Comparative Literature

In 1997, the College of Liberal Arts established the Interdisciplinary Minor in Comparative Literature to provide Texas A&M students the opportunity to study the literatures and cultures of more than one nation or people, with a general focus on the comparison and contrast of works as they array themselves around themes, genres, cultural and literary movements, patterns of influence, constructions of gender, social histories, or politics. Comparative Literature may be regarded as the study of literature and culture from an international point of view, rather than within a national framework. According to the American Comparative Literature Association, "Comparative Literature promotes the study of intercultural relations that cross national boundaries, multicultural relations within a particular society, and the interactions between literature and other forms of human activity, including the arts, the sciences, philosophy, and cultural artifacts of all kinds." Like many interdisciplinary programs, Comparative Literature invites students to learn and employ critical and theoretical approaches to literary and cultural texts that challenge their usual cognitive categories in ways that will help them respond with more flexibility to the changing world around them. Unlike similar programs, however, Comparative Literature insists that the comparative study of literatures and cultures must involve a familiarity with their languages. Comparative Literature, then, embraces a multicultural approach to the study of texts, and grounds its multiculturalism in multilingualism; that is, in the working knowledge of more than one language.

As an interdisciplinary minor, Comparative Literature draws on faculty from English and Modern and Classical Languages working in a variety of fields and in various literatures. The minor fosters both a grounding in language study and national literary and cultural traditions, and an awareness of theoretical approaches to texts. A student who completes a the minor in Comparative Literature will be expected to have a grasp of the history of literature in its broad outlines and to be able to deal competently with literary texts, whatever their period or national origin. Although the minor requires a knowledge of at least one language other than English, the curriculum acknowledges that practical considerations limit how much work any undergraduate can do in foreign languages and allows for some study of literature in translation. By requiring a working knowledge of at least two languages and competence at least at the 300-level, the minor encourages both the breadth and depth of students' mastery of the field.

Contact

Dr. Pat Phillippy, Coordinator of Comparative Literature
Blocker 219D
979.845.8348

Curriculum

Requirements for the minor in comparative literature total 18 hours, including the following:

• a foundation course: English/MODL 221 or 222, World Literature, or English 211, History of Literary Criticism
  
• one 300- or 400-level literature course in each of two different languages (one of which may be English)
• two courses in specialized studies of literary forms and genres, or one course in specialized studies of literary forms and genres and one MODL literature in translation course
• ENGL 401, Critical Theory and Practice
• an "exit paper" to be written at the conclusion of the curriculum, which serves to synthesize the student's course work and interests
  

To fulfill the requirement of 6 hours in two national literatures, the following courses may be taken:

• ENGL 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 321, 322, 323, 336, 337, 338. 339, 350. 374, 375, 376, 377, 378, 390, 396, 412, 414, 431, 474
• CLAS 301. 321
• FREN 321, 322, 410, 414
• RUSS 322, 401, 440
• GERM 361, 362, 403, 440
• SPAN 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341,  342, 402, 410,  411, 412,  413, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 450
  

To fulfill the requirement of 6 hours in specialized studies of literary forms and genres and/or literature in translation, the following courses may be taken:

• CLAS 352 361, 362, 372
• ENGL 319, 330, 333, 334, 335, 340, 351, 352, 360,361, 365, 368, 394
• ENGL/MODL 362
• MODL 342, 352
• PHIL 371