Time Schedule:
Petia Parpoulova
C LIT 240
Seattle Campus
Comparative approach to literature and a workshop in writing comparative papers in English. Emphasis on cross-cultural comparison of literary works. Readings in English with an option to read selected texts in the original languages Offered: AWSp.
Class description
EXOTIC TALES In this class we will discuss representations of the exotic in English and German textual and visual culture from the Romantic era through the 1930s. The course material provides for a critical examination of different aspects of the exotic: the exotic as distant and foreign, as archaic and original, as strangely beautiful and enticing, as wild and primitive, and as spiritual and authentic. Throughout the course, our focus will be on how in fact the exotic had more to do with the concerns predominant within Western culture, rather than with foreign non-European people and lands which the exotic only appeared to represent. Class discussion will unravel the ways in which norms and expectations entrenched in contexts and traditions prompt readers and audiences to view the exotic in a particular fashion. We will critically compare and contrast exotic representations between media and different historical contexts. Class readings will include Frances Sheridan "Nourjahad," William Beckford "Vathek," Byron "Giaour," Wilhelm Hauff "Little Mook," E. T. Hoffmann "The Golden Pot," Novalis "Heinrich von Ofterdingen," Somerset Maugham "The Moon and Sixpence" and Vicki Baum "A Tale from Bali." The films we will view are Joe May's "The Indian Tomb" (1921), F. W. Murnau's "Tabu: A Story of the South Seas," (1931) and Ernst Lubitsch "Sumurun, An Oriental Play in Six Acts" (1920).
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
Short response papers for each session (1 pp.), three argumentative papers (3-4 pp.)and a course portfolio with a self-reflective essay (3 pp.)
