Literary Studies (LTST) 551

Overview

Literature Studies 551 investigates an increasingly influential approach to literary studies—world literature. The course covers the seventeenth century to the present, including diverse forms of literary representation, from broadside ballads to Instapoetry, The Thousand and One Nights to Aboriginal science fiction, as well as drama, short fiction, graphic memoir, and manga, to explore international issues such as postcolonialism, globalization, and indigenization. As a multifaceted history of cultural transmission in global contexts, the course challenges traditional conceptions of world literature and considers new directions for literary studies in the twenty-first century.

Learning outcomes

After completing this course, students will be able to:

• identify the challenges of defining and interpreting world literature;
• apply various theories and methodologies to the reading of world literature;
• articulate the means by which world literature questions prevailing social, political, economic, ontological, and/or ethical frameworks;
• trace material histories of the production and reception of world literature;
• compare works or histories of world literature within and across borders;
• ask how readers make meaning of texts according to interests and circumstances; and
• report on individual research into texts and topics of world literature.

Evaluation

Your final grade in the course will be determined based on the marks achieved for the following assignments. To receive credit for LTST 551, students must complete and submit all three essay assignments, and you must achieve an overall grade of at least C- (60 percent).

Materials

Other Materials

All other materials can be found online.

Important links

• Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies
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• Fees and Funding