The Comparative Literary Studies (CLS) Program is an interdepartmental, interdisciplinary program for the study of literature across national and linguistic lines. Those who work in the field of comparative literature are committed to the proposition that language is not an indifferent medium of expression but an integral dimension of every expressive act. Drawing on faculty from the various literature departments as well as from other disciplines (such as art history, film studies, music, and philosophy), the CLS program reflects the belief that literary texts can best be understood within the context of diverse literary traditions and other cultural phenomena. CLS encourages students not only to read and interpret works of literature but also to reflect on the assumptions, methods, and goals that shape literary and other humanistic studies.

In contrast to literature departments in which students trace the development of one literature in a particular culture over a specific time period, CLS juxtaposes literatures of different cultures and epochs in a variety of ways. Comparative literature studies the themes, conventions, and movements shared by distinct literary traditions as well as the features that differentiate them. Though the field has traditionally dealt with the canonical texts of the Western tradition, Northwestern’s CLS program strongly encourages students to explore less traditional but equally crucial areas of research such as women’s writing, the literatures of excluded or marginalized groups, and the texts of Asian, African, and other literatures outside the European and American canon.

CLS students also examine literary theories and critical approaches to literature. In considering texts ranging from the classics of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations to contemporary critical theory, students not only learn to understand specific literary works but also to raise questions about their relations to other forms of discourse (e.g., historical, scientific, and philosophical) and about the nature of literature itself. To this end, the CLS program emphasizes both the study of various types of specifically literary theory (such as structuralist, poststructuralist, psychoanalytic, sociopolitical, and New Historical) and the examination of the theoretical and methodological concerns of other disciplines (such as anthropology, history, philosophy, gender studies, and sociology).

Finally, comparative literary studies considers literary texts in relation to other forms of creative production. The relationship of literature to other arts such as music, the fine arts, and new media is an important focus of interest in many comparative literature courses, and students of comparative literary studies are also encouraged to take courses in other fields and disciplines.

Major in Comparative Literary Studies

Students in the CLS major pursue broadly based programs of literary study that may include work in a wide range of related disciplines. As part of their concentration, students are required to take at least 2 courses in a language other than English (exceptions to this rule are noted below).

Seven courses are required of all majors. These courses are meant to introduce students to the major texts and genres of the Western tradition from the ancient Greeks to the present; to make sure that students are acquainted with certain non-Western literatures and cultures; and to provide students with a range of theoretical approaches to literary texts in particular and the nature of culture in general. Furthermore, seniors are required to take the senior seminar, which focuses on the writing of a substantial essay.

Majors in CLS declare a concentration by the spring of their junior year in consultation with an undergraduate program adviser. Students may concentrate, for example, on particular periods such as 18th-century literature or romanticism. They may combine their study of literature with interests in other disciplines such as philosophy or political theory. They may concentrate on the relationship between literature and other media — film or music, for example. A concentration should not focus on a single national literature or simply duplicate concentrations already available in the various national language and literature departments at Northwestern.

Students are encouraged but not required to write a senior honors thesis. The senior seminar, which is required of all majors, aims to help students write a major research paper, regardless of whether they pursue honors. Students who wish to qualify for honors should identify an honors adviser by the spring of the junior year. In addition to the senior seminar, honors students must enroll in at least 1 quarter of independent study, preferably during the winter. Senior theses are evaluated by the student’s adviser and by at least one outside reader from the CLS faculty.

As of fall 2007, there is no application process for admission to the major.

Requirements for all majors (14 units)

• 3 approaches to literature and culture courses (among the courses that may be used to fulfill this requirement are 205, 206, 207, 280, and 281)

• Majors will take at least two version of CLS 211 Topics in Genre (and will no longer required to take 201, 202, 203, 204, all of which will be dropped from the catalogue, beginning in the Fall of 2008).

• 1 course in a non-Western literature

• CLS 398

• 7 courses in a concentration; these must include

• 2 or more 200- or 300-level courses on a nonanglophone literature taught in the original language. This requirement may be modified with the approval of the CLS director of undergraduate studies if the chosen major language does not offer instruction in literary texts at the 200 level (for example, Chinese and Arabic).

• 4 or more courses at or above the 300 level in literature or in disciplines related to literary studies (for example, art history, film studies, gender studies, history, philosophy)

Examples of individual concentrations:

• Genres (novel, lyric, epic, etc.)

• Literature and related disciplines (literature and philosophy, literature and art history, literature and political theory)

• Literature in the context of other arts and media (such as film or music)

• Periods (Renaissance, romanticism, modernism, postmodernism, etc.)

Double Major

Majors in comparative literary studies must show a minimum of 12 courses not double-counted in any other major(s).

Study Abroad

The Program in Comparative Literary Studies encourages all majors who qualify to consider a year of study abroad as juniors.

