Comparative Literature: Issues and Methods
Code: 42315 ECTS Credits: 10| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Comparative Literature: Literary and Cultural Studies | OB | 0 |
Contact
- Name:
- Angela Marcela Londoño Rendón
- Email:
- angelamarcela.londono@uab.cat
Teachers
- Maria Jose Vega Ramos
- Maria del Mar Garcia Lopez
- Miriam Ruiz-Ruano Risquez
- (External) Claudia García-Minguillán
- (External) Marcela Londoño
- (External) Neus Rotger
- (External) Víctor Lillo Castañ
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
Those required to enter the master's degree.
Objectives and Contextualisation
1) to present the history of comparative literature as an academic discipline
2) to present a representative selection of schools, trends, and theoretical and methodological problems of the discipline
3) to improve the analytical and critical capacity of students
Competences
- Analyse how literary tradition has been built up and the literary and cultural processes that have played a decisive role in it.
- Analyse the historical processes of theory of literature and comparative literature, basing the analysis on paradigm shifts.
- Apply the different theoretical and generic models to text analysis and interpretation.
- Evaluate current applications of comparative literature based on the historical processes it has followed.
- Make creative, original contributions to the comparativist study of literary and cultural texts.
- Organise, plan and manage projects.
- Present research findings to experts and non-experts.
- Reason critically based on analysis and synthesis.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyse the concepts of tradition and canon, from different perspectives.
- Apply the principles and methods of contemporary comparativism to the comparative analysis of European texts and other forms of artistic representation.
- Bring a comparative approach to case studies and establish inter-artistic relations.
- Identify and analyse the epistemological models of contemporary comparativism and its links to other disciplines (history of books, history of mentalities, modern and classical philologies, literary theory, other comparative disciplines, etc.), and to Western political history.
- Organise, plan and manage projects.
- Present research findings to experts and non-experts.
- Reason critically based on analysis and synthesis.
- Recognise and critically analyse analogous manifestations from sound theoretical positions.
- Use documentary and archived sources.
Content
T0. Programme and introduction to the module - A brief history of Comparative Literature and main trends
T1. Thematology: definitions and problems.
T2. Translation as a literary, historical and cultural phenomenon.
T3. Travel literature: definitions and methodological perspectives. Case studies.
T4. Genology I: the study of genres. Tragedy.
T5. The effects of dissens.
T6. Genology II: Epic.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Tutorials | 50 | 2 | 1, 2, 4, 3, 8 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Reading lists | 5 | 0.2 | 6, 5, 7, 8, 9 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Seminars | 75 | 3 | 1, 2, 4, 3, 8, 9 |
General methodology: case studies. The aim of the course is to present a selection of the most significant developments in Comparative Literature in the 20th century. It does not intend to systematize the trajectory of the discipline, but rather to examine, through the in-depth analysis of its most emblematic currents, the problems it has faced throughout its history and the responses it has developed in each of its aspects.
Face-to-face classes: Each professor will apply the most appropriate methodology for the content of the seminar. The methodology always includes the presentation of the fundamental concepts, to provide the student with the basic tools of analysis and interpretation.
Tutorials: these serve to guide the student in relation to the module work and, if necessary, in relation to their research in general.
Reading of texts: the autonomous reading of secondary sources is an essential part of the methodology of the module; its objectives are, apart from the acquisition of knowledge and the essential concepts of the different currents of the LC, to promote the analytical and critical abilities of the student.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attendance and active participation in the sessions | 10% | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 6, 4, 3, 5, 8, 9 |
| Exercise 1. Written reflection (750-1500 sentences) | 20% | 25 | 1 | 1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 |
| Exercise 2. Oral argumentation | 10& | 10 | 0.4 | 6, 3, 5, 7, 9 |
| Exercise 3. Argumentative commentary (750-1500 words) on a textual or audio-visual document. | 20% | 25 | 1 | 1, 2, 6, 4, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 |
| Final exercise 4. Critical review | 40% | 60 | 2.4 | 1, 2, 6, 4, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 |
Continuous assessment activities
Students will have to carry out four evaluable activities throughout the course:
Activity 1 (20%). Written reflection (750-1500 words) on the meaning and challenges of comparative literature today, based on a common reading.
Activity 2 (10%). Oral argumentation on a topic proposed by one of the module lecturers.
Activity 3 (20%). Argued commentary (750-1500 words) on a textual or audiovisual document, based on the indications and bibliography provided by one of the module lecturers.
