Writing About Love: Past and Present

(4 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

One common theme that is shared in literature across time and culture is that of love. Whether celebrated for its innocence and selflessness or condemned for its tendency to corrupt and lead astray, literature is consistent in its presentation of love as a critical part of what it means to be human. Drawing on a wide range of influential literature from past and present, East and West, this course will introduce students to the theme of love in all of its diversity and universality. I have several goals for this course, each of which will encourage students to approach the texts we read from a different perspective. Perhaps most obvious is the potential for comparative readings. Students familiar with Japanese literature will be able to read classic texts, such as The Tale of Genji or Love Suicide at Amijima, side by side with Western literature. Similarly, students will have the opportunity to explore connections between love stories from different ages. Thus, part of our attention will be focused on identifying the ways in which we can make meaningful comparisons between texts from different cultures and different historical circumstances. Another goal is to examine the theme of love, its structures, its functions within the stories, its goals, the concrete forms and rituals that comprise it, etc. Love stories are so common in our culture today that the theme of love appears almost natural in its conceptualization. We want to begin to defamiliarize the idea of love so that we can see it for the cultural construct it is and understand just what it is we are really talking about when we talk about love.