Courses Primarily for Freshmen and Sophomores

COMP LIT 205-0 Diaspora/Transnational Literatures and Cultures

Exploration of narratives produced by diasporic groups — displaced groups of people who retain a collective sense of identity — and theories of diaspora in relation to other notions of identity (e.g., nation, race, etc.).

COMP LIT 206-0 Literature and Media

Examination of the relationship between “literature” and “media” within

Western culture, from Plato to the present, with particular focus on strategies of writing and representation and their relationship to problems of authority and power; material changes to the production of literature and technologies of transmission; and the impact of computer writing and imaging technologies on the production and definition of literature.

COMP LIT 207-0 Introduction to Critical Theory

Focus on the related ideas of crisis, criticism, and critique in philosophical, literary, social, political, and cultural contexts. How critical theory grounds criticism systematically, disclosing the full range of the crisis to which any critical impulse responds. Investigation of various aspects of critical theory, from abstract concepts and particular works of art to concrete social conditions and current political forms.

COMP LIT 210-0 The Bible as Literature

Selected books of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament studied from a literary perspective; issues of plot, character, genre, narrative strategy, and theories of interpretation.

COMP LIT 211-0 Introductory Topics in Genre

COMP LIT 271-1,2,3,4 Japanese Literature in Translation

A set of four courses surveying Japanese literature from the eighth century to the present.

COMP LIT 274-1,2,3 Introduction to Chinese Literature

Survey of Chinese poetry and fiction from the fifth century B.C. to the present.

COMP LIT 275-0 Arabic Literature in Translation

Introduction to Arabic literary background; survey of literary genres from the pre-Islamic period to the present.

COMP LIT 276-0 African Literature in Translation

Continental African literature. Content varies. May be repeated for credit with different topic.

COMP LIT 278-0 Modern Hebrew Literature in Translation

Introduction to the main works of contemporary Israeli writers.

COMP LIT 279-0 Modern Jewish Literature

A study of modern European, American, and Israeli Jewish literature in its historical context.

COMP LIT 280-0 Interpreting Culture

Introduction to the theory and practice of interpreting “cultural texts,” the literary and other texts through which human culture imposes structures of meaning on the world.

COMP LIT 281-0 From Modernism to Postmodernism in Literature, Theater, and Film

This course follows the trajectory of 20th-century literature, theater, and film from the various modernisms that held sway in Europe up to World War II to the postmodernism that pervades contemporary culture in Europe, the United States, and beyond.

Courses Primarily for Juniors and Seniors

Comparative literary studies and language majors read the texts and are tested in their language or area of expertise whenever the course material allows.

COMP LIT 301-0 Writing in Society

Studies in relations between literature and society through a series of theoretical readings in the sociology of literature, juxtaposed with literary examples from different societies.

COMP LIT 303-0 Literature and History

Studies in the historicity of literature, with attention to the development of literary forms over time and to the historical circumstances in which literature is produced.

COMP LIT 310-0 Studies in Literary Genres

Selected genres, such as epic, pastoral, autobiography, comedy, satire, the essay. May be repeated for credit with different topic.

COMP LIT 312-0 Studies in Drama

Content varies. May be repeated for credit with different topic.

COMP LIT 313-0 Studies in Fiction

Content varies. May be repeated for credit with different topic.

COMP LIT 362-1,2,3 Modern Drama

1. Major developments from the late 19th century to the end of World War I.

2. 1920s–1950s.

3. From absurdist theater to the present.

COMP LIT 365-0 The Avant-Garde

Nature, origins, and development of the avant-garde movements in Europe, North America, and Latin America since the early 20th century.

COMP LIT 375-0 Literature and the Arts

Differences and similarities between literature and the visual arts and/or music. Content varies. May be repeated for credit with different topic.

COMP LIT 383-0 Special Topics in Theory

For students with previous study of criticism and literary theory. Content varies. May be repeated for credit with different topic.

COMP LIT 390-0 Topics in Comparative Literature

Content varies — for example, problems of literary translation, literature and psychoanalysis. May be repeated for credit with different topic.

COMP LIT 398-0 Senior Seminar

Students learn the tools and techniques needed for writing sustained scholarly essays. Required of senior majors in comparative literary studies. Prerequisite: consent of program adviser.

COMP LIT 399-0 Independent Study (1–3 units)

Related Courses in Other Departments

For descriptions of the following courses in literature in translation, consult the relevant department listings.

