The methods and literary theories encompassed by the discipline of Comparative Literature. This is a required course for minors and majors in Comparative Literature and Intercultural Studies.
Athena Title
Approaches in CMLT
Prerequisite
Experience engaging critically with literary or other texts and experience developing and expressing ideas in written and oral form.
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to understand the various approaches to framing an interpretation of literary texts, and to recognize their respective merits.
Students will be able to understand the role of aesthetic judgment in the evaluation of literary texts.
Students will be able to recognize the role and importance of translation in the understanding of literary texts in foreign languages.
Students will be able to recognize and assess the criteria that distinguish literary texts from other forms of written production.
Students will be more practiced in forming and arguing for their own interpretative positions.
Topical Outline
The specific topics vary with the instructor; however, the following are methods and theories generally examined in the course:
Philological exegesis
Manuscripts, editions and the establishment of reliable texts
Hermeneutics and interpretation
Russian formalism, the Prague School and Soviet Semiotics
Structuralism
Reader Response Theory and Reception Theory
New Literary History and Cultural Studies
Poststructuralism and Deconstruction
Feminism and Gender Studies
Postcolonialism and Globalism
Institutional Competencies
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
