World Literature Courses in Translation

About the Program

The following courses are taught in English; see departments or programs for descriptions. See departmental listings for world literature courses taught in the original language. Additional world literature courses may be offered on a one-time basis by these and other programs; consult world literature course listings each semester.

Chinese

CHIN 112/Selected Topics in Modern Chinese Literature and Film (4)

Classics

CL 22/Classical Literature in Translation (4)
CL 25/Classical Mythology (4)

French

FREN 50/Francophone Literatures in Translation: Women Novelists (4)
FREN 60/Francophone Literatures in Translation: North and West Africa, and the Caribbean (4)

German

GERM 11, 12/Selected Topics in German Literature in Translation (2, 2)

Middle East Studies

MEST 10/Middle East Literatures in Translation (4)

Pan-African Studies

PANAF 110/The Literature and Cultures of Africa (4)

Russian

RUSS 10/Banned Books: Russian Literature and Censorship (4)
RUSS 11/Love and Death in Russian Literature (4)
RUSS 120, 121/Selected Topics in Russian Literature I, II (2, 2)

Spanish

SPAN 114/Don Quixote and the Discourse of Fiction (4)
SPAN 115/Odyssey of Cultures: Individuals and Society in Spanish-American Literature (4)

Courses Offered

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WLIT 101 - Formerly 10 - Introduction to World Literature (4): This course introduces students to the comparative study of works of literature from various cultures, read in English translation. We consider diversity of place, social context, politics, history, genre, tradition, and literary movements. We look at literature in relation to its original cultural context and also at the way books communicate to other cultures and to us. The works, cultures, and thematic emphasis will vary from year to year. The initial theme for 2008 and 2009 is "The Literary Journey in World Literature." This course will be team-taught with one or two primary instructors from different departments, with visits from instructors in other literary fields. Students may with permission read works in the original language.

Fulfills: WI, BH, DIT
WLIT 260 - Formerly 60 - Literary Translation (4): This seminar introduces students to a variety of theoretical approaches to literary translation, as well as experience in translating literary texts. The course will begin with a history of approaches to translation, by reading both theoretical essays and a set of common texts in multiple translations, including works of classical and Biblical literature as well as contemporary prose and poetry. Each student will then undertake a translation of a short work of fiction or poetry with the goal of producing a publishable text in English. Students may work from any language into English or from a dialect or historical variety of English into a contemporary idiom. The seminar will feature guest lectures by Drew faculty from various programs whose work includes literary translation speaking about their own projects and experience as translators.
Signature of instructor required for registration. Prerequisite: WLIT 260 - Formerly 60 - or permission of instructor. Same as: ENGL 278 - Formerly 43 -