Final paper (40%). Critical review of one of the works proposed by the teachers of each of the blocks (2500-3000 words).
Attendance and active participation in the sessions (10%).
- In order to pass, the student must obtain a final mark equal to or higher than 5.
- The proposed activities are compulsory. The final mark is the weighting of all the marks.
- Spelling and writing mistakes are deducted points.
- Plagiarism is a criminal offence and will result in the student failing the course.
- The absence or inadequacy of bibliographical references in written assignments is punishable.
- The deadlines stipulated in the initial timetable of the module cannot be extended, except in duly justified exceptions previously agreed with the teaching staff.
Single assessment
The single assessment will consist of the delivery of the following activities on the same date:
Activity 1 (20%). Written reflection (750-1500 words) on the meaning and challenges of comparative literature today, based on a common reading.
Activity 2 (10%). Short comparative analysis of the texts proposed by one of the module teachers (800-1000 words).
Activity 3 (20%). Argumentative written commentary (750-1500 words) on a textual or audiovisual document, based on the indications and bibliography provided by one of the module lecturers.
Final paper (50%). Critical review of one of the works proposed by the teachers of each of the blocks (2500-3000 words).
- All activities are compulsory.
- Students who take advantage of the single assessment must inform the module coordinator by the deadline indicated at the beginning of the course.
- The deadline stipulated in the initial calendar of the module cannot be extended, except in duly justified exceptions previously agreed with the teaching team.
- The same make-up system will be applied as for continuous assessment.
- The detailed syllabus and delivery schedule will be made available to all enrolled students from the first day of classes. It is essential to follow the indications and deadlines stipulated in this document.
The student will receive a grade of ‘Not assessable’ if he/she has not handed in more than 30% of the assessment activities.
At the time of each assessment activity, the teacher will inform the student of the procedure and date for the revision of the grades.
In the event that the student carries out any type of irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade of a given assessment activity (copying, plagiarism, unauthorised use of AI or other), this will be graded with 0 and will not be recoverable, regardless of the disciplinary process that may result from it. In the event that several irregularities are verified in the evaluation acts of the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.
In this subject the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is not allowed in any of its phases. Any work that includes fragments generated with AI will be considered a lack of academic honesty and will result in the activity being assessed with a 0 and cannot be recovered, or higher penalties in serious cases.
Bibliography
Bibliografía
Auerbach, Erich, Mimesis: la representación de la realidad en la literatura occidental, México: F.C.E., 1975.
Curtius, E.R., Literatura europea y Edad Media latina, Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, 1955.
Blumenberg, Hans, Trabajo sobre el mito, Barcelona: Paidós, cop. 2003.
Eliade, Mircea, Aspectos del mito, Barcelona: Paidós, 2000.
Lévi-Strauss, Claude, Mito y significado, Madrid: Alianza, D.L. 1987.
Bakhtin, Mikhail, La cultura popular en la Edad Media y en el Renacimiento, Madrid: Alianza, D.L. 1987.
Bakhtin, Mikhail, Problemas de la poética de Dostoievski. Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2003.
Greene, Thomas M., The Light in Troy. Imitation and Discovery in Renaissance Poetry. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1982.
Barthes, Roland, «La mort de l’auteur», en Manteia, 5 (1968), págs. 12-17 (existen varias traducciones al castellano).
Bernas, Steven, Archéologie et évolution de la notion d’auteur, París, L’Harmattan, 2001.
Burke, S., The Death and Return of the Author: Criticism and Subjectivity in Barthes, Foucault and Derrida, Edimburgo, Edinburgh University Press, 1992.
Cherchi, Paolo, Polimatia di riuso. Mezzo secolo di plagio (1539-1589), Roma, Bulzoni, 1998.
Constable, G. 1983. «Forgery and Plagiarism in the Middle Ages», Archiv für Diplomatik, Schriftgeschichte, 29 (1983), págs.1–41.
Foucault, Michel, «Qué es un autor», en Entre filosofía y literatura, Barcelona, Paidós, 1999, págs. 329-360.
Genette, Gérard, Palimpsestes:la littérature au second degré, París: Éditions du Seuil, 1982 (edición en castellano: Palimpsestos: la Literatura en segundo grado, Madrid, Taurus, 1989)
Gigliucci, Roberto, eds., Furto e plagio nella letteratura del Classicismo, Roma, Bulzoni, 1998.
