Comparative Literature Major

As a comparative literature major, you’ll study the human condition as depicted in literary works from many different traditions. The international and comparative range provides majors with a broad, critical understanding of what literature is and does. Since knowing the language is essential to understanding a given literature and culture, all majors study a second language and literature at an advanced level.

sample courses:

The Global Weird

From the gothic literature of the 19th Century to the pulp magazines of the 1930s to contemporary explorations of horror and the fantastic, the Weird has held sway over popular imaginations around the world. In this course, we will explore and examine how writers from Europe, the US, Asia and Latin America have imagined the weird as they engaged in a global conversation about horror, the strange and the uncanny.

Methods of Literary Study: The Theory and Practice of Literary Translation

This course combines a review of translation theories with a study of translation practices. We will investigate how translations reflect changing literary and cultural values. In addition, we will examine how the nuances of language and culture (source and target) influence the translator's choice of whom and what kind of text to translate. Guest translators will be invited to discuss their work. Requirements: Class presentation of a literary translation of your choice; to be turned into a paper. You must choose a text that has at least two previous translations, which you will evaluate and critique as you work on your own translation and which will be part of your paper. Poetry is preferable; should you choose prose, you must select a challenging text. The paper must include an outline/brief discussion of your methodological assumptions.

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