Seminar in World Literature

(4 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

In this course, we will consider literary texts dealing with the issues of "between languages." Readers and writers do not always work with their primary language; instead, they are sometimes proficient in multiple languages but choose to work with one; or work with, across, or between different languages. We will read literary and literary-theoretical texts dealing with literary issues arising from such situations. Topics of discussion include: writing in non-native languages, rethinking the "mother tongue," and working with gaps between languages and untranslatability. All readings are mostly comprehensible in English, but students should be willing to work with languages other than English (whether they can read them or not).