Course Description
Selected works of contemporary world literature, with emphasis on works from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, with special emphasis on the relevance of these texts to contemporary society around the world, including the United States.
Athena Title
Contemporary World Literature
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
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.
Topical Outline
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
Syllabus