Twenty-First-Century World Literature

Catalog description

This class will ask questions about the formal, thematic, and sociological reasons why certain books come to speak to readers around the world. Formally, we will look at flows of literary influence across borders and languages, as well as techniques of representing a complex, interconnected world. We will also consider how certain prevalent themes find success internationally: migration and exile, globalization and geo-politics, the oppression of women, war and traumatic memory. Finally, the class will analyze the “world republic of letters” sociologically, including the material role of an unequitable system of book prizes, translations, and film adaptations in shaping a canon of world literature. Fulfills Breadth and Depth Area Studies B requirement: Genre, Thematic Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies.