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COMPLIT 21Q: Wilde's Worlds: Oscar Wilde in the International Context

This course introduces you to Oscar Wilde's life and works in various international literary, artistic, social, and cultural contexts in the European fin de siecle, as well as to Wilde's posthumous reception as an international iconic figure of LGBTQ+ literary and cultural history. We will consider Wilde's own roots in Irish culture; his love for Ancient Greece and Rome in the context of Oxford Hellenism; the influence of French and Belgian Decadence and Symbolism on The Picture of Dorian Gray and Salome (which we will read side by side with writings by Joris-Karl Huysmans, Stephane Mallarme, and Rachilde); Wilde's interest in the visual and decorative arts; Wilde's joyful dandyism and vibrant queer literary networks in Paris and London; the impact of Wilde's 1895 trials and imprisonment for "acts of gross indecency"; Wilde's reception in countries such as Germany, Japan, Russia, and the U.S.; and the vibrant posthumous afterlife of Wilde's work and persona in dance, opera, films, musicals, cartoons, and popular culture from the 1900s to today. Studying Oscar Wilde's life and works in such comparative and international contexts opens a door to the historical 1890s, while also giving us the chance to understand and appreciate Wilde's legacy as a queer artist and cultural trailblazer that still speaks to us in our own time. This course will emphasize close reading, analytical writing, and honing your presentation skills as you learn to understand and appreciate the many worlds of Oscar Wilde from the 1890s to today.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, Writing 2
Instructors: ; Dierkes, P. (PI)

COMPLIT 36A: Dangerous Ideas (ARTHIST 36, EALC 36, ENGLISH 71, ETHICSOC 36X, FRENCH 36, HISTORY 3D, MUSIC 36H, PHIL 36, POLISCI 70, RELIGST 36X, SLAVIC 36, TAPS 36)

Ideas matter. Concepts such as progress, technology, and sex, have inspired social movements, shaped political systems, and dramatically influenced the lives of individuals. Others, like cultural relativism and historical memory, play an important role in contemporary debates in the United States. All of these ideas are contested, and they have a real power to change lives, for better and for worse. In this one-unit class we will examine these "dangerous" ideas. Each week, a faculty member from a different department in the humanities and arts will explore a concept that has shaped human experience across time and space.
Terms: Win, Spr | Units: 1 | Repeatable 4 times (up to 4 units total)
Instructors: ; Safran, G. (PI)

COMPLIT 37Q: Zionism and the Novel (JEWISHST 37Q)

At the end of the nineteenth century, Zionism emerged as a political movement to establish a national homeland for the Jews, eventually leading to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. This seminar uses novels to explore the changes in Zionism, the roots of the conflict in the Middle East, and the potentials for the future. We will take a close look at novels by Israelis, both Jewish and Arab, in order to understand multiple perspectives, and we will also consider works by authors from the North America and from Europe. Note: This course must be taken for a letter grade to be eligible for WAYS credit.
Terms: Aut, Spr | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
Instructors: ; Berman, R. (PI)

COMPLIT 51Q: Comparative Fictions of Ethnicity (AMSTUD 51Q, CSRE 51Q)

Explorations of how literature can represent in complex and compelling ways issues of difference--how they appear, are debated, or silenced. Specific attention on learning how to read critically in ways that lead one to appreciate the power of literary texts, and learning to formulate your ideas into arguments. Course is a Sophomore Seminar and satisfies Write2. By application only
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
Instructors: ; Palumbo-Liu, D. (PI)

COMPLIT 104N: Film and Fascism in Europe (FILMEDIA 105N, FRENCH 104N, ITALIAN 104N)

Controlling people's minds through propaganda is an integral part of fascist regimes' totalitarianism. In the interwar, cinema, a relatively recent mass media, was immediately seized upon by fascist regimes to produce aggrandizing national narratives, justify their expansionist and extermination policies, celebrate the myth of the "Leader," and indoctrinate the people. Yet film makers under these regimes (Rossellini, Renoir) or just after their fall, used the same media to explore and expose how they manufactured conformism, obedience, and mass murder and to interrogate fascism. We will watch films produced by or under European fascist regimes (Nazi Germany, Italy under Mussolini, Greece's Regime of the Colonels) but also against them. The seminar introduces key film analysis tools and concepts, while offering insights into the history of propaganda and cinema. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-4 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Alduy, C. (PI)

COMPLIT 123: The Novel (DLCL 143)

This course traces the global development of the modern literary genre par excellence through some of its great milestones, with an emphasis on Asian, American, and African novels and innovative approaches.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II

COMPLIT 133: Literature and Society in Africa and the Caribbean (AFRICAAM 133, AFRICAST 132, COMPLIT 233A, CSRE 133E, FRENCH 133, JEWISHST 143)

This course provides students with an introductory survey of literature and cinema from Francophone Africa and the Caribbean in the 20th and 21st centuries. Students will be encouraged to consider the geographical, historical, and political connections between the Maghreb, the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa. This course will help students improve their ability to speak and write in French by introducing students to linguistic and conceptual tools to conduct literary and visual analysis. While analyzing novels and films, students will be exposed to a diverse number of topics such as national and cultural identity, race and class, gender and sexuality, orality and textuality, transnationalism and migration, colonialism and decolonization, history and memory, and the politics of language. Readings include the works of writers and filmmakers such as Aim¿ C¿saire, Albert Memmi, Ousmane Semb¿ne, Le¿la Sebbar, Mariama B¿, Maryse Cond¿, Dany Laferri¿re, Mati Diop, and special guest L¿onora Miano. Taught in French. Students are encouraged to complete FRENLANG 124 or successfully test above this level through the Language Center. This course fulfills the Writing in the Major (WIM) requirement.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
Instructors: ; Seck, F. (PI); Yu, K. (TA)

COMPLIT 144: The Idea of the "Poetic": Poetry and Other Arts in the Twentieth Century

In this course, we will explore the relationship between poetry and other art forms. What does it mean to say that something is "poetic," especially when we are talking about a non-poetic genre or artistic medium. Is the "poetic" a formal feature? An aesthetic quality? A stylistic choice? Or a mode of creative faculty? And does the way we talk about the "poetic" inform us of something about poetry itself? Together we will read narrative prose, photographs, films, paintings, and of course, poetry itself. Authors and artists we study might include Rainer Maria Rilke, Paul Klee, Fei Ming, Virginia Woolf, Paul Celan, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Michelango Antonioni, Andre Tarkovsky, W.G Sebald, Jia Zhangke, and Gerhard Richter.
Terms: Aut, Spr | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Ding, G. (PI)

COMPLIT 157: Time Travel in Abya Yala: Decolonising Time (CHILATST 157)

What if we saw time as malleable? In this course, we will examine how indigenous, latinx, and black artists manipulate experiences of time through music, visual art, and storytelling to reclaim their worlds. Understandings of time have been used to control the populations of Abya Yala (the Americas) since the beginning of the colonial period. But through different cultural understandings of time, experimental bookmaking, and other modes of creative expression, time can be experienced anew. We will pay attention to how different formats for storytelling and art alter our experience of the present. We will also identify how different ways of arranging events, visuals, and words reconfigure the relationships between the past, present, and future. The class will include fictional and theoretical works by Gloria Anzaldúa (Chicana), Manuel Tzoc (K'iche'), Patrick Chamoiseau (Martinique), Kency Cornejo (El Salvador/USA), and Dylan Robinson (Xwélmexw), amongst others.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Martinez, N. (PI)

COMPLIT 161E: Narrative and Narrative Theory (ENGLISH 161)

An introduction to stories and storytelling--that is, to narrative. What is narrative? When is narrative fictional and when non-fictional? How is it done, word by word, sentence by sentence? Must it be in prose? Can it be in pictures? How has storytelling changed over time? Focus on various forms, genres, structures, and characteristics of narrative. nEnglish majors must take this class for 5 units.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II

COMPLIT 163: A Brief History of Now: Song and Poetry from Sappho to Taylor Swift (FRENCH 163)

What techniques do singers share between traditions from antiquity to the present? How do they produce a sense of a moment to be seized, a contrast between hope and despair, and here and now? Transhistorical, comparative analysis of lyric modes and conventions such as apostrophe, the desire to sing and uselessness of doing so, when and where they diverge in different lyric genres and traditions. Poets and songwriters include Catullus, Sappho, Li Qingzhao, troubadours, Dante, Labe, Donne, Taylor Swift, Bob Dylan, SZA. Each week, students will enrich the discussion by introducing to the class their own suggestions of relevant works.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II

COMPLIT 164: Solidarity - Histories, Literatures, Rationales (COMPLIT 364, CSRE 164)

How do we come to care about causes not related to our lives directly? During the Spanish Civil War, people from around the world joined the International Brigade to fight fascism. In our own age, hundreds of thousands of people around the world urge a ceasefire in Gaza. We study moments in history where immediate political interest gives way to a more capacious sense of obligation and commitment.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Palumbo-Liu, D. (PI)

COMPLIT 179: Rumi: Rhythms of Creation (COMPLIT 249)

This course offers a comprehensive introduction to the thought, poetics, and legacy of one of the towering figures of Persian letters, Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207-1273). After discussing the literary ancestors (Sana'i, `Attar), we will trace the mystico-philosophical foundations of Rumi's thought through close readings of the lyrical (Divan-e Shams) and narrative poems (Mathnavi-ye ma`navi), the prose works (Fihe ma fihe), and the letters. Literary analyses will be followed by an exploration of music as a structuring principle in Rumi's work and the role of sama` (spiritual audition) as a poetic practice. From there, we will look at the ritual and symbolism of the dervish dance, the foundation of the Mevlevi order, the interconnectedness of space (architecture) and poetic form that is exemplified in the Mevlevi dervish lodges, and the literary and philosophical echoes of Rumi in Ottoman culture, above all Seyh Galip's masterpiece Hüsn ü Ask (1782). The course will be complemented by digressions on Rumi in contemporary Persian and Turkish music, including live musical performances. Open to undergraduates and graduates. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Huber, M. (PI)

COMPLIT 213: Culture and Revolution in Africa (AFRICAAM 213, FRENCH 213E, HISTORY 243E)

This course investigates the relationship between culture, revolutionary decolonization, and post-colonial trajectories. It probes the multilayered development of 20th and 21st-century African literature amid decolonization and Cold War cultural diplomacy initiatives and the debates they generated about African literary aesthetics, African languages, the production of history, and the role of the intellectual. We will journey through national cultural movements, international congresses, and pan-African festivals to explore the following questions: What role did writers and artists play in shaping the discourse of revolutionary decolonization throughout the continent and in the diaspora? How have literary texts, films, and works of African cultural thought shaped and engaged with concepts such as "African unity" and "African cultural renaissance"? How have these notions influenced the imaginaries of post-independence nations, engendered new subjectivities, and impacted gender and generational dynamics? How did the ways of knowing and modes of writing promoted and developed in these contexts shape African futures?
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Seck, F. (PI)

COMPLIT 230: Re-Orienting Modernity: Lepers, Hermits, Mutes

Lepers, hermits, mute dervishes, hallucinating doppelgangers, and the possessed: do these marginal figures stand for the paradoxes of modernity far from the Western center? What does modernity mean for the Global South, in particular the Islamic East? Is there an indigenous modernity, beyond Western influence? In the course, we will look at how key texts and films produced in the run-up to Iran¿s 1979 Islamic Revolution build on a modernist aesthetic while at the same time displacing the West¿s claims to progress and enlightenment. Drawing on postcolonial theories, the recent transnational turn in literary studies, and close analyses of the works themselves, we will examine ideas of center and periphery, power, identity, and selfhood in order to re-orient our understanding of modernity. As a final project, students may choose to submit a critical essay, film, collection of poems, and/or an original work of art. Open to undergraduates and graduates. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5

COMPLIT 233A: Literature and Society in Africa and the Caribbean (AFRICAAM 133, AFRICAST 132, COMPLIT 133, CSRE 133E, FRENCH 133, JEWISHST 143)

This course provides students with an introductory survey of literature and cinema from Francophone Africa and the Caribbean in the 20th and 21st centuries. Students will be encouraged to consider the geographical, historical, and political connections between the Maghreb, the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa. This course will help students improve their ability to speak and write in French by introducing students to linguistic and conceptual tools to conduct literary and visual analysis. While analyzing novels and films, students will be exposed to a diverse number of topics such as national and cultural identity, race and class, gender and sexuality, orality and textuality, transnationalism and migration, colonialism and decolonization, history and memory, and the politics of language. Readings include the works of writers and filmmakers such as Aim¿ C¿saire, Albert Memmi, Ousmane Semb¿ne, Le¿la Sebbar, Mariama B¿, Maryse Cond¿, Dany Laferri¿re, Mati Diop, and special guest L¿onora Miano. Taught in French. Students are encouraged to complete FRENLANG 124 or successfully test above this level through the Language Center. This course fulfills the Writing in the Major (WIM) requirement.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
Instructors: ; Seck, F. (PI); Yu, K. (TA)

