Course Description
This course is an introduction to the diverse field of World Literature. There will be some coverage of the literature and literary traditions of at least three of the following seven areas: Latin and Native America; the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa; Arab, Turkic, and Persian lands; Europe and Russia; South Asia; East Asia; South-East Asia and Oceania.
Course Content
All second-year English literature courses share the following features:
- Students are presumed to be proficient in the writing of critical essays on literary subjects.
- Students are required to read in the course subject area beyond the texts assigned by the instructor or discussed in class.
- Students are required to incorporate into their oral and written coursework secondary source materials. These may include autobiographical or biographical material; literary criticism or theory; unassigned texts by the author under study; relevant cultural or intellectual history; or other arts, such as music, film, or fine arts.
- Readings and topics will vary with each instructor’s presentation of a course; however, all course materials are consistent with the objectives/outcomes for this course.
In English 2310, students will examine
- literature and literary tradition from at least three of the following seven geographical and cultural regions:
- Latin and Native America (excluding Anglo North America)
- the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa
- Arab, Turkic, and Persian lands
- Europe and Russia (excluding the British Isles)
- South Asia
- East Asia
- South-East Asia and Oceania;
- texts in detail, with consideration of their cultural, historical, and geographic contexts;
- textual styles as they relate to poetics, narrative, aesthetics, etc.;
- themes such as love, nature, history, empire, nation, identity, gender, and race; and
- the nature of authorship and creativity.
Some literature from the British Isles and Anglo North America may be included, but will not be the focus of study. All texts will be read in English; some texts may be taught in translation.
Learning Activities
Some or all of the following methods will be used:
- Lecture/discussion;
- Group work;
- Peer editing;
- Presentation (individual or group);
- Independent research;
- Instructor feedback on students’ work; and
- Individual consultation.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of any second-year English literature course, the student should
- be able to use with increased proficiency the skills of literary analysis taught in first-year English courses;
- be able to recognize the significance of the literary and non-literary or cultural context of a work being studied, such as the biographical, historical, mythological or philosophical context;
- be able to read critically and use in essays secondary sources, such as criticism and other texts by the same author, as an aid to comprehending the primary text(s) being studied;
- be able to read critically and independently works or aspects of works not discussed in class; and
- be able to formulate a thesis on a given subject in one or more specific works, and to develop this thesis using suitable textual evidence.
Upon completion of English 2310, the student should also have deepened her/his understanding of
- the breadth and complexity of the literatures from at least three of the seven regions outside the British Isles and Anglo North America.
- some of the historical and geographic factors which influence literature outside the British Isles and Anglo North America (for example, the Conquest in Latin and Native American literature, or the Atlantic slave trade in Caribbean literature).
- some of the literary and religious texts that influence and constitute literature outside the British Isles and Anglo North America (for example, The Ramayana in sub-continental, Indo-Chinese, and Indonesian literature).
Textbook Materials
Students may read from an anthology such as The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces or The Longman Anthology of World Literature, or they may read from specifically designed lists, such as the following one on the theme of “Influence and Text”:
- Rumi, excerpts from The Masnavi
- Attar, excerpts from The Conference of the Birds
- Fitzgerald, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
- Mahfouz, “El Gabalaawi”
- Gorgi, “Cairo is a Small City”
- Narayan, The Ramayana (translation from the Tamil, abridged)
- Koch, The Year of Living Dangerously
- Chuang Tze, excerpts from The Writings of Chuang Tze
- Cao Xueqin, excerpts from The Story of the Stone