Literature in Translation Courses

Fall 2024▲

See complete information about these courses in the course offerings database. For more information about a specific course, including course type, schedule and location, click on its title.

Pre-Modern Chinese Literature in Translation

LIT 218 - Elford, Christopher

A survey of Chinese literature from the earliest period to the founding of the Republic in 1912. Taught in English, the course presupposes no previous knowledge of China or Chinese culture. The literature is presented in the context of its intellectual, philosophical and cultural background. Texts used may vary from year to year and include a wide selection of fiction, poetry, historical documents, Chinese drama (opera) and prose works. Audiovisual materials are used when appropriate and available.

19th-Century Russian Literature in Translation

LIT 263 - Brodsky, Anna

In this course, we read some of the most famous Russian writers of the 19 century-- Lev Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Nikolai Gogol, Anton Chekhov, and Ivan Turgenev—with a view to exploring such issues as the rise of Russian nationalism; the moral and economic issues surrounding serfdom (the Russian form of slavery), Russian feminism, 19th century family values, and the struggle between the democratic and imperial visions of society.

Spring 2024▲

See complete information about these courses in the course offerings database. For more information about a specific course, including course type, schedule and location, click on its title.

Special Topics in Literature in Translation: “20th Century Swiss Literary Masters: Frisch and Dürrenmatt

LIT 295L - Crockett, Roger A.

Dramas and novels by the two Swiss giants of the latter half of the 20th Century: Max Frisch and Friedrich Dürrenmatt. 

Special Topics in Literature and Translation: Self-Cultivation in Chinese Garden Literature

LIT 295N - Wen, Zuoting

Classical Chinese gardens are miniature spaces designed to mirror the ethereal world of immortals, heavily influenced by Daoist ideas of Grotto Heavens. Infused with simplicity, employing mere natural elements of water, rocks, and plants, and combining this with architectural structures graced with words from classical literary texts, the classical Chinese garden effortlessly invokes a therapeutic ambience. In this course, students will delve into this art form and its profound impact on Chinese literary traditions. Through reading literary works on gardens and self-cultivation and studying extant examples of classical Chinese gardens, students will grasp the fundamental principles of appreciating a Chinese garden, the social and private activities it accommodates, and the aesthetics that this art form introduces. Conducted entirely in English, this course welcomes everyone interested in learning more about Chinese culture.

Winter 2024▲

See complete information about these courses in the course offerings database. For more information about a specific course, including course type, schedule and location, click on its title.

LIT210-01/WGSS210-01 Representations of Women, Gender and Sexuality in World Literature

LIT 210 - Radulescu, Domnica V.

Same as WGSS 210. This course examines a plethora of literary texts chosen from across historical periods from antiquity, through early modern times, to the modern and postmodern era and across several national traditions and cultural landscapes. Its main intellectual objective is to sensitize students to the ways in which women and gender have been represented in literary texts of various genres and to help them develop specific analytic skills in order to discover and evaluate the interconnections between the treatment of women in society and their artistic reflections in works of literature.

20th-Century Russian Literature in Translation

LIT 215 - Brodsky, Anna

In this course, we read some of the most famous works of Russian 20th and 21st centuries writers such as Vladimir Nabokov (the author of “Lolita”) and Svetlana Alexievich (the recent Noble Prize winner) among others. We will address issues like political violence, the wars led by USSR,  the art of propaganda, and the various forms of resistance against powerful authoritarian regimes.

Modern Chinese Literature in Translation

LIT 220 - Zhu, Yanhong

This is a survey course to introduce students to the literature of 20th-century China. Through close reading of key literary texts from the 1910s to the present, students explore the social, historical and literary background that gave rise to the texts studied and the ways in which these texts address various issues that China faced at the time. Taught in English, the course presupposes no previous knowledge of China or Chinese culture. In addition to the selected literary texts, the course introduces several feature films that are cinematic adaptations of modern Chinese fiction and explore the complex and dynamic interchange between literary and cinematic language.

Japanese Literature in Translation

LIT 221 - Ikeda Yuba, Janet

An introduction to Japanese literature in its historical and cultural contexts from premodern to modern times. The course materials draw upon selections from the earliest prose works to contemporary fiction of representative modern writers.

Special Topics in Literature and Translation: Comedy and Tragedy in Immigrant Theater from the Balkans

LIT 295M - Radulescu, Domnica V.

This course explores the aesthetic forms that emerge from the experience of political trauma in theatrical works from the areas largely within the Balkan regions, Eastern Europe and Israel. Its objectives are to enlighten students about the deep ramifications that war, genocide, political oppression and exile have on the creative imagination and the ways in which theater has the potential to resist, raise consciousness, bear witness and bring healing and reconciliation.