Course Descriptions for Winter 2010
CLS 104-6-20: Freshman Seminar: Underworld Literature:
Comparative Narratives of Descent
Instructor: Rob Ryder
MWF 10:00-10:50, Annenberg G29
Representations of the underworld can be found throughout both Eastern and Western literary traditions, and not all of them conform to the typical notion of a place of torment and damnation, fire and brimstone. This class will focus on “underworld literature,” those texts that do not necessarily depict Hell, but which are nevertheless deeply concerned with what lies under the surface of the Earth. Beginning with Plato’s cave, we will continue with different tUnderwextual representations of the underworld, from the Orpheus myth and Dante’s Inferno to the texts of Swedenborg, Milton, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Dostoevsky, and H. G. Wells, among others. We will consider not only the ways in which the underworld is determined by the political, historical, and spiritual circumstances of this world, but also what promises and punishments the underworld has to offer beyond the world in which we live.
Evaluation method: One class presentation; two short papers (5 pp.) and one final paper (10-12 pp.)
Readings: Plato’s The Republic; Ovid’s Metamorphosis (selections); Dante’s Inferno; Milton’s Paradise Lost; E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Mines of Falun, Nietzsche’s Daybreak; Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground; Kafka’s The Burrow; H.G. Wells’ Time Machine.
Brief biography: Prof. Robert Ryder is currently Visiting Assistant Professor in the Program of Comparative Literary Studies. He received his Ph.D. this fall at Northwestern under the direction of Samuel Weber, and has an M.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of Western Ontario.
CLS 207: Intro to Critical Theory
instructor: Penelope Deutscher
Lecture: MW 3:00-3:50, Swift 107
Discussion Section: F 2:00-2:50 or 3:00-3:50, Crowe 1-125
Critical theory is encountered frequently in the study of politics and philosophy, literary theory and cultural analysis. Originally the designation of a group of thinkers associated with the Frankfurt School (particularly Horkheimer, Adorno), it has become a more generally conceived approach for subjecting premises, concepts, categories and methods to a critical reflection rather than taking them for granted. Critical theory may also articulate dimensions of a crisis to which a critical impulse responds. This course introduces students to some efforts at criticism and perceptions of crisis which have given rise to critical theory. The course investigates the beginnings of some radical forms of social and moral critique with a focus on Marx's "critique of political economy" and Nietzsche's "genealogy of morals". During the early years of the twentieth century, influenced by Freud's revolutionary theories of psychic and social formations, critical theory developed such prominence that a school of thinkers named themselves in its honor. Following a discussion of this development, the course concludes with Michel Foucault’s critical reaction to “critical theory,” in the interests of formulating new variations on the critical attitude. Interested students please note: this is a “reading intensive” class, and you are very strongly encouraged to make an advance start over the holiday break with the Freud and Nietzsche readings listed below.
Learning objectives: By the end of the class, the student will be expected to know the theoretical origins of critical theory, through a focus on key texts in the social and moral critique of Marx, Nietzsche and Freud.
Evaluation method: 4 x 4 page assignments, participation in and contribution to discussion sections.
Readings: Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents, (Norton, 2005), Beyond the Pleasure Principle (Norton Library, 1990) (Paperback); Friedrich Nietzsche, 'On the Genealogy of Morality' and Other Writings: Revised Student Edition
An additional reader will also be available for this class from Quartet.
CLS 211: Topics in Genre: Introduction to the Novel
instructor: Michal Ginsburg
Lecture: MW 11:00-11:50, University Hall 122
Discussion Section: F 11:00-11:50, West Sheridan Classroom 260,
or F 11:00-11:50, Parkes 213
Beginning in the 18th century, the novel becomes the dominant form of narrative in European literature; by the 19th century, it is the most widely read form of literature. As such, the novel exercises considerable power not only to express but also to shape readers’ understanding of themselves, their desires, their relation to others and to the social world. At the same time, the novel also, and quite as often, questions many of the assumptions that subtend such understanding. In this course we will read novels produced primarily during the 19th century by English, French, and American authors. We will analyze the relation between these novels and the social world in which they were produced, the ideological work they perform, and the way they question some of the beliefs they also seem to promote. We will pay attention both to the thematic concerns of these novels and to their form, being particularly interested in the relation between the two.