CLASSICS 240-1,2, 244,245, 340, 345

FRENCH 277, 279, 375, 376, 378

GERMAN 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 236, 238, 240, 322, 326, 328, 330

ITALIAN 275, 380

SLAVIC 210-1,2,3, 310, 311, 314, 318

SPANISH 323, 397

Helpful links:
Online Course Catalog
Online Student Handbook
Worksheet for majoring in CLS
Fall 2006 listings



		»Introduction »Program »Faculty »Courses »Undergraduate »Graduate »Application »Events »Contact

		Comparative Literary Studies Undergraduate Program The Comparative Literary Studies (CLS) Program is an interdepartmental, interdisciplinary program for the study of literature across national and linguistic lines. Those who work in the field of comparative literature are committed to the proposition that language is not an indifferent medium of expression but an integral dimension of every expressive act. Drawing on faculty from the various literature departments as well as from other disciplines (such as art history, film studies, music, and philosophy), the CLS program reflects the belief that literary texts can best be understood within the context of diverse literary traditions and other cultural phenomena. CLS encourages students not only to read and interpret works of literature but also to reflect on the assumptions, methods, and goals that shape literary and other humanistic studies. In contrast to literature departments in which students trace the development of one literature in a particular culture over a specific time period, CLS juxtaposes literatures of different cultures and epochs in a variety of ways. Comparative literature studies the themes, conventions, and movements shared by distinct literary traditions as well as the features that differentiate them. Though the field has traditionally dealt with the canonical texts of the Western tradition, Northwestern’s CLS program strongly encourages students to explore less traditional but equally crucial areas of research such as women’s writing, the literatures of excluded or marginalized groups, and the texts of Asian, African, and other literatures outside the European and American canon. CLS students also examine literary theories and critical approaches to literature. In considering texts ranging from the classics of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations to contemporary critical theory, students not only learn to understand specific literary works but also to raise questions about their relations to other forms of discourse (e.g., historical, scientific, and philosophical) and about the nature of literature itself. To this end, the CLS program emphasizes both the study of various types of specifically literary theory (such as structuralist, poststructuralist, psychoanalytic, sociopolitical, and New Historical) and the examination of the theoretical and methodological concerns of other disciplines (such as anthropology, history, philosophy, gender studies, and sociology). Finally, comparative literary studies considers literary texts in relation to other forms of creative production. The relationship of literature to other arts such as music, the fine arts, and new media is an important focus of interest in many comparative literature courses, and students of comparative literary studies are also encouraged to take courses in other fields and disciplines. Major in Comparative Literary Studies Students in the CLS major pursue broadly based programs of literary study that may include work in a wide range of related disciplines. As part of their concentration, students are required to take at least 2 courses in a language other than English (exceptions to this rule are noted below). Seven courses are required of all majors. These courses are meant to introduce students to the major texts and genres of the Western tradition from the ancient Greeks to the present; to make sure that students are acquainted with certain non-Western literatures and cultures; and to provide students with a range of theoretical approaches to literary texts in particular and the nature of culture in general. Furthermore, seniors are required to take the senior seminar, which focuses on the writing of a substantial essay. Majors in CLS declare a concentration by the spring of their junior year in consultation with an undergraduate program adviser. Students may concentrate, for example, on particular periods such as 18th-century literature or romanticism. They may combine their study of literature with interests in other disciplines such as philosophy or political theory. They may concentrate on the relationship between literature and other media — film or music, for example. A concentration should not focus on a single national literature or simply duplicate concentrations already available in the various national language and literature departments at Northwestern. Students are encouraged but not required to write a senior honors thesis. The senior seminar, which is required of all majors, aims to help students write a major research paper, regardless of whether they pursue honors. Students who wish to qualify for honors should identify an honors adviser by the spring of the junior year. In addition to the senior seminar, honors students must enroll in at least 1 quarter of independent study, preferably during the winter. Senior theses are evaluated by the student’s adviser and by at least one outside reader from the CLS faculty. As of fall 2007, there is no application process for admission to the major. Requirements for all majors (14 units) • 3 approaches to literature and culture courses (among the courses that may be used to fulfill this requirement are 205, 206, 207, 280, and 281) • Majors will take at least two version of CLS 211 Topics in Genre (and will no longer required to take 201, 202, 203, 204, all of which will be dropped from the catalogue, beginning in the Fall of 2008). • 1 course in a non-Western literature • CLS 398 • 7 courses in a concentration; these must include • 2 or more 200- or 300-level courses on a nonanglophone literature taught in the original language. This requirement may be modified with the approval of the CLS director of undergraduate studies if the chosen major language does not offer instruction in literary texts at the 200 level (for example, Chinese and Arabic). • 4 or more courses at or above the 300 level in literature or in