Courses in Comparative Literature (Division 354)

Fall Term, 1999 (September 8 – December 22, 1999)

Take me to the Fall Term '99 Time Schedule for Comparative Literature.

Section 001.

Instructor(s):

Prerequisites & Distribution: (3). (HU).

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

Why read? Why live?
Do the two questions have the same answers?
What does reading have to do with living?

In this course, we will take these questions as a framework through which to approach comparative literature as something people study and as a way they study it. But wait, there's more! The books you read, the thoughts you think, and the words you hear, speak, and write will slip under your skin with excruciating sweetness. They might make you feel itchy and uncomfortable. It may be difficult to walk and talk normally. You may begin to hear voices and to tell stories. I promise... But only if you do the reading (which will include work by authors such as McCullers, Kafka, Puig, Achebe, Shelley, Cortázar, Freud, Nietzshe, Marx, and Deleuze), writing (weekly short papers, one or two longer essays), talking, and thinking (constantly).

Section 001 – From Gilgamesh to Mahfouz

Instructor(s): Anton Shammas

Prerequisites & Distribution: Upperclass standing. (3). (HU). May be repeated for a total of nine credits.

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course is a literary reflection on the history of the Middle East through its narratives, from Gilgamesh to Mahfouz. Against the backdrop of mythology and history, orality and literacy, storytelling and imaginative writing, we will follow, among other things, the emergence of the elusive notions of "author," "character," and "story/narrative," with the help of texts (not always self-proclaimed as such) that seem to be preoccupied with the "discourse of the Other." Then we will examine the impact of the introduction of the novel as a literary genre into that region. Three basic topics will be discussed comparatively (in a seminar format): stories from the Bible and the Qur'an against ancient Near Eastern literatures; Medieval Arab and Jewish tales; points of convergence and departure in the modern literatures of the Middle East. Texts will include a selection (in English translation) from: The Epic of Gilgamesh; ancient Egyptian tales; The Bible; The Qur'an; Arab and Jewish Medieval texts; The Arabian Nights; and Modern Arabic and Hebrew writings. Different theoretical writings, on the art of narrative and issues of orality and literacy, will be also consulted. Students will be evaluated through class performance, an oral presentation and a term paper.

Section 002 – The Arab-Israeli Conflict in Middle Eastern Literature. Meets with Arabic, Armenian, Persian, Turkish, and Islamic Studies 383.001.

Instructor(s): Carol Bardenstein (cbardens@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Upperclass standing. (3). (HU). May be repeated for a total of nine credits.

Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

See Arabic, Armenian, Persian, Turkish, and Islamic Studies 383.001.

Section 001 – English Romantic Literature. Meets with English 461.001

Instructor(s): Marjorie Levinson (cecily@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Junior standing. (3). (HU). May be repeated for a total of six credits.

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

See English 461.001.

Comp. Lit. 492. Comparative Literary Theory.

Section 001 – Rereading

Instructor(s): Ross Chambers

Prerequisites & Distribution: Junior standing. (3). (Excl). May be repeated for a total of six credits.

No Description Provided.

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Section 001 – Literature & Anthropology

Instructor(s): Alina Clej (aclej@umich.edu)

Prerequisites & Distribution: Senior standing and concentration in Comp. Lit. (3). (Excl).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

What do these two disciplines have in common? How did the new concept of the "primitive" Other that emerged at the turn of the 19th century influence Western ways of representation and expression? Did the development of anthropology help Europeans better understand other cultures, as well as their own? Or was this emerging discipline a mere symptom of the Europeans' own colonialist malaise?

These are some of the general questions that we will explore in this course, by focusing in particular on the developments of Western anthropology in the first half of this century, and on the influence that the "discovery" of non-western cultural forms had on Western art and literature belonging to Modernism. Readings will include essays by Leo Frobenius, Marcel Griaule, Marcel Mauss, Claude Levi-Strauss, and by contemporary anthropologists, such as Clifford Geertz, James Clifford, Michael Taussig, as well as theoretical texts by postcolonial critics, such as E. Said and Homi Bhabha. Literary illustrations will be drawn from French and Francophone writers (Tristan Tzara, Andre Breton, A. Bataille, M. Leiris, R. Caillois, A. Artaud, Aime Cesaire). Examples from other linguistic and cultural areas (including Latin-American literature) are welcome for discussion.

Instructor(s):

Prerequisites & Distribution: Comp. Lit. 495 and Honors concentration in comparative literature. (3). (Excl). (INDEPENDENT).

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

In the Honors Thesis course the Honors student typically develops the seminar work done in Comparative Literature 495 (Senior Seminar) into a longer, more thorough study under the auspices of a faculty thesis director. Students who need help in arranging for a thesis director should contact the Comparative Literature office, 2015 Tisch Hall, 763-2361

Instructor(s):

Prerequisites & Distribution: Permission of instructor. (1-4). (Excl). (INDEPENDENT).

Credits: (1-4).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course is intended for Comparative Literature concentrators. It offers a student the opportunity to work closely with a faculty member associated with Comparative Literature on a comparative topic chosen by the student in consultation with the professor. Together they will develop a reading list; establish goals, meeting times, and credit hours (within the range); and plan papers and projects which the student will execute with the tutorial assistance of the instructor. The student will be required to submit a written proposal of his or her course to the Program office. For further information, contact the Program in Comparative Literature, 2015 Tisch.

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