Admission requirements
Not applicable
Description
What is world literature? Does world literature transcend the confines of its own culture? Or does it concern precisely those works that are distinctly representative of one's own national culture? Or perhaps is world literature both national and transnational, circulating across particular and universal experiences, while also contributing to our appreciation of cultural differences? If jury reports for literary prize awards in world literature (such as Nobel Prize) often stress both views, in this course we explore how influential representatives of world literature circulating across periods, genres, and cultures urge us to rethink precisely what makes human experiences so similar and different. To that end, we shall consider genres ranging from epic poetry to tragedy, fairytales to essays, novels to poetry, autobiographies to short stories, stretching to include graphic novels and excerpts of movies as well. Authors featured are spread across all continents and periods and may include Homer, Sophocles, Montaigne, Mary Shelley, Tolstoy, Achebe, Rhys, Manuel Puig, Han Kang, Yann Martel, among others.
Course objectives
Through this course students will gain:
insight into the immense diversity of literature around the world and from different periods and debates in world literature;
training in close reading influential literary texts by paying close attention to both form and content via the interdisciplinary lenses of mimetic studies and critical theory;
comparative skills in tracing aesthetic forms, historical experiences, and representation of otherness across literary texts and cultural contexts.
Timetable
The timetables are available through MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
- Lecture
Assessment method
Assessment
Written exam
Weighing
100%
Resit
Written exam
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
TBA
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Registration À la carte education and Contract teaching
Information for those interested in taking this course in context of À la carte education (without taking examinations), eg. about costs, registration and conditions.
Information for those interested in taking this course in context of Contract teaching (with taking examinations), eg. about costs, registration and conditions.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Arsenaal.
Remarks
-