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Regular version of the site

Comparative Aspects of the Study of Literature and Art

2019/2020
Academic Year
ENG
Instruction in English
4
ECTS credits
Course type:
Elective course
When:
2 year, 4 module

Instructor


Witte, Georg W.

Course Syllabus

Abstract

Contemporary comparative approaches to literature and arts need to consider a wide range of cross-cultural and transnational dynamics. This relates mainly to two dynamics of transgression: a) transgression of space and spatial borders and b) transgression of language barriers (by means of translation, multilingual narration, linguistic diversity of literary communities etc.). Furthermore, an advanced understanding of Comparative Studies conceives of literature as an agent within a network of different media and arts. Cross-media and inter-media aspects of literature, such as the interferences of cinematic and literary narration or the intersections of poetry and performance, are at play here. The course combines theoretical comprehensions and exemplary readings of literary works. Knowledge of Russian is not required.
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • To give a student understanding of literature and of the arts beyond the confinements of national borders and beyond isolated developmental trajectories of national literatures.
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • A student understands the changing cross-cultural dynamics of literary history (romanticism, modernism, postmodernism)
  • A student articulately describes aesthetic and cultural aspects of spatial and linguistic literary text structures.
  • A student conceptualizes a comprehensive view of Comparative Literature Studies in general.
  • A student develops their skills in analytical reading individual paradigmatic works.
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • SPACE
    Cross-cultural perspectives on the history of modern literature and key notions of its conceptualization (“world literature”, “transnational literature”); the chronotope of migration; the cultural semiotics of borders and border transgression
  • LANGUAGE
    Studying literature from a multilingual point of view (bilingual or multilingual narrators, “translational turn” in Cultural Studies, literary polyphonism in the age of cultural globalization)
  • MEDIA
    Cross- and intermedial dynamics in modern and contemporary arts as a challenge for literary practice and literary theory; entanglements of literature with cinema and performance
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking Written examination
    The 3-page final papers can either take up topics that were dealt with in the seminar sessions and homework and deepen them with a concrete example. Or they can deal with new topics and examples that were not covered in the course but have a clearly visible relation to the general topic of the course. The final essay can, but does not have to be based on the topic of the individual project. It should not only repeat the thoughts of the individual project, but also consider new aspects and examples. Экзамен проводится в письменной форме (эссе) в дистанционном формате с использованием электронной почты. Для участия в экзамене студент обязан: к указанной в расписании дате направить на электронную почту преподавателя эссе по одной из предложенных тем, объемом 3 страницы. При отсутствии уважительной причины отправленные позже срока эссе не принимаются, студент направляется на пересдачу. Процедура пересдачи аналогична процедуре сдачи.
  • non-blocking Individual Project
    For one of the seminar topics either a Ppt presentation or a 2-page (maximum 3 page) statement will be written. The students themselves choose for which seminar session they contribute such a paper. The seminar leader must be informed of the choice of topic by April 20 at the latest. These papers should either briefly present one of the theoretical texts on which the seminar is based and then suggest questions for discussion of the text, or they should offer ideas for interpretation of one of the literary, film or artistic works discussed. Individual projects can also deal with one of the weekly seminar tasks in more detail., e.g. in the form of ppt. presentations on one of the questions posed there.
  • non-blocking Lessons Participation
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • Interim assessment (4 module)
    0.5 * Individual Project + 0.5 * Written examination
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • Damrosch, D. (2017). How to Read World Literature (Vol. Second edition). Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1553409
  • Pizer, J. (2000). Goethe’s “World Literature” Paradigm and Contemporary Cultural Globalization. Comparative Literature, 52(3), 213. https://doi.org/10.1215/-52-3-213

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • Apter, E. S., Rendall, S., & Cassin, B. (2013). Dictionary of Untranslatables : A Philosophical Lexicon. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=662253
  • Introduction : the translational turn. (2009). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.6D687D6A
  • Wood, M., & Bermann, S. (2005). Nation, Language, and the Ethics of Translation. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=305805