Students will gain knowledge of developments in world literature
during the last twenty-five years. They will read several works 
of contemporary literature in various genres, including the 
novel, short story, poetry and drama. Special emphasis will 
be placed on the relevance of these texts to contemporary society
around the world, including the United States. Students will 
gain familiarity with literary trends in various regions of the 
world, with readings coming from Latin America, Africa, Asia 
(West, Central, South, and East), Australia, and North America. 
Students will learn to analyze individual literary works, 
identifying thematic, stylistic, and generic elements and
interpreting each work within its social, historical, and 
aesthetic context. Students will improve their skills in 
expository composition by writing two to three analytic essays 
during the semester. Students will also demonstrate their 
mastery of the factual content of the course through an 
objective test and final examination.

The typical course consists of a series of readings in
contemporary world literature, with special emphasis on the 
relevance of the texts under discussion to contemporary society 
around the world. The topics considered are generated by the
specific work under analysis. (The question of indigenous vs. 
colonial languages as media for literary expression, for 
example, comes to the fore in the study of a work such as Assia 
Djebar's Fantasia.) The works treated will vary with the 
instructor. The following is a sample syllabus of readings for a 
single semester:

Wislawa Szymborska.  View with a Grain of Sand
Mario Vargas Llosa.  Death in the Andes
Assia Djebar.  Fantasia
Toni Morrison.  Paradise
Peter Carey.  True History of the Kelly Gang
Haruki Murakami.  Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Maryse Conde.  Windward Heights
Tsitsi Dangarembga.  Nervous Conditions

Students are required to abide by the University of Georgia academic honesty policy.