Comparative Literature: C L

Lower-Division Courses

C L X01. Introduction to Comparative Literature.

Reading and interpretation of literary texts in translation drawn from cultures around the world, focusing on methods of criticism and analysis.

C L X05. Topics in Comparative Literature.

Study of masterpieces of world literature; of different literary genres; and the relationship between literature and other disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, and film.

C L X05.1. Forbidden Romance in Modern Chinese Literature.

Introduction to modern Chinese literature from the late Qing Dynasty (latter half of the nineteenth century) to the present.

C L X05.2. The Vampire in Slavic Cultures.

Examines the vampire in the cultures of Russia and Eastern Europe, including manifestations in literature, religion, art, film, and common practices from its origins to present.

C L X05.3. Movies Go To War.

A comparison of films from various nations about major twentieth century wars to the historical facts of the conflicts as practicums in critical comparative analysis of histories as representations.

C L X05.4. Grimms' Fairy Tales.

Reading and discussion of tales from the Grimms' collection, as well as some of the relevant secondary literature.

C L X05.5. Korean Literature and Film.

Explore the literature and film of Korea from earliest times to the present.

C L X05C. Dissent in Twentieth-Century Ukraine.

Survey Ukrainian authors from the 1920s to the present, examining writings from "Executed Renaissance," underground literature, and postmodernism. Focus specifically on works that challenge the paradigm of socialist realism by discussing forbidden subjects (famine, religion, Gulag) or accentuating themes that are not considered "major" (personal life).

C L X05D. Afro-Brazilian Diaspora.

C L X05E. Gods and Goddesses of India.

Explore a variety of gods and goddesses who have dominated the sacred landscapes of India and beyond, especially North America, from the past until now. Examine various issues relating to patriarchy, power, gender, sexuality, social hierarchy, and devotion.

C L X05S. The Soviet Hero in Literature and Culture.

Consider Soviet Culture by examining "heroes" from both real life and works of literature, cinema, and folklore. Explore the period from the Russian 19th century throughout the Soviet Era.

C L X15. World Literature.

Introduction to masterpieces of world literature, emphasizing historical, generic, and thematic connections.

C L X18Q. Supervised Research.

Upper-Division Courses

C L X20. Conference Course in Comparative Literature.

Independent study of literary projects under supervision of professors in comparative literature.

C L X23. Topics in Comparative Literature.

Study of masterpieces of world literature; of different literary genres; of the relationship between literature and other disciplines, such as psychology, philosophy, and film; and of special topics of a comparative nature.

C L X23.13. Introduction to Arabic Literature.

General survey of major themes, genres, and artists in the Arabic literary tradition from the sixth century to the modern era.

C L X23.15. Israel Through Its Literature.

C L X23.16. The Scandinavian Contribution to World Literature.

Close readings of the most influential Scandinavian texts, including works by Nobel Prize-winning authors such as Knut Hamsun and Selma Lagerlof, as well as the playwrights August Strindberg and Henrik Ibsen while addressing important themes caused by the revolutionary transition to modernity in Scandinavia around 1900, including emancipation of women and sexuality.

C L X23.20. Rebels and Revolutionaries in Russian History and Literature.

Study of fictional and real rebels and revolutionaries across almost a century of Russian literature.

C L X23.27. The Major Works of Tolstoy.

Explores Russian writer Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, particularly his progression from idealizing family life and the Russian state to renouncing sexual love and national allegiances.

C L X23.29. The Russian Novel.

A survey of classic Russian authors as well as experimental works from the nineteenth through the twenty-first century.

C L X23.3. Autobiography: A Modern Literary Species.

C L X23.30. The Major Works of Dostoevsky.

Explores the dilemmas of homicide, suicide, patricide, and redemption in the novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky.

C L X23.31. War and Revolution in Russian Literature and Culture.

Examines Russian narratives of war and revolution as represented in fiction, cinema, and journalism.

C L X23.33. Feminism and Film: Women Filmmakers in Northern and Central Europe.

