CMLT 210 - Discourses in Comparative Literature

The purpose of this course is to provide a theoretical foundation for subsequent courses offered in the Department of Comparative Literature and is principally intended for students considering Comparative Literature as a major or minor. However, other students who have an interest in literature and literary theory are welcome.
In this seminar, you will study the historical and theoretical foundations of Comparative Literature as a field of inquiry. You will also study various literary theory related to the literature and themes of subsequent courses offered in the department such as gender theory, identity politics, post-colonial theory, reader response theory, and object orientation ontology, to name a few. Questions you will explore are: 1) What is Comparative Literature 2) What is the difference between Comparative Literature and World Literature? 3) Who are the major global literary theorists? 4) What does it mean to read literature in a comparative way? Finally, because in this department, you read works in translation, you will be introduced to the theory and art of translating literature. What happens to one’s reading experience when what one is reading is a translation of a work through the translator’s language rather than that of the author’s original language?

Prerequisite: at least one prior course in the Department of Comparative Literature or permission of the instructor. (Group III) (Writing Option)