Comparative Literature

Chair of the Department of Comparative Literature: Françoise Meltzer, HME 688, 702-8474

Department Secretary: Elizabeth Bigongiari, Wb 205A, 702-8486

Although the Department of Comparative Literature does not offer a concentration program leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree, a number of comparative studies courses are open to properly qualified College students. Normally, the prerequisite for these courses is the ability to read literary texts in at least one foreign language. More specific and/or extensive prerequisites may apply for some courses. College students wishing to pursue interdisciplinary literary studies should also consult the offerings of the Committee on General Studies in the Humanities. For courses, please consult the quarterly Time Schedules.

College students who wish to prepare themselves for graduate work in comparative literature should acquire strong preparation in at least one foreign language and some knowledge of at least one other foreign language. A concentration in a national literature (English, French, German, and so forth) and a minor field in another national literature are often required. For information about specific requirements for graduate work in comparative literature, interested students should consult with a member of the faculty.

Faculty

DAVID BEVINGTON, Phyllis Fay Horton Professor in the Humanities and Departments of Comparative Literature and English Language & Literature, and the College

SANDER GILMAN, Henry R. Luce Professor of Liberal Arts and Human Biology; Professor, Departments of Germanic Studies, Psychiatry, Committee on Jewish Studies, and Comparative Literature and the College

W. R. JOHNSON, John Matthews Manly Distinguished Service Professor of Classical Languages & Literatures, Department of Comparative Literature, Committee on the Ancient Mediterranean World, and the College

LOREN KRUGER, Associate Professor, Departments of English Language & Literature and Comparative Literature

SAREE MAKDISI, Assistant Professor, Departments of Comparative Literature and English Language & Literature and the College

FRANÇOISE MELTZER, Professor, Department of Romance Languages & Literatures, the Divinity School, and the College; Chair, Department of Comparative Literature

MICHAEL J. MURRIN, Professor, Departments of English Language & Literature and Comparative Literature, the Divinity School, and the College

KENNETH J. NORTHCOTT, Professor Emeritus, Departments of Comparative Literature and Germanic Studies, Committee on General Studies in the Humanities, and the College

LAWRENCE ROTHFIELD, Associate Professor, Departments of English Language & Literature and Comparative Literature and the College

JOSHUA SCODEL, Associate Professor, Departments of English Language & Literature and Comparative Literature, Committee on General Studies in the Humanities, and the College

FRANTISEK SVEJKOVSKY, Professor Emeritus, Departments of Comparative Literature and Slavic Languages & Literatures, and Committee on Analysis of Ideas & Study of Methods

KATIE TRUMPENER, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Germanic Studies; Associate Professor, Departments of Comparative Literature and English Language & Literature, Committee on General Studies in the Humanities, and the College

YURI TSIVIAN, Professor , Department of Art History, Slavic Languages & Literatures, Comparative Literature, Cinema & Media Studies, and the College

ROBERT VON HALLBERG, Professor, Departments of Germanic Studies, English Language & Literature, and Comparative Literature, and the College

EDWARD WASIOLEK, Avalon Foundation Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Departments of Comparative Literature, English Language & Literature, and Slavic Languages & Literatures, and the College

ANTHONY C. YU, Carl Darling Buck Distinguished Service Professor in the Humanities and the Divinity School, Departments of Comparative Literature, East Asian Languages & Civilizations, and English Language & Literature, and Committee on Social Thought

Courses

305-306. History and Theory of Drama I, II (=ClCiv 212/312=ComLit 306, ComLit 305-306, Eng 138-139/310-311, GS Hum 242-243/342-343; Eng 139/311, GS Hum 243/343). This course covers Aeschylus to Ayckbourne and Sophocles to Sade. D. Bevington, N. Rudall. Autumn, Winter.

344. Introduction to Psychoanalytic Theory (=ComLit 344, German 395, HiPSS 296, MAPH 310). PQ: Advanced standing and consent of instructor. This is a general introduction to the main concepts of psychoanalysis through a close reading of the central works of Sigmund Freud. S. Gilman, F. Meltzer. Autumn.

356. Literature and Technology. We read literary texts of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (for example Mysterious Island, We, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Machinal, La bête humaine, Marinetti, and Toller's Machine-Wreckers) that reflect the West's celebration of and anxiety over its machines. W. R. Johnson. Spring.

370. Dostoevsky and Conrad (=ComLit 370, Hum 244). Dostoevsky's presence in Conrad's work is everywhere, yet Conrad denied any influence and expressed his dislike of Dostoevsky's works repeatedly. The course addresses this paradox, as well the essential character of the work of both authors. The reading is by pairs: Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground; Under Western Eyes and Crime and Punishment; The Secret Agent and The Possessed. E. Wasiolek. Spring.

375. Fat Boys: Introduction to Literature and Medicine (=ComLit 375, HistC 375, MAPH 312). PQ: Consent of instructor. Recently the standard format for the study of gender and obesity has been to stress the meaning of fat in constructing the modern female body. In this course we look at how culture since Rabelais's Gargantua and Shakespeare's Falstaff has imagined the fat male body. We examine literary sources (from high to popular culture), as well as the medical literature on obesity and masculinity in the Western tradition from antiquity to the present. S. Gilman. Winter.

510-511. The Story of the Stone I, II (=ComLit 510-511, DivRL 562-563, EALC 576-577, Fndmtl 267-268, RelHum 562-563). PQ: Consent of instructor. In this two-quarter sequence on the monumental classic of eighteenth-century China, The Story of the Stone (or Dream of the Red Chamber), lectures and discussion are supplemented by readings in a common core of criticism and student presentations. EALC students are expected to work with original texts and sources, while students with no Chinese may use either the five-volume edition by Penguin or the French translation. A. C. Yu. Autumn, Winter.