Comparative Literature

CAS XL 222 - Introduction to Comparative Literature: Western Literature

Introduces basic methods of comparative literary study through close readings of influential texts of the Western tradition from antiquity to present. Topics include genre, translation, appropriation, interpretation, theories of literary production and effect. All works read in English; no prerequisites.

Section	Instructor
A1	O'Connor

CAS XL 351 - The Faust Tradition

Comparative study of the Faust theme, 1500 to present: Marlowe, Goethe, Mann, Gertrude Stein, Jan Svankmajer, others. Transmission and adaptation of literary themes within and between national traditions. Emphasis on close reading and research, use of theory and criticism. Meets with CAS LG 283.

Section	Instructor
A1	Schwartz

Prereq: one literature course or consent of instructor.

CAS XL 381 - Topics in Gender and Literature (in English translation)

Topic for Spring 2010: Identities in Motion: Turkish and British Women Write One Another. Exploration of pivotal questions, related to the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, through readings of travel narratives by European and Ottoman women. This section is also offered as CAS WS 305.

Section	Instructor
A1	Micallef

CAS XL 386 - Africa on Screen

Introduction to the history and analysis of African film. Topics include traditional practices and social change; education; popular culture; immigration; gender roles; sexuality. Discussion of films by Sembene, Mambety, Faye, Folly, Teno, Kobhio.

Section	Instructor
A1	Cazenave

CAS XL 441 - 1001 Nights in the World Literary Imagination

What is The Thousand and One Nights? How has this ever-expanding collection appealed to its diverse audiences? Focus on Nights structure and themes, notable translations and offshoots in western literature and art, and later appropriations by Arab and Muslim writers.

Section	Instructor
A1	Litvin

Prereq: two literature courses and consent of instructor.

CAS XL 470 - Topics in Comparative Literature

Topic for Spring 2010: Music and Poetry. An historical survey of the relations between the two arts from the Greeks to the present. Discussions of poetry in many languages; emphasis on English. Chant, song, madrigal, opera, and other forms. Ability to read music is required.

Section	Instructor
A1	Winn

CAS XL 520 - Theory of the Novel

Introduction to the theory of the novel in a comparative context. Readings may include Watt, Lukács, Bakhtin, Barthes and others on topics such as narrative voice, narrative closure, characterization, description, and desire in narrative. Novels by Austen, Flaubert, and Melville.

Section	Instructor
A1	Vincent

Prereq: two literature courses

CAS XL 540 - Theory and Practice of Literary Translation

Weekly series of presentations by translators from Boston and elsewhere, open to registered students and to the public. Registered students complete special projects and attend workshops.

Section	Instructor
A1	Warren

Prereq: competence in a second language

CAS XL 560 - Topics in Religion and Literature

Two topics are offered Spring 2010. Students may take one or both for credit. Topic for Section A1: Epic and Empire. Investigates the relationship between politics, religion, and ideology in the epic traditions of Gilgamesh, the Ramayana, and the Mahabharata. Attends not only to the formation of these epics but also to their contemporary significance. Topic for Section B1: Modern Jewish Prose Writing. Canonical and less-well known works of modern Jewish literature written in Hebrew, English, Yiddish and German from the early modern period into the twenty-first century; autobiography, novel, short fiction/novella, and parable. Writers include Glueckel of Hameln, Kafka, Peretz, Agnon, Paley, Bellow, Oz and others.

Section	Instructor
A1	Hudson
B1	Gillman

Prereq:junior standing and one course in literature, or religion, or the consent of the instructor