Comparative World Literature

This course introduces students to the study of world literature from an explicitly comparative perspective. It considers the global transmissions and translations of literary forms. Students learn to address the often fraught and politically contested ways in which literary forms (e.g. genres, motifs, rhetorical modes) move from one culture, region and historical epoch to the next. Accordingly, students are introduced to the complexities and intricacies of literary translation and are offered a basic grounding in translation theory.

This course is designed to satisfy Arts and Letters group requirement due to its broad introductory nature and given its focus on international cultural contexts and the global circulation of literary forms, offers a strong introduction to the discipline of Comparative Literature. It satisfies the International Cultures multicultural requirement since it helps students develop a critical awareness of the socio-political uses and purposes of culture in a transnational context, challenging a mono-cultural perspective.