Evaluation method: A mid-term paper and a final exam.
Readings: Dickens, Oliver Twist, Balzac, Old Goriot, Prévost, Manon Lescaut,
Austen, Persuasion, James, The American, Proust, Swann in Love
CLS 271-1-20: Japanese Lit in Translation
Instructor: Phyllis Lyons
TTh 11:00-12:20, Parkes 223
This course deals with Japanese literature between the eighth and fourteenth centuries and examines the development, flowering, and maturation of one of the world's great traditions, which established standards for Japanese aesthetic values that still hold true today. This course will investigate the brilliant adaptation of the imported Chinese written script to fit the needs of an already rich oral tradition, the growth of native poetic forms, diaries, and fiction, culminating in what is perhaps the world's earliest great novel, The Tale of Genji, and the literature of sorrow and disillusionment that arose in response to growing internecine warfare from the 11th century on. Also included will be some of the plays of the No theatre that deal with themes from the earlier classic literature.
CLS 271-3: Modern Japanese Lit in Translation
instructor: Phyllis Lyons
TTh 2:00-3:20, Kresge 4-425
The tumultuous cultural and political history of modern Japan (post-1868) has entailed enormous social, political, economic and aesthetic change. The paradigm shift has been described variously: feudal to modern; East-centered to West-influenced; class-determined to individualistic. This course explores some of the masterly short stories and novels manifesting the cultural, psychological and spiritual responses to the challenges of Japan's struggle to emerge from insularity into a cosmopolitan world culture. The writings reflect society from the end of the 19th century to the present.
Evaluation method: 3 short papers (3-4 pp.), 1 long paper (8-10 pp.), talking point sets on readings, discussion participation
Readings: Natsume, Kokoro; Tanizaki, Some Prefer Nettles; Dazai, The Setting Sun; Oe, A Personal Matter; course packet
CLS 274-2: Late Imperial Chinese Fiction and Literature in Translation
Instructor: Bruce Knickerbocker
MW 3:00-4:20, Kresge 2-435
As a continuation of the journey through the vast literary horizons that inform the Chinese cultural heritage, in this course we will start with the rise of Neo-classical prose in the Tang and Song dynasties and explore a number of the "masterworks" found in the major genres of traditional Chinese poetry, fiction, and drama. These range from strange and supernatural Daoist-inspired tales to the adventurous and sensual Ming and Qing novels and dramas, as well as exemplary essays, vivid historical writings, and profound philosophical pieces. Close reading of the texts is strongly encouraged as students are expected not only to learn about this long and rich literary tradition, but, more importantly, to reconstruct it though the texts we read and the papers and presentations you produce. We will also examine the intertextuality between these genres -- how poetry blends into narrative, how fiction becomes drama, and drama inspires fiction. Through reading these selected works of traditional Chinese literature, we will examine some of the major features of traditional Chinese society: religious and philosophical beliefs, the imperial system and dynastic change, gender relations, notions of class and ethnicity, family, romance and sexuality. All works are read in translation; no language background is necessary.