COMPLIT 248C: Advanced Turkish-English Translation

This course is the continuation of COMPLIT 248A Reading Turkish I and COMPLIT 248B Reading Turkish II. Refining advanced grammar, reading, and translation skills in modern Turkish through intensive reading and translation from a variety of source texts. Emphasis on Turkish cultural, historical, literary, and political texts depending on students' academic interests. Prerequisites COMPLIT 248A & B or prior knowledge of Turkish and consultation with the instructor is necessary.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Karahan, B. (PI)

COMPLIT 249: Rumi: Rhythms of Creation (COMPLIT 179)

This course offers a comprehensive introduction to the thought, poetics, and legacy of one of the towering figures of Persian letters, Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207-1273). After discussing the literary ancestors (Sana'i, `Attar), we will trace the mystico-philosophical foundations of Rumi's thought through close readings of the lyrical (Divan-e Shams) and narrative poems (Mathnavi-ye ma`navi), the prose works (Fihe ma fihe), and the letters. Literary analyses will be followed by an exploration of music as a structuring principle in Rumi's work and the role of sama` (spiritual audition) as a poetic practice. From there, we will look at the ritual and symbolism of the dervish dance, the foundation of the Mevlevi order, the interconnectedness of space (architecture) and poetic form that is exemplified in the Mevlevi dervish lodges, and the literary and philosophical echoes of Rumi in Ottoman culture, above all Seyh Galip's masterpiece Hüsn ü Ask (1782). The course will be complemented by digressions on Rumi in contemporary Persian and Turkish music, including live musical performances. Open to undergraduates and graduates. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Huber, M. (PI)

COMPLIT 249C: Contemporary Iranian Theater (GLOBAL 249C)

Today, Iranian plays both in traditional and contemporary styles are staged in theater festivals throughout the world and play their role in forming a universal language of theater which combine the heritages from countries in all five continents. Despite many obstacles, some Iranian plays have been translated into English and some prominent Iranian figures are successful stage directors outside Iran. Forty-six years ago when "Theater in Iran" (a monograph on the history of Iranian plays) by Bahram Beyzaie was first published, it put the then contemporary Iranian theater movement "which was altogether westernizing itself blindly" face to face with a new kind of self-awareness. Hence, today's generation of playwrights and stage directors in Iran, all know something of their theatrical heritage. In this course we will spend some class sessions on the history of theater in Iran and some class meetings will be concentrating on contemporary movements and present day playwrights. Given the dearth of visual documents, an attempt will be made to present a picture of Iranian theater to the student. Students are expected to read the recommended available translated plays of the contemporary Iranian playwrights and participate in classroom discussions. NOTE: To satisfy WAYS requirements, you must enroll in the course for a minimum of 3 units. Please contact your academic advisor for more information regarding University WAYS requirements.
Terms: Spr | Units: 1-3 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Beyzaie, B. (PI)

COMPLIT 254: The Middle East through Graphic Novel

How do young Middle Easterners grow up and get by? How do states, families, wars, religions, displacement and patriarchy shape their lives? In this course, we will examine the coming of age as children grow up to become adults, learn and negotiate layers of hierarchies of authority, class, gender, and violence in the Middle East /West Asia. We will trace the role of capitalism, colonialism and modernization, which shapes the global history in the meanings and experiences of the youth from major and minor ethnic, language or religious communities of the region. To do so, we will explore the graphic novel genre, a hybrid form that became very popular among Middle Eastern artists and writers who mastered it to narrate their personal stories interwoven in the region's sociopolitical and cultural issues. Through these graphic novels, we will learn not only how to understand the commonalities and differences of the writers' respective societies' history, culture and politics but also how to read words through pictures. Each graphic novel we read will provide us a platform to get into the world of ordinary people making sense of their lives in the unfolding macro processes that affect their families and families. Their stories of struggles, intimacy and resilience will give us a chance to understand the Middle East, beyond the headlines about conflict and deprivation. One graphic novel will be assigned each week. The class is appropriate for beginning students, non-majors, as well as upper level and graduate students, and it may be taken for different levels of credit. All readings will be in English.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II

