What is Comparative Literature?
Comparative Literature is the interdisciplinary study of literature and culture from different perspectives and from different national groups.
Who Studies Comparative Literature?
Different students choose Comparative Literature for different reasons. Generally, students whose interests in language, literature, or culture traverse national boundaries find a rich variety of material for their studies. Additionally, students who study popular culture, literary or cultural theory, film, gender studies, music, and/or art also find that Comparative Literature provides them ample opportunity to pursue their inquiries.
Comparative Literature at the University of Rochester offers students significant flexibility in designing a concentration both broad in national and historical diversity and rich in depth. Students who study Comparative Literature choose their courses from a huge selection of national literatures and cultures. They can choose either to pursue work in a foreign language (or two), or complete their coursework in English.
Comparative Literature is by definition interdisciplinary. Students who pursue work in Comparative Literature, either through a cluster, a minor, or a major, will gain access to several different national cultures and, depending on the level pursued, a deeper sense of how those cultures interact with their neighbors, their regions, and the world.
Those who study Comparative Literature will possess valuable skills in literary analysis, cultural awareness, and critical thinking and writing. Sensitive to the manner in which different national groups conceive their identities in an era of ever-increasing globalization, students of Comparative Literature aim at international awareness through humanistic inquiry.
Brochure
What Kind of Foreign Language Work is Required?
That depends on the student. You can do work in Comparative Literature either with language-intensive courses, or you can do all your work in English.
Students with interest and proficiency in foreign languages can do work in Comparative Literature in two ways: you can construct your major with concentration on the literature and culture of two national areas (see below), in which case you can do advanced level courses in the, or you can do one area in the original language and one in English.
Students whose interests and skills do not necessarily include advanced work in a foreign language can take all of their courses in English. Any courses that is listed under the "CLT" rubric is taught in English, and that includes literature, culture, as well as theoretical or other kinds of courses.
A Selection of Comparative Literature Courses
There are literally dozens of courses in Comparative Literature-please see the Modern Languages and Cultures Department web site for more information (http://www.rochester.edu/college/MLC)
Here's a small sample of what you will find:
CLT 101 Cowboys and Indians
CLT 101 Great Books, Great Debates
CLT 112 Dante's Divine Comedy
CLT 113 Tolstoy's War and Peace
CLT 160 The New Europe
CLT 206 The Holocaust and After
CLT 210 Post Franco Spain
CLT 211 History of French Film
CLT 211 Filming/Writing Post-Colonial Women
CLT 212 Monsters, Ghosts, and Aliens
CLT 213 Italian Cinema
CLT 214 History of Japanese Cinema
CLT 217 Theater at the Close of the 20th Century
CLT 224 Japanese Women Writers
CLT 226 Third World Women
CLT 227 Enlightenment
CLT 231 Introduction to Francophone Literature
CLT 241 Caribbean Novel and Theory
CLT 242 Poe and Hoffmann
CLT 246 The Picaresque Novel
CLT 253 Boccaccio's Decameron
CLT 254 The Tale of Genji
CLT 254 Recent Japanese Fiction
CLT 255 Classics to Moderns
CLT 255 Checkhov and his Contemporaries
CLT 256 Cervantes and the Rise of the Novel
CLT 262 Germany and the Orient
CLT 265 Russian Literature Between the Revolutions
CLT 265 Dangerous Texts
CLT 282 Marx and Marxism
Clusters in Comparative Literature
Comparative Cultural Studies
Comparative Film Traditions
Gender and Literary Studies
Introduction to Comparative Literature
The Major in Comparative Literature
11 courses, consisting of:
- CLT 101, "Introduction to Comparative Literature"
- 5 courses in one national literature area
- 4 courses in another national literature area
or 4 courses in literary or cultural theory
or 4 courses in a related area of student's interest (in consultation with advisor)
- CLT 389, "Major Seminar"
The Minor in Comparative Literature
In consultation with the Comparative Literature faculty advisor, students choose 5 courses representing an area of concentration in the field. Students can define that area according to their own interests and educational and career goals.
Study Abroad
Students are encouraged to study abroad in one or more of the national areas of their interest. Generally speaking, coursework undertaken abroad will count toward a major or minor in Comparative Literature.
For more information about programs in Comparative Literature, contact Professor Claudia Schaefer at (585) 275-4253.
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