Seminar : comparative literature [ LROM2755 ]

Website of the course on ICampus : http://www.icampus.ucl.ac.be/

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A new question of comparative literature will be analyzed each year. The topic will be selected from one of the subfields of the discipline (comparative poetry, literary and cultural relations, literary theory). The question may potentially be derived from topics students are investigating for their thesis (in the case that enough students' interests overlap in terms of thematic, linguistic, theoretical and/or methodological dimensions).

Introduce students to the methodologies and principles of the discipline through the analysis of a particular question of comparative literature.
Provide students with an understanding of the essential structures and challenges of comparative literature and prepare them to undertake their own advanced research in the field of comparative literary studies.
Encourage students to research questions related to national literature, as well as to expand their knowledge of foreign literature (Europe, Africa, America, Asia).
Help student defining a research topic (by choosing a body of literature and a consistent methodological framework) and to analyze it using a critical approach and a comparative perspective.
 

Regular class attendance and participation, oral presentation and final paper. The final evaluation will take into account the attention given to written and spoken French.
To validate the seminar, the student must :

1. be present and participate regularly and actively in seminar sessions ;
2. present an oral paper (15 minutes) during the seminar ;
3. submit, at least the first day of each exam session (June and September), a written paper (10 to 15 pages). The work must be sent by mail to the teacher in PDF format. A paper copy is also required.
    

Students will be encouraged to become familiar with the main lines of research in comparative literature as to place their current and future research within this context. Students are expected to actively participate in discussions and to give an oral presentation in front of the class. Furthermore, students are required to write a paper in which they further develop the topic covered in their oral presentation. The presentation and the paper can also be complementary to their thesis work and other research activities.

The contemporary European and international novel will be the focus of the 2011-2012 course. Through the study of the themes, representations and writing techniques used in producing the contemporary novel, we will analyze the changes introduced by these novels within the western tradition of writing. We will endeavor to identify the paradigms which allow a description of the present state of the novel as it is produced and read today in Europe and worldwide.

Theoretical and methodological readings

1. BESSIERE, Jean, Le Roman contemporain ou la problématicité du monde, Paris, PUF, 2010.

Contemporary Novels

1. FRESAN, Rodrigo, La Vitesse des choses, traduit de l'espagnol (Argentine) par Isabelle Gugnon, préface d'Enrique Vila-Matas, Albi, Editions Passage du Nord-Ouest, 2008.
2. GLISSANT, Edouard, Tout-Monde, Paris, Gallimard, 1993.
3. MURAKAMI, Haruki, Kafka sur le rivage, traduit du japonais par Corinne Atlan, Paris, Belfond, 2006.

In order to prepare the seminar, it is strongly recommended to realize compulsory readings during the first quadrimester.
Novels may also be read in the original language, according to the language skills of each student.