An introduction to the work of women filmmakers from Scandinavia, Germany, as well as to the viewing and interpretation of films in general.

C L X23.34. Russian Myths and Folktales.

Examination of the Russian folktale, its roots in ancient, pre-Christian Slavic religious tradition, its connections with other forms of folklore such as myth and legend, and its transformation in modern Russian literature. Subjects include the continuing influence of folklore explored through various aspects of Russian culture, including literature, music, ballet, film, and popular culture.

C L X23.36. Love in the East and West.

C L X23.37. The Qur'an.

Explore the history, language, style, and themes of the Qur'an.

C L X23.4. Self-Revelation in Women's Writing.

C L X23.40. Holocaust Aftereffects.

Explores the historical, political, psychological, theological, and cultural fallout of the Holocaust, as well as literary and cinematic responses in Europe and the United States.

C L X23.41. Decoding Classical Chinese Poetry.

Introduction to the classical Chinese poetic tradition from the seventh century B.C.E. through the ninth century C.E., focusing on the literary, cultural, historical, social, political, philosophical, and religious background against which representative works arose. Conducted in English and all readings will be in English translation. Knowledge of the Chinese language is not required.

C L X23.42. Anti-Semitism in History and Literature.

C L X23.44. Berlin.

C L X23.49. Northern European Comics.

A study of graphic novels from Scandinavia, Germany, and Holland to understand the art form of comics and the influence of the cultures in which they were produced. Readings, all in English, cover various genres and time periods.

C L X23.51. Viking Language: Runes and Sagas.

C L X23.52. Bad Language: Race, Class, and Gender.

C L X23.54. Russian Cinema From Potemkin to Putin.

C L X23.55. Russian Fairytales.

C L X23.58. Russian and Mexican Men in Popular Culture.

Study representations of masculinity in products of Mexican and Russian popular culture at the end of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty-first centuries.

C L X23.59. The Ancient Historians.

Examines the main works of ancient historiography, and provides grounding in the central issues with which these works engage.

C L X23.6. Caribbean Literature.

C L X23.60. Danticat and Diaz.

C L X23.61. Classic Lyric Poems.

C L X23.62. Forugh Farrokhzad and Her Poetry.

C L X23.63. Iranian and Iranian-American Identity.

C L X23.64. Israel and Palestine: A Cultural Perspective.

C L X23.65. Youth and Violence in the Middle East and Eurasia.

C L X23.66. Twentieth-Century Persian Literature.

C L X23.69. The Arts of Hip Hop.

C L X23.71. Russia Through American Eyes.

Examine a wide array of American attitudes towards Russia and Russians. Using a variety of political, social, and cultural events and encounters, analyze the ways in which nationalism, imperialism, and geopolitics informed American narratives about Russia and Russians, assessments that range from enthusiasm and curiosity to condemnation and outright hostility.

C L X23.72. Performing LGBTQ+.

C L X23.73. Greek Tragedies and Postcolonial Dramas.

Study the adaptation of great dramatic literature of the Greek civilizations to their phenomenal evolution into popular African performances. Putting classical writings from Ancient Greek in dialogue with texts that formed the background of African anti-colonial revolutions, analyze how Africans have used these works to re-shape literary canon and given their world and their histories universal purchase.

C L X23.74. Queer Eastern Europe.

Explore LGBTQI stories and political struggles in Eastern Europe with a focus on the region's queer culture: literature, cinema, and the arts.

C L X23.75. Identity, Codes, and Culture.

Explore how to read identities as patterns in literary texts, linguistic and cultural corpora with digital methods, and come to a deeper understanding of individual texts and textual phenomena. Examine digital research methods, tools, and use cases. Work hands-on with literary and linguistic sources.

C L X23.76. Humor and Hardship in Arabic Literature.

Examine Arabic literary works (ninth through twentieth centuries) that display humor and its unspoken counterpart, hardship. Consult modern theories of humor and premodern Arabic-Islamic ideas of the jocular.

