Course Catalog

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Course Catalog

EMPIRES OF LANGUAGE: PREMODERN COSMOPOLITANISM (CL3028)

In this course we examine how global languages constituted transnational communities in the premodern world. We will look at texts that illustrate premodern forms of cosmopolitanism wherein the use of a literary language like Sanskrit, Latin, and Arabic signals a local writer’s affiliation to global networks of cultural and political power. This course is cross-listed with linguistics. There are no prerequisites.

CERVANTES & RENAISSANCE COMPARATIVE LITERATURE (CL3029)

Introduces the Renaissance ideal through Petrarca and Cervantes. Examines: lyric origins of the love sonnet and sequence with influence across Europe; narrative, with relations of the novella collection to medieval antecedents and the birth of the novel; drama, in connection to classical and modern comedy and tragedy. Includes: Petrarch, Boccaccio, La Celestina, Machiavelli, picaresque novel, feminist poetry, and Golden Age drama.

Fulfills the Renaissance period requirement for the major in Comparative Literature. Original language option Spanish or Italian.

PHILOSOPHY & THE THEATER (CL3030)

This course develops a philosophical analysis of three major ruptures in the history of theater: first, the initial Greek encounter between philosophy and theater; second the emergence of realism from Diderot to Stanislavsky; and finally modernism, marked by the groundbreaking explorations of Meyerhold, Brecht and Artaud. Four plays will be studied in tandem with theatrical manifestoes and philosophical texts.

THE MONSTROUS AND FABULOUS RENAISSANCE (CL3032)

This course is bilingual in nature and outlines the historical and literary contexts of the Renaissance from a Franco-centric perspective. Students will study texts by a range of Renaissance authors (including Erasmus, Rabelais, Marguerite de Navarre, Louise Labé, Montaigne, Marlowe and Shakespeare) while learning about earlymodern book culture, medicine, cartography, religion, colonization, magic, monsters, witchcraft and plagues. They shall also seek to comprehend how France became dominant in language and literature throughout Europe for centuries to follow.

PARIS REEL & IMAGINED: PERSPECTIVES ON THE CITY OF LIGHTS (CL3034)

Paris has always been a fertile meeting ground for artists and stimulates the imaginations of newcomers and natives alike. Writers, artists and—in the 20th century—filmmakers have come together in this magical space and shared their fascination with a city of lights, communally recognizing its potential to become home to their fantasies and at times, their despair. Students consider how the Parisian urban landscape is imagined differently by French native vs. expatriate or immigrant writers and filmmakers. They study the comparative methods for visualizing the city unique to writers and filmmakers respectively and gain historical perspective on the central place played by Paris in the evolution of literature and cinema. Titles for viewing and critical reading include: Alain Resnais’ Same Old Song, Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris and its contexts; André Breton’s Nadja; Raymond Queneau’s Zazie in the Metro and André Techiné’s The Girl on the RER. Excerpts from Jean-Luc Godard’s Parisian cycle will also be analyzed.

CONTEMPORARY WORLD LITERATURE (CL3035)

This course offers close engagement with recently translated fiction and poetry from around the globe. In addition to reading great contemporary writing, students are introduced to today’s new media landscape, which has taken on an increasingly important role in the promotion and evaluation of global literature. Units on the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.

SHAKESPEARE IN CONTEXT (CL3038)

Considers a selection of Shakespeare's plays in the context of the dramatist's explorations of the possibilities of theatricality. Examines how theater is represented in his work and how his work lends itself to production in theater and film today. Students view video versions, visit Paris theaters, and travel to London and Stratford-on-Avon to see the Royal Shakespeare Company in performance.

PARIS ATTRACTION: MODERNIST EXPERIMENTS IN MIGRATION (CL3043)

Explores the work of Anglo-American modernist writers in Paris, concentrating on the works of Ernest Hemingway, Wyndham Lewis, Gertrude Stein, Djuna Barnes, Jean Rhys, and other writers. Relates their formal experimentation to the visual arts and to the psychic dynamics of exile: the experience of liberation from the constraints of one culture and an alienated relation to the new environment.

TWO FRENCH CLASSICS (CL3046)

By promoting careful analysis of two landmarks of French literature while building skills in language and cultural semantics, oral and written communications, this course aims at helping students weave together literary meaning and cross-cultural belonging. By becoming more familiar with French literary language and mindscapes, students will further their understanding of L’Esprit français, the special relationship between literature and culture, writers and intellectual history in France.
The choice of works and pairings will differ every year according to the instructor’s interests.

SHAKESPEARE & FILM (CL3048)

This course considers how the language of film can sometimes unlock the secrets of Shakespeare's world and help us to understand his contribution to the evolution of art cinema as well as to blockbuster culture. Focus is given to close readings of Shakespeare's plays, analysis of cinematic adaptations and a study of films such as Al Pacino's Looking for Richard or Shakespeare in Love. Directors Kozintsev, Welles, Godard, Olivier and Kurosawa are also studied.