CO 200 - Topics in Comparative Literature

Institution:

Colorado College

Subject:

Description:

Intermediate level consideration of various topics in comparative literature. Topics might include a single genre, a period or a theme. Texts usually in English but with reference to non-English materials within the competence of students. (May be offered as a January half-block.) Block 1: Topics in Comparative Literature: Frankenstein's Legacy - Literature, Philosophy and Pop Culture. With Mary Shelley's novel as a starting point, we will examine the Frankenstein narrative as it develops from early 19th-century culture and science through 20th-century pop culture and film. We will pay particular attention to the way in which differenct times and discourses are able to bend this narrative to their own purposes. What anxieties about death, science, gender, identity, etc. inform the various representations and re-creations of this literary fantasy of an early 19th-century, teenaged girl (Also listed as English 280.) 1 unit - Davis. Block 2: Topics in Comparative Literture: Modern Theatre. A study of the 20th-century movements in playwriting and theatre practice. Topics will include realism (Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov) and the revolts against it, such as the work of Brecht, Artaud, Pirandello, and various artists of "alternative" theatre. (Also listed as Drama 223.) 1 unit - Lindblade. Block 3: Topics in Comparative Literature: Rhetoric. This course explores the foundations and growth of major concepts, issues, theorists, and approaches to the study of western rhetoric from the classical to the contemporary periods. It is designed to introduce students to ideas about the process of symbolic influence from a variety of media: public speeches, essays, group interaction, television, radio, computers, and film. While the readings in the course reflect a survey of Western theories of persuasion, the class discussions will, in part, attempt to relate these historical and contemporary theories to modern texts. As such, the course is one of theory and application; and is designed to help students improve their skills as rhetors (those who seek to influence), become more critical recipients of rhetorical messages, and understand more fully the pervasive nature of rhetoric in all aspects of their daily lives. 1 unit - Olive. Block 3: Topics in Comparative Literature: Latino/a and Latin-American Theatre. Examines Latino/a and Latin-American theatrical works as forms of resistance and as politically charged art forms. Considers plays and performances that challenge governments, inequities, and the status quo using humor, passion, spectacle, and simplicity. Considers performance art, theater of the oppressed, agitation/propaganda, activism, post-colonialism, existentialism and feminism from a variety of Latin and Central American perspectives. Contextualizes Latin and Latin-American performance in political and social landscapes. All plays taught in English translation from Spanish or Portuguese. (Meets the Critical Perspectives: Diverse Cultures and Critiques requirement.) (Also listed as American Cultural Studies 200 and Drama 321.) 1 unit - Sifuentes. Block 4: Topics in Comparative Literature: Contexualizing Christmas: Comedy, Pastoral, and Saturnalia. This course proposes to read literary texts and view films and television shows associated with the Christmas season as products of long traditions, including ancient pastoral of Greeks, Romans, and the Old Testament; comedy as theorized by Cornford and Frye; and the Roman winter solstice holiday of Saturnalia, a time of visiting friends, giving gifts and lighting candles. Beginning with theorists and classical antiquity we will read the modern texts critically in order to understand how they create meaning. In what sense is Frosty the Snowman a variant of Frazer's dying vegetation god How does the Greco-Roman tradition of literary shepherds help explain the significance of Shepherds in Luke's version of the Christmas story. What exactly is the source of nostalgia into whic

Credits:

1.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.coloradocollege.edu

Phone Number:

(719) 389-6000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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