Evaluation method: Weekly short essays, final paper, class participation, oral presentations
Readings: Stephen Owen, An Anthology Of Chinese Literature: Beginnings To 1911; a variety of handouts
CLS 276-0: African Literature in Translation
Instructor: Richard Lepine
TTh 3:30-4:50, University Hall 102
The course is primarily a survey of African oral verbal arts traditions, with an additional focus on the links between these traditions and African films. The original works of art, the objects of study in the course, are not literature in the strict sense of the term—written verbal art—but rather take form in oral performance or electronic media like film, TV, radio, recorded disks, audio tape, etc. However, in print and in English translation, the course examples from various genres of African oral verbal arts performances (riddles, poetry, proverbs, panegyric, folktales, trickster tales, hero tales, epics) are all experienced as literature for purposes of analysis and interpretation. Four African films will also serve as primary course “texts”: Wend Kuuni (1982; Gaston Kaboré, dir.; Burkina Faso), Keita: Heritage of the Griot (1995; Dani Kouyaté, dir.; Burkina Faso); La vie est belle/Life Is Rosy (1987; Ngangura Mweze and Bernard Lamy, dirs.; Democratic Republic of Congo), and Yeelen (Souleymane Cissé, Mali, 1987, 105 min.). A major goal of the course is to explore the analytic approaches employed by scholar Harold Scheub (specialist in African oral traditions and their relationships with other arts media) in order to develop a practical analytic methodology that will be put into practice in the course’s writing assignments.
Web project: In examining the oral performance genre of “lyric” (for course purposes, a generic term for all types of spoken and sung poetry) each participant will choose one of the 210 verses which make up the Yoruba divination system known as Sixteen Cowries. The verse the student chooses will then become the subject of a personal interpretation to be presented on his or her Blackboard “personal homepage.” The effort required to do a good job on this project will be roughly similar to what would be involved in composing a traditional short research paper.
Some lectures will include PowerPoint slide shows, and will make use of the NU Academic Technologies-sponsored Turning Point interactive system, known as the “Student Response System” or SRS. Students must purchase their own individual remote response device, commonly known as a “clicker,” from the Norris Center Bookstore.
Evaluation method: The three major writing projects are each worth 30% of the final course grade; the smaller in-class or take-home writings assignments will be averaged for the remaining 10% of the grade. If an individual has earned a classroom participation credit, that will boost the final grade one increment higher, e.g., would turn a final grade of B (3.0) based solely on writing assignments to a B+ (3.3) on the course grade report submitted to the Registrar.
Readings: Sixteen Cowries, William Bascom and Maranoro Salako, The Epic of Son-Jara, text by Fa Digi Sisòkò, translation by John William Johnson. Additional readings will be available on Blackboard.
CLS 278-1: Modern Hebrew Literature in Translation:
Challenges of Jewish Modernity, Pre-1939
Instructor: Marcus Moseley
TTh 2:00-3:20, Crowe 1-125
This course traces the emergence of a Modern Hebrew literature in Europe. Tracing this literature to its origins, we consider the writings of the Hasidic leader, Nahman of Bratslav, and the writings of Hebrew Enlightenment figures in late 18th Century Berlin. We then trace the flowering of this literature in 19th and early 20th century Eastern Europe. The course includes analyses of various genres: the essay, poetry, short story, novel and autobiography. No prior knowledge of Jewish history or literature is required. All texts are in English translation.
Evaluation method: Attendance, midterm paper and final paper (all papers are take-home)
CLS 312: Authors and their Readers: Kafka
Instructor: Peter Fenves
MWF 12:00-12:50, 555 Clark B03
Although he was little known at the time of his untimely death in 1924 Franz Kafka became so well known that a highly regarded cultural correspondent for the New York Times described the late 1940s as the time when “Kafka was the rage.” Few, if any, writers of the modern era have so strongly impressed their imagination upon their contemporaries. In this course we will be examining Kafka’s writings by placing them in relation to those of his readers—not only critics, who have sought to understand his intentions but also writers and filmmakers, for whom the image of a Franz Kafka is as imposing as the texts written under his name.
