Literature and Human Rights

Our class will examine conflicting ways in which human rights have been understood and contested across a range of critical essays, novels, films and poetry. Are there limits to the rhetoric of rights? Where in the world do rights pertain? Are all humans to be understood as rights-bearing individuals? Beginning with the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), we will reflect on how certain literary forms—testimonials, novels, films or poetry—construct the category of the human and ultimately animate how human rights come to be felt, by whom and towards what ends. Our challenge is to chart not only when, where and how human rights pertain, but more crucially, when, where and in which terms they do not. How does literature mediate our understanding of the human? The course will consist of weekly assignments, two primary essays, and an exam, all geared to help you refine your analytical, argumentative and imaginative skills at the intersections of literature and the law.

Satisfies General Education Requirements:

• Group-Satisfying: Arts and Letters
• Multicultural Courses: International Cultures (IC)