COML 2030 - Introduction to Comparative Literature

(LA-AS)

Fall. 4 credits.

A. Traisnel.

This course is intended to answer the question persistently asked by undergraduates: “What is Comparative Literature, anyway?” We will learn about different approaches to Comparative Literature and read some works of literary criticism and theory along with literary texts from different national traditions. The course acquaints students with the range and variety of the field by having members of the Department present texts that have been particularly important to them. Texts and topics may range from bawdy tales by Chaucer and Boccaccio to the trauma of post-colonial identity politics, and from modern American poetry to post-modern critical theory.