Evaluation method: three papers and in-class presentation
CLS 313: Topics in Comparative Literature:
Reading Contemporary North Africa and the Middle East
Instructor: Brian Edwards
TTh 11:00.-12:20, Crowe 1-125
For centuries the Arab world and Iran have been represented in Western literature and the arts in ways that have been subject to considerable discussion and debate. Whether or not Western literature represented Middle Eastern realities accurately or participated in political projects of colonialism and (neo-)imperialism, the depictions of peoples and places in the region have made their way back to the region itself. There they have been both critiqued and recast in literature and film made by Middle Eastern writers and creative artists. In the 20th century, especially in the postcolonial period, literature and cinema from the region has provided a complex and aesthetically rich set of counter-representations. Working in Arabic, French, Persian and occasionally English, writers and filmmakers from Iran, the Arab Middle East, and North Africa have produced a diverse body of literature and film that depicts and thinks through experiences of a period that has seen rapid and massive transformation. The course focuses on contemporary literature and cinema produced in the Middle East and North Africa, with especial focus on Morocco, Egypt and Iran. There are two goals: first, to introduce students to wonderful literature and film from these countries. Second, to interrogate questions of representation and counter-representation, and examine the ways in which literature and cinema may (or may not) be seen to be “worldly”: what is the relationship between art and social, historical and political realities?
All works will be available in English translation. Advanced knowledge of Arabic, Farsi or French is not required -- but it is very welcome!
Evaluation:
Two papers, a class presentation, and active participation on the discussion board/website.
Theorists may include:
Edward Said, Pierre Bourdieu, Gayatri Spivak, Arjun Appadurai, Jacques Derrida, Abdelkebir Khatibi, and Jacques Rancière. Literature will be drawn from the following list of authors: Tahar Ben Jelloun, Mohammed Mrabet, Leila Abouzeid, Abdellah Taia (Morocco); Assia Djebar (Algeria); Naguib Mahfouz, Baha Taher, Nawal El Saadawi, Alaa Al Aswany, Mansoura Ez Eldin, Ahmed Alaidy (Egypt); Sadegh Hedayat, Iraj Pezeshkzad, Marjane Satrapi, Shahrnush Parsipur, Shahriar Mandanipour (Iran). Filmmakers may include: Nabil Ayouch, Laila Marrakchi (Morocco); Youssef Chahine, Ibrahim El Batout (Egypt); Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi, Samira Makhmalbaf (Iran).
Textbooks available at Comix Revolution, 606 Davis Street, Evanston.
All readings will be in English translation. Students who are able to read in French, Arabic and/or Persian/Farsi are encouraged to do so.
This course fulfills the theory requirement for English majors.
CLS 383: Special Topics in Theory: Negativity and Ontology
Instructor: Ernesto Laclau
T 1:30-4:30, Ripton Room (Scott Hall 201)
This seminar will turn around the relationship between negativity and radical representation. To what extent a negativity exceeding the limits of what is representable in a space whose parameters constitute an harmonious whole can enter into the construction of a meaningful discursive field? The seminar will start with a discussion of Leibniz's notion of an ultimate harmony of the universe based on the principles of contradiction and sufficient reason and will move to the Kantian critique of the Leibniz/Wolff system in some of Kant's pre-critical writings -such as his work on negative magnitudes and his critique of the ontological argument of God's existence- but also in some section of the Critique of Pure Reason (especially the last section of the Transcendental Analytics on the 'Amphiboly of the Concepts of Reflection'). Then the discussion will move to the way in which the Kantian distinction has been mobilized to be the basis of a politico-theoretical discussion on the specificity of social antagonisms in the Della Volpean/Collettian school. The argument will be made that both dialectical (Hegelian) contradiction and (Kantian) real opposition share -in spite of their differences- a common ground, which is the assumption of the unicity of the space of representation. There the argument will turn to the theoretical moves made possible once this assumption is abandoned. The argument will move into two directions: firstly, to show how an ontic/ontological distinction is unavoidable once the space of representation is necessarily split (reference here will be made to the logic of difference in Derrida and Deleuze and to the assertion of Lacan, in Seminar XX that the sexual relation does not exists); second, to show that the split concept/name is unbridgeable and that, as a result, the ontological priority of the political over the social is constitutive of human experience.The theoretical analysis will be accompanied by a multitude of political examples.
