, music and poetry meet with a precision, complexity, and affective intensity unheard of since the times of medieval Minnesang. At the center of this undergraduate seminar is the relationship of Robert Schumann and Heinrich Heine and their cycle “Dichterliebe,” supplemented by Schumann’s rendering of other poets’ work (for example, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe or Joseph von Eichendorff). The larger context of Lied-making the class also seeks to explore is formed by pieces by Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, and Johannes Brahms. Readings and discussions in German.

Instructor(s): F. Klinger Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): GRMN 25013

CMLT 28900. Health Care and the Limits of State Action. 100 Units.

In a time of great human mobility and weakening state frontiers, epidemic disease is able to travel fast and far, mutate in response to treatment, and defy the institutions invented to keep it under control: quarantine, the cordon sanitaire, immunization, and the management of populations. Public health services in many countries find themselves at a loss in dealing with these outbreaks of disease, a deficiency to which NGOs emerge as a response (an imperfect one to be sure). Through a series of readings in anthropology, sociology, ethics, medicine, and political science, we will attempt to reach an understanding of this crisis of both epidemiological technique and state legitimacy, and to sketch out options.

Instructor(s): E. Lyon, H. Saussy Terms Offered: Winter 2014
Prerequisite(s): Third- or fourth-year standing
Note(s): This course does not meet the requirements for the Biological Sciences major.
Equivalent Course(s): BIOS 29323,BPRO 28600,HMRT 28602

CMLT 29100. Renaissance Epic. 100 Units.

A study of classical epic in the Renaissance or Early Modern period. Emphasis will be both on texts and on classical epic theory. We will read Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered, Camões' Lusiads, and Milton's Paradise Lost. A paper will be required and perhaps an examination.

Instructor(s): M. Murrin Terms Offered: Winter

CMLT 29101. Pascal and Simone Weil. 100 Units.

Pascal in the seventeenth century and Simone Weil in the twentieth formulated a compelling vision of the human condition, torn between greatness and misery. They showed how human imperfection coexists with the noblest callings, how attention struggles with diversion and how individuals can be rescued from their usual reliance on public opinion and customary beliefs. Both thinkers point to the religious dimension of human experience and suggest unorthodox ways of approaching it.

Instructor(s): T. Pavel Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Third- or fourth-year standing.
Note(s): The course will be taught in English. For French undergraduates and graduates, we will hold a bi-weekly one-hour meeting to study the original French texts.
Equivalent Course(s): FREN 39100,CMLT 39101,FNDL 21806,FREN 29100

CMLT 29700. Reading Course. 100 Units.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Must be taken for a quality grade. This course does not satisfy distribution requirements for students who are majoring in CMLT unless an exception is made by the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

CMLT 29701. Introduction to Comparative Literature: Problems, Methods, Precedents. 100 Units.

As the study of relations among the world's literary and other expressive traditions, comparative literature confronts a host of questions. What do works from different times and places have in common? How can we meaningfully assess their differences? How do we account for systematic and extra-systemic features of literature? Is translation ever adequate? This course offers consideration of these and related issues through influential critical examples. This course is the first of a two-quarter sequence required for all majors in Comparative Literature.

Instructor(s): Haun Saussy Terms Offered: Autumn

CMLT 29801. BA Project and Workshop: Comparative Literature. 100 Units.

This workshop begins in Autumn Quarter and continues through the middle of Spring Quarter. While the BA workshop meets in all three quarters, it counts as a one-quarter course credit. Students may register for the course in any of the three quarters of their fourth year. A grade for the course is assigned in the Spring Quarter, based partly on participation in the workshop and partly on the quality of the BA paper. Attendance at each class section required.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Note(s): Required of fourth-year students who are majoring in CMLT.