COMPLIT 293: Literary Translation: Theory and Practice (DLCL 293, ENGLISH 293)

An overview of translation theories and practices over time. The aesthetic, ethical, and political questions raised by the act and art of translation and how these pertain to the translator's tasks. Discussion of particular translation challenges and the decision processes taken to address these issues. Coursework includes assigned theoretical readings, comparative translations, and the undertaking of an individual translation project.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
Instructors: ; Santana, C. (PI)

COMPLIT 316: Scholarship and Activism for Justice (CSRE 316)

A collective-based course where participants determine readings on scholarship and activism, invite guest speakers, plan activities to put into action our ideas, values, philosophies.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1 | Repeatable 24 times (up to 24 units total)
Instructors: ; Palumbo-Liu, D. (PI)

COMPLIT 320A: Epic and Empire (ENGLISH 314)

Focus is on Virgil's Aeneid and its influence, tracing the European epic tradition (Ariosto, Tasso, Camoes, Spenser, and Milton) to New World discovery and mercantile expansion in the early modern period.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5
Instructors: ; Parker, P. (PI)

COMPLIT 359A: Philosophical Reading Group (FRENCH 395, ITALIAN 395)

Discussion of one contemporary or historical text from the Western philosophical tradition per quarter in a group of faculty and graduate students. For admission of new participants, a conversation with Professor Robert Harrison is required. May be repeated for credit. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr | Units: 1 | Repeatable for credit
Instructors: ; Harrison, R. (PI)

COMPLIT 364: Solidarity - Histories, Literatures, Rationales (COMPLIT 164, CSRE 164)

How do we come to care about causes not related to our lives directly? During the Spanish Civil War, people from around the world joined the International Brigade to fight fascism. In our own age, hundreds of thousands of people around the world urge a ceasefire in Gaza. We study moments in history where immediate political interest gives way to a more capacious sense of obligation and commitment.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Palumbo-Liu, D. (PI)

COMPLIT 376: Introduction to Apocalyptic Thinking (FRENCH 367, POLISCI 237R, POLISCI 337R)

At the time of the European Enlightenment, the talk about the end of the world was taken to be a remnant of religious beliefs or the domain of insane people. The rational mind knew how to eliminate those obstacles to continuous scientific and technological progress. Today the situation has radically changed. Science and technology are the places where the end of the world is predicted. Apocalypse is looming. This seminar will explore various fields where this transformation is taking place. The following menaces will be considered: nuclear war, climate change, gene editing, synthetic biology, advanced artificial intelligence. Among the philosophies that will be summoned: the post-Heideggerian critique of technoscience (Hannah Arendt and G¿nther Anders), Hans Jonas' Ethics of the Future, the concept of existential risk (Nick Bostrom) and the instructor's concept of Enlightened Doomsaying. Appeal to literary works and films will be part of the program. Reserved for Master's, PhD students, and highly motivated undergraduates.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Dupuy, J. (PI)

COMPLIT 397: Graduate Studies Colloquium

Colloquium for graduate students in Comparative Literature. Taught in English. May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1 | Repeatable 15 times (up to 15 units total)
Instructors: ; Saldivar, J. (PI)

COMPLIT 398L: Literary Lab (ENGLISH 398L)

Gathering and analyzing data, constructing hypotheses and designing experiments to test them, writing programs [if needed], preparing visuals and texts for articles or conferences. Requires a year-long participation in the activities of the Lab.
Terms: Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 2-5 | Repeatable 2 times (up to 10 units total)
Instructors: ; Algee-Hewitt, M. (PI)

COMPLIT 399: Individual Work

For Comparative Literature department graduate students only. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-15 | Repeatable for credit

COMPLIT 680: Curricular Practical Training

CPT course required for international students completing degree. Prerequisite: Comparative Literature Ph.D. candidate.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-3 | Repeatable for credit
Instructors: ; Greene, R. (PI)

COMPLIT 802: TGR Dissertation

Doctoral students who have been admitted to candidacy, completed all required courses and degree requirements other than the University oral exam and dissertation, completed 135 units or 10.5 quarters of residency (if under the old residency policy), and submitted a Doctoral Dissertation Reading Committee form, may request Terminal Graduate Registration status to complete their dissertations.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 0 | Repeatable for credit
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