See appropriate departments for the following courses

CHIN 250 - Formerly 40 - Topics in Chinese Culture (4): An interdisciplinary and comparative introduction to important elements of both traditional and modern Chinese culture, including history, language, literature, art, philosophy/religion, family/marriage, and science/technology/medicine.
Course may be repeated. Offered spring semester in even-numbered years.
Fulfills: DIT, BI
CHIN 350 - Formerly 112 - Selected Topics in Modern Chinese Literature and Film (4): Chinese literature, cinema, and drama of the twentieth century, a time when China faced western challenges to its national identity and cultural tradition. Texts of the twentieth century are distinctively modern, covering such issues as westernization and tradition, revolution, family restructuring and women's role in society.
Course may be repeated. Offered fall semester.
Fulfills: BH, DIT
CLAS 250 - Formerly CL 22 - Classical Literature in Translation (4): Reading, analysis, and interpretation of selected classics of Greek and Roman literature, including Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Vergil's Aeneid, and representative selections from comedy, love-poetry, and Athenian tragedy. Provides an introduction to ancient life and thought and builds a foundation for the study of other literatures that draw heavily on the classical tradition.
May be repeated for credit with permission of the department as the emphasis of the course varies. Offering varies.
Fulfills: WI, BH
CLAS 215 - Formerly CL 25 - Classical Mythology (4): A study of Greek and Roman myth and legend in literature and art, with an exploration of the basic meaning of myth and its nature and function in various cultures. Considers the Indo-European and Near Eastern sources of classical myths as well as their influence in later European art and literature.
Offered spring semester annually.
Fulfills: BH
CLAS 260 - Formerly CL 28 - Classical Civilization: Selected Topics (2-4): Study of selected topics from Greek and Roman civilization, literature and archaeology. Topics change from year to year and include the Trojan War; the Golden Age of Athens; Rome of Caesar and Augustus; sport and spectacle in Greece and Rome; Alexander the Great; classics and computers; classics in cinema; Greek and Latin roots of English.
May be repeated for credit as topic changes. Not open to students who have taken two previous classics (CLAS - Formerly CLAS - Formerly CLAS - Formerly CL) courses; they should register for CLAS - Formerly CLAS - Formerly CLAS - Formerly CL 128. Offering to be determined.
Fulfills: BH, WI
ENGL 101 - Formerly 30 - Western Literature I (4): Reading and analysis of selected works in the Western literary tradition from ancient to early medieval periods. Approaches may vary from a survey of works from Homer to Augustine, to a topical approach such as a study of justice and individual choice represented in the works, to a genre approach such as a study of epic.
Enrollment priority: given to English majors and minors. Offered fall semester.
Fulfills: BH, WI
ENGL 102 - Formerly 31 - Western Literature II (4): Reading and analysis of selected works in the Western literary tradition from the High Middle-Ages to the modern period. Approaches may vary from a survey of works from Dante to Woolf, to a topical approach such as a study of power represented in the works, to a genre approach such as a study of prose narrative.
Enrollment priority: given to English majors and minors. Offered spring semester.
Fulfills: WI, BH
ENGL 308 - Formerly 131 - Advanced Studies in Anglophone Literature (2-4): An examination of literature in English by authors residing in or originating from English speaking nations other than Britain and America. The course may focus on literature from any one region, such as the Caribbean or South Asia; one nation, such as South Africa, Australia, or India; or a continent, such as Africa. It may explore the literature of those who emigrate from those regions, connections between the literature of those who remain at home and those who leave, the effects of colonialism on the nation, or the development of national literatures after colonialism. The course may also focus on specific historical moments, such as apartheid South Africa or Indian partition; or problems, such as the definition of "postcolonial," hybridity and identity, or the development of global Englishes.
Enrollment priority: given to English majors and minors. Prerequisite: A or B as appropriate. Offered in alternate fall semesters.
Fulfills: DIT
FREN 235 - Formerly 50 - Francophone Literature in Translation: Women Novelists (4): A critical reading of novels written in French by women from the late 17th through the 20th centuries. The study of 20th-century authors also includes women writers from the Francophone world (Quebec, Africa, and the Caribbean).
Course may be repeated. Offered in 2008-2009.
Fulfills: BH
FREN 261 - Formerly 111 - Selected Topics in French and Francophone Literatures (2-4): A study of a topic or topics in a linguistic, cultural, or literary aspect of the French-speaking world not covered by the current offerings of the French Department.
May be repeated for credit as topic changes. Prerequisite: FREN 201 - Formerly 30 - Offering to be determined.
FREN 123 - African Francophone Literature (4): An examination of the struggle between African cultures and modernity as seen in representative literary texts. The impact of Western influences as represented by the French political presence in Sub-Saharan Africa will be analyzed through contemporary Francophone literature produced primarily since 1950.
Offered triennially.
Fulfills: DIT
HISTG 807 - The Classical Tradition in the 19th and 20th Centuries (3): This course traces the influence and transformation of the classical Greek and Roman traditions though some of the seminal social movements and thinkers of modern times. It considers how even the most innovative and radical trends in modern politics, literature, philosophy, psychology, and anthropology have engaged in an extended conversation with the past. No prior knowledge of classical antiquity is required.
Signature of instructor required for registration. Offering to be determined.
HISTG 827 - Topics in Intellectual History (3): Topics in intellectual history vary with instructor interest and expertise.
Course may be repeated.
ITAL 350 - Formerly 111 - Selected Topics: (2-4): A study of a topic or topics in Italian culture or literature not covered by the current offerings of the French and Italian Department. Offered in English. May be repeated for credit as topic changes. Students may elect a two-credit module stopping at mid-semester.
Amount of credit established at time of registration. Course may be repeated. Offering to be determined.
MEST 203 - Formerly 10 - Middle East Literatures in Translation (4): An examination, through English translation, of one or more literary traditions of the Middle East. The focus of the course varies from one semester to the next. In any given semester, the course may center on Arabic, Israeli, Persian, Turkish, or other literature of the region in translation, or on a comparison of two or more of these traditions. Literary genres and themes covered in this course may also vary. For example, the course may focus primarily on prose, such as novels and short stories, or center on particular themes, such as conflict or construction of identity.
May be repeated for credit as topic changes. Offering to be determined.
RUSS 251 - Formerly 11 - Love and Death in Russian Literature (4): Russian literature is renowned for its probing explorations of human relationships and the "eternal questions" of human existence. This course surveys Russian literature of the 19th and 20th centuries with an emphasis on the recurring pattern of strong heroines and superfluous heroes found in the works of such writers as Pushkin, Lermontov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, and Bulgakov, as well as in selections from more recent Soviet and post-Soviet Russian writers.
Offered fall semester in odd-numbered years.
Fulfills: BH
RUSS 351 - Formerly 121 - Selected Topics in Russian Literature & Culture (2): An in-depth study of a topic in Russian cultural studies or of a particular theme, genre or major work of Russian literature read in English translation (students with advanced language skills may opt to do readings in the original). Offerings may include such topics as the Russian short story, post-Soviet Literature, Russian plays, Slavic Folk Culture or Russian Art and Architecture.
Course may be repeated. Offered spring semester.
SPAN 351 - Formerly 115 - Magical Realism to Glblization Span-American Lit & Film (4): A study of the major developments in Latin American literature and film in the past half century. First we concentrate on the literary aesthetics of the "Boom" - the movement that propelled Latin American literature into world recognition - and will consider theoretically the use of magical realism through close readings of representative canonical works. The second half of the course will center on the most recent prose and film of new generations of artists (such as the "McOndo" and "Crack Generation" movements, among others) depicting the impact of globalization, transnational forces, consumerism, migrations, and external influences upon Latin American identity. Taught in English.
Offered spring 2009.
Fulfills: BH, DIT
SPAN 380 - Formerly 117 - Selected Topics in Spanish (2-4): A study of a topic or topics in a linguistic, cultural, or literary aspect of the Hispanic world not covered by the current offerings of the Spanish department. In any given semester the course may be offered as a single four-credit unit or divided into two separate topics, each carrying two credits. Course may be repeated for credit as topic changes.
In any given semester the course may be offered as a single four-credit unit or divided into two separate topics, each carrying two credits. May be repeated for credit as topic changes. Offered fall or spring semester.
SPAN 366 - Formerly 121 - Advanced Expression and Stylistics (4): An advanced course in creative writing. Based on the practices of creative writing in different genres and subgenres, translations, and oral production, students will refine their linguistic skills and work towards acquiring a personal style across written contexts. Students will also work toward the development of critical thinking skills when creating new texts. Prerequisite: Gateway course or concurrent registration with Gateway course or special permission.

Fulfills: BA