disciplines related to literary studies (for example, art history, film studies, gender studies, history, philosophy) Examples of individual concentrations: • Genres (novel, lyric, epic, etc.) • Literature and related disciplines (literature and philosophy, literature and art history, literature and political theory) • Literature in the context of other arts and media (such as film or music) • Periods (Renaissance, romanticism, modernism, postmodernism, etc.) Double Major Majors in comparative literary studies must show a minimum of 12 courses not double-counted in any other major(s). Study Abroad The Program in Comparative Literary Studies encourages all majors who qualify to consider a year of study abroad as juniors. Courses Primarily for Freshmen and Sophomores COMP LIT 205-0 Diaspora/Transnational Literatures and Cultures Exploration of narratives produced by diasporic groups — displaced groups of people who retain a collective sense of identity — and theories of diaspora in relation to other notions of identity (e.g., nation, race, etc.). COMP LIT 206-0 Literature and Media Examination of the relationship between “literature” and “media” within Western culture, from Plato to the present, with particular focus on strategies of writing and representation and their relationship to problems of authority and power; material changes to the production of literature and technologies of transmission; and the impact of computer writing and imaging technologies on the production and definition of literature. COMP LIT 207-0 Introduction to Critical Theory Focus on the related ideas of crisis, criticism, and critique in philosophical, literary, social, political, and cultural contexts. How critical theory grounds criticism systematically, disclosing the full range of the crisis to which any critical impulse responds. Investigation of various aspects of critical theory, from abstract concepts and particular works of art to concrete social conditions and current political forms. COMP LIT 210-0 The Bible as Literature Selected books of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament studied from a literary perspective; issues of plot, character, genre, narrative strategy, and theories of interpretation. COMP LIT 211-0 Introductory Topics in Genre COMP LIT 271-1,2,3,4 Japanese Literature in Translation A set of four courses surveying Japanese literature from the eighth century to the present. COMP LIT 274-1,2,3 Introduction to Chinese Literature Survey of Chinese poetry and fiction from the fifth century B.C. to the present. COMP LIT 275-0 Arabic Literature in Translation Introduction to Arabic literary background; survey of literary genres from the pre-Islamic period to the present. COMP LIT 276-0 African Literature in Translation Continental African literature. Content varies. May be repeated for credit with different topic. COMP LIT 278-0 Modern Hebrew Literature in Translation Introduction to the main works of contemporary Israeli writers. COMP LIT 279-0 Modern Jewish Literature A study of modern European, American, and Israeli Jewish literature in its historical context. COMP LIT 280-0 Interpreting Culture Introduction to the theory and practice of interpreting “cultural texts,” the literary and other texts through which human culture imposes structures of meaning on the world. COMP LIT 281-0 From Modernism to Postmodernism in Literature, Theater, and Film This course follows the trajectory of 20th-century literature, theater, and film from the various modernisms that held sway in Europe up to World War II to the postmodernism that pervades contemporary culture in Europe, the United States, and beyond. Courses Primarily for Juniors and Seniors Comparative literary studies and language majors read the texts and are tested in their language or area of expertise whenever the course material allows. COMP LIT 301-0 Writing in Society Studies in relations between literature and society through a series of theoretical readings in the sociology of literature, juxtaposed with literary examples from different societies. COMP LIT 303-0 Literature and History Studies in the historicity of literature, with attention to the development of literary forms over time and to the historical circumstances in which literature is produced. COMP LIT 310-0 Studies in Literary Genres Selected genres, such as epic, pastoral, autobiography, comedy, satire, the essay. May be repeated for credit with different topic. COMP LIT 312-0 Studies in Drama Content varies. May be repeated for credit with different topic. COMP LIT 313-0 Studies in Fiction Content varies. May be repeated for credit with different topic. COMP LIT 362-1,2,3 Modern Drama 1. Major developments from the late 19th century to the end of World War I. 2. 1920s–1950s. 3. From absurdist theater to the present. COMP LIT 365-0 The Avant-Garde Nature, origins, and development of the avant-garde movements in Europe, North America, and Latin America since the early 20th century. COMP LIT 375-0 Literature and the Arts Differences and similarities between literature and the visual arts and/or music. Content varies. May be repeated for credit with different topic. COMP LIT 383-0 Special Topics in Theory For students with previous study of criticism and literary theory. Content varies. May be repeated for credit with different topic. COMP LIT 390-0 Topics in Comparative Literature Content varies — for example, problems of literary translation, literature and psychoanalysis. May be repeated for credit with different topic. COMP LIT 398-0 Senior Seminar Students learn the tools and techniques needed for writing sustained scholarly essays. Required of senior majors in comparative literary studies. Prerequisite: consent of program adviser. COMP LIT 399-0 Independent Study (1–3 units) Related Courses in Other Departments For descriptions of the following courses in literature in translation, consult the relevant department listings. CLASSICS 240-1,2, 244,245, 340, 345 FRENCH 277, 279, 375, 376, 378 GERMAN 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 236, 238, 240, 322, 326, 328, 330 ITALIAN 275, 380 SLAVIC 210-1,2,3, 310, 311, 314, 318 SPANISH 323, 397 Helpful links: Online Course Catalog Online Student Handbook Worksheet for majoring in CLS Fall 2006 listings

Comparative Literary Studies Undergraduate Program

Major in Comparative Literary Studies