CLS 383: Special Topics in Theory:
Introduction to Contemporary Critical Theory
Instructor: Alexander Weheliye
TTh 2:00-3:20, West Sheridan 260
This course provides a general introduction to recent (post-1960's) developments in literary and cultural theory such as poststructuralism, critical race theory, and postcolonial theory as well as some of their important antecedents. Readings will trace the influence of structuralism, psychoanalysis, Marxism, and post-structuralism on contemporary textual and cultural analysis. We will take the self or the subject as our central unit of analysis, surveying the different ways in which this category has been imagined and reconfigured both in current critical theory and in some of its precursors.
Evaluation: In-class participation, attendance, weekly blog posts, two short essays and a final exam.
Texts include selections from the following writers:
Louis Althusser, Homi Bhabha, Helene Cixous, Gilles Deleuze, Jacques Derrida, Frantz Fanon, Gayle Rubin, Michel Foucault, Sigmund Freud, Antonio Gramsci, Stuart Hall, Martin Heidegger, Luce Irigaray, Jacques Lacan, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ferdinand de Saussure, Hortense Spillers, Gayatri Spivak.
CLS 411: Critical Practices
Instructor: Samuel Weber
T 12:00-2:30, Library 3722
This course will survey some of the major critical contributions to literary theory and critical practice from Plato and Aristotle to Derrida. Authors to be discussed, chosen largely (but not exclusively) from the CLS reading list, will include, in addition to those already mentioned, Dante, Kant, Hegel, Saussure, Heidegger, Du Bois and Benjamin. A more detailed schedule and reading list will be made available later in the quarter.
CLS 414: The Logic of Poetry
Instructor: Susannah Gottlieb
T 2:30-5:00, University Hall 318
“Poetry does not impose; it exposes.” So writes Paul Celan, as he seeks to capture the peculiar character of poetry among the arts—as an art that is somehow different from all others because of its own internal, highly concentrated, and constantly changing logic. This seminar will provide a systematic introduction to the formal elements of poetry including diction, syntax, image, trope, rhythm, and versification. Each week we will concentrate on a particular element of the poetic process, identifying major poems from the English and American literary traditions, with particular attention to the twentieth century. At the same time, we will read a number of major poetological reflections, beginning with Plato and Aristotle, but again concentrating on twentieth-century thinkers and critics. In the course of the seminar students will be expected to build up a reservoir of poetological knowledge, as they work through the particular poems under consideration and analyze in detail theoretical writings directed toward elucidating those elements that enter into the logic of poetry. Along with weekly exercises that aim to develop the skill required to undertake formal analysis, students will write a final seminar paper working out the poetic logic of a small set of poems.
Poetological writings may include selections from Aristotle, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Jakobson, de Man, and Derrida. Poetry will be drawn from the English and American literary traditions.
CLS 488: Special Topics in Comparative Literature: Romanticism
Instructor: Jorg Kreienbrock
M 3:30-6:00, Crowe 1-125
The challenge of early German Romanticism to traditional ideas of literature, language, and representation has not diminished throughout the last two centuries and made it spectral reappearance in such diverse disciplines as deconstruction, psychoanalysis, or political theory. This course offers a historical-intellectual survey of German Romanticism and its reception in the 19th and 20th century. To this purpose we will read some of the most influential poetical and theoretical texts of early to late Romanticism. Authors such as Friedrich Schlegel, Novalis, Ludwig Tieck, Achim von Arnim, and E.T.A. Hoffmann will be juxtaposed with the reception, translation, and transformation of their thought in literature, philosophy, and critical theory. Our readings will trace the persistence of Romantic ideas and tropes like irony, reflection, criticism, and the fantastic in authors such as Heine, Poe, Kierkegaard, Baudelaire, Benjamin, Breton, de Man, and Nancy/Lacoue-Labarthe.