C L X23.77. Cultural Translation.

Examine theoretical readings and concrete examples of how translation politics, translation-induced reconstruction of literary systems, censorship, manipulation, and market dynamics affect the production, distribution, and reception of translated products in the realm of arts and entertainment, news media and politics, and various academic disciplines in the Middle East, United States, and beyond.

C L X23.78. Geography in Eastern Europe and Eurasia.

Explore alternatives to nation-state imaginaries across Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Examine spatial thinking, utopia, dystopia, the history of geosciences, counter-mapping, and the decolonial geopoetics of space.

C L X23.79. Russia's Soul: Spiritual Traditions.

Explore complex history of Orthodox Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism in Russia. Examine important worship sites, including monasteries and pilgrimage destinations. Have discussions with Russian scholars of religion and practitioners of different faiths.

C L X23.8. Bulgakov's Master and Margarita.

Explores the novel in the context of other literary works by Bulgakov and its varied sources in world literature, music, and the visual arts.

C L X23C. Soviet Romance in Film.

Examine the construction of the ideology of love, intimate relations, and gender roles, deemed appropriate for a Soviet citizen, as it is demonstrated in a selection of films.

C L X23D. Representing Disaster in Japan.

Explore a range of human-made conflicts and natural disasters in Japan from earliest times to the present through literature, film, and new media to consider questions of history, representation, and mourning and memorialization.

C L X23E. The Environment and East Asia.

Examine the relationship between humans and the environment through the literature, film, and media of East Asia.

C L X23F. Animals in Asia.

Focus on how historical and modern-day philosophy, religious texts, and legal systems in South and East Asia provide the framework for probing the human-animal encounter and the tensions that arise due to human-animal interdependence.

C L X23G. History and Memory in Japan and Korea.

Explore the fraught and entangled histories of modern Japan and Korea as depicted in literature and film to consider experiences of imperialism, rapid modernization, war, decolonization, and trauma.

C L X23I. Translating Asia.

Explore various ways to define translation in the Asian context through translation theory and translated texts and how translation impacts and represents different Asian identities.

C L X23J. Germanic Novels: History, Culture, and Interpretation.

Explore several representative novels by German, Scandinavian, or Dutch writers, along with representative texts and essays on the novel as a genre and interpretative strategies. Examine these works in their literary and cultural contexts via lectures and discussions.

C L X23K. Literature, Culture, and Ecology in Northern and Central Europe.

Explore a variety of texts, films, and artifacts from Northern and Central Europe for the insights they provide about the interrelationships between nature and culture and strategies for developing a sustainable relationship to the world around us.

C L X23L. Nordic Noir.

Uncover the dark side of the Nordic countries, from gritty streets to icy fjords, and explore the history, culture, literature, and movies these societies produce.

C L X23M. Silent Film in Germany and Scandinavia.

Explore silent film and filmmaking in Germany and Scandinavia.

C L X23N. Germanic and Scandinavian Modernisms, 1870-1925.

Explore the cultural renaissance between 1880 and 1925 in Northern and Central Europe, covering the period often called the Modern Breakthrough in Scandinavia, but also known as la belle epoque in France and "the gilded age" in the United States.

C L X23O. The Bhagavad Gita: Interpretation and Ethics.

Explore one of the most influential books in Indian and global contexts, the Bhagavad Gita, through interpretations, commentaries, and scholarly materials. Navigate ethical dilemmas in the Bhagavad Gita and real-life situations.

C L X23P. Korean Cinema.

Explore Korean cinema, film history, and theory from the early twentieth century to the present.

C L X23Q. Elena Ferrante: Politics and Passion.

C L X23R. Diasporic Magic: Literature and Performance.

C L X23S. Cultural Memory and the Classic Chinese Novel.

Examine the metaphors and mythology from Chinese cultural memory that are present in classic novels, within literary and socio-historical contexts. Explore a cross-section of influential works from classical literature and the major founding schools of Chinese thought.

C L X23T. Scandinavian Cinema Since 1980.

C L X23U. Films of Ingmar Bergman.

An introduction to the films of Ingmar Bergman.

C L X23V. Arendt and de Beauvoir.

C L X23W. Contemporary Scandinavian Stories.

An analysis of contemporary Scandinavian literature and films, how they reflect Scandinavian reality, and how Scandinavian identity is created through sports, food, and politics.

C L X24C. Hans Christian Andersen.

Introduction to such Hans Christian Andersen tales as "The Little Mermaid," "The Ugly Duckling," and "The Emperor's New Clothes. Examination of their author and the romantic period in which they were written, as well as their historical, philosophical, and literary context.

C L X24D. Isak Dinesen/Karen Blixen.

An introduction to the twentieth-century Danish author Karen Blixen, focusing on her major themes such as gender and destiny, and examining her role as a literary figure.

C L X24E. Nobel Prizes: Literature and Politics.

An introduction to Nobel Prize winning authors from northern Europe in the context of literary prizes and the politics of literary reputation. Analyze and compare literary works, set novels into historical context, investigate what popular and scholarly reviews do, and research in both popular and scholarly sources.

C L X24F. Social Dramas of Henrik Ibsen.

A detailed introduction to Ibsen's social dramas (1877-1899), emphasizing their unity as a prolonged commentary on the society of his era and the variety of its human problems. Special emphasis on subjects such as: the family and the home; the public world of reputation, work, and citizenship; the predicaments of men and women in a male-dominated society; and the motives of our interventions into the lives of others.

C L X24G. Vikings and Their Literature.

C L X24I. Women and the Holocaust.

Introduction to both the history of Jewish and German women during World War II and the Holocaust, and to women's narratives and self-representations of this period. Historical sources, memoirs, films, and interviews will be used as source material.

C L X24J. Exhibitions and Public Spectacle.

Investigate exhibits, world's fairs, museum, monuments, theme parks, and historical reconstructions from Europe and the US, with attention to images of how their sponsoring nations or other entities want to be seen. Examine evidence for both the good and bad sides of national pride and identity. Explore examples of how large-scale culture projects and the public interact. Consider the lasting marks left on the cities and countries sponsoring them.

C L X24K. Squaring the Vienna Circle.

Traces the origin of the Vienna Circle of Logical Empiricism in nineteenth-century Europe, and introduces central texts and problems of intellectual history and historical epistemology at the roots of today's analytic philosophy.

C L X58Q. Supervised Research.

Graduate Courses

C L X80F. Foundations of Literary Theory and Criticism.

Explore a comparative study of theories of literary criticism in a broad historical perspective, including representative classic texts in critical theory.

C L X80K. Introduction to Comparative Literature.

One-credit-hour proseminar in methods of study and research in comparative literature.

C L X80M. Topics in Problems in Translation.

Detailed study of literary translations and of the translation process, and completion of one substantial translation.

C L X80P. Literary and Cultural Theory since 1900.

Explore a comparative study of major modern critical schools and figures in literary and cultural theory and criticism.

C L X81. Topics in The Comparative Study of Literary Periods and Movements.

The study of literary periods, aspects of periods, or movements from a comparative point of view; topics include mystical literature of the Middle Ages and Renaissance humanism.

C L X81.1. Modernisms and Modernity.

C L X82. Topics in Comparative Literature.

Study of genres, literary forms, the relationships of literature and other disciplines from a comparative point of view; topics include comedy, sensibility, and the East and the West.

C L X82.1. World Literature and Globalism: Theory and Practice.

C L X82.2. Women Writers and Intellectuals.

C L X86. Topics in Literature in a Comparative Context.

A study of topics with a single primary language focus, using a strongly comparative approach.

C L X91L. Conference Course in Comparative Literature.

Tutorial courses on individually designed basis available through the home departments of members of the comparative literature faculty.

C L X98. Thesis.

C L X98R. Master's Report.

Preparation of a report to fulfill the requirement for the master's degree under the report option.

C L X99W. Dissertation.

Professional Courses