Goldstein, P., Copyright’s Highway: From Gutenberg to the Celestial Highway, New York, 1994.
Green, S. P., «Plagiarism, Norms, and the Limits of Theft Law: Some Observations on the Use of Criminal Sanctions in Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights», Hastings Law Journal 54 (2002), págs. 167–242.
Hall, B. (ed.), Borrowed Feathers: Plagiarism and the Limits of Imitation in Early Modern Europe, Oslo, 2008.
Howard, R. M., Standing in the Shadow of Giants: Plagiarists, Authors, Collaborators, Stamford, CT, 1999.
Indart, Maurel, ed., Le plagiat littéraire, Tours, Universidad François Rabelais, 2002.
Kewes, P., Authorship and Appropriation: Writing for the Stage in England, 1660–1710, 1998, Oxford.
Kewes, Paulina, ed., Plagiarism in Early Modern England, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
Kris, E., y Otto Kurz, La leyenda del artista, Madrid: Cátedra, 1982.
Lefevere, André, Translation, Rewriting and the Manipulation of Literary Fame
Lindey, A., Plagiarism and Originality, New York, 1952.
Long, P. O., Openness, Secrecy, Authorship: Technical Arts and the Culture of Knowledge from Antiquity to the Renaissance, Baltimore, MD., 2001.
López García, Diego, Ensayo sobre la muerte del autor, Madrid, Júcar, 1993.
Macfarlane, R., Original Copy: Plagiarism and Originality in Nineteenth-Century Literature. Oxford, 2007.
Mallon, T., Stolen Words: Forays into the Origins and Ravages of Plagiarism, New York, 1998.
McGill, Scott, Plagiarism in Latin Literature, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Meltzer, F., Hot Property: The Stakes and Claims of Literary Originality, Chicago, IL. 1994
Perromat Augustín, Kevin, El plagio en las literaturas hispánicas: historia, teoría y práctica, tesis doctoral de la Universidad «Sorbonne» de París leída en 2010.
Posner, R. A. The Little Book of Plagiarism. New York, 2007.
Roger, Chartier, «La invención del autor» en Entre poder y placer: cultura escrita y literatura en la Edad Moderna, Madrid, Cátedra, 2000, págs. 89-105.
Rosenthal, Laura J., Playwrights and Plagiarists in Early Modern England: Gender, Authorship, Literary Property, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1996.
Ruiz Pérez, P edro, La rúbrica del poeta. La expresión de la autoconciencia poética de Boscán a Góngora, Valladolid, Universidad, 2009.
Saint-Amour, P. K., The Copywrights: Intellectual Property and the Literary Imagination, Ithaca, NY, 2003.
St. Onge, K. R., The Melancholy Anatomy of Plagiarism, Lanham, MD, 1988.
Vaidhyanathan, S., Copyrights and Copywrongs: The Rise of Intellectual Property and How It Threatens Creativity, Nueva York, 2001.
White, Harold Ogden, Plagiarism and Imitation during the English Renaissance, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1935.
Moll, Nora, "Imágenes del 'otro'. La literatura y los estudios interculturales", a Armando Gnisci ed., Introducción a la literatura comparada, Barcelona, Crítica, 2002, 347-389.
Pageux, Daniel-Henri, "Images", a D.-H. Pageux, La littérature générale et comparée, París, Armand Colin Éditeur, 1994, 59-76.
Eagleton, Terry, Dulce violencia. La idea de lo trágico, Trotta, Madrid, 2011.
Lesky, Albin, La tragedia griega, Acantilado, Barcelona, 2001.
Menke, Christoph, La actualidad de la tragedia, Antonio Machado Libros, Madrid, 2008.
Steiner, George, La muerte de la tragedia, Siruela, Madrid, 2001.
Szondi, Peter, Teoría del drama moderno. Tentativa sobre lo trágico, Destino, Barcelona, 1994.
Vernant, Jean-Pierre, Mito y tragedia en la Grecia antigua, Paidós, Barcelona, 2002.
Boehmer, Elleke; Morton, Stephen (ed.). Terror and the Postcolonial: a Concise Companion. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
Fanon, Frantz. Les Damnés de la terre. Maspero, 1961 [Los condenados de la tierra. México: FCE, 1971. Traducción J. Campos].
Peau noire masques blancs. Paris: Seuil, 1952 [Piel negra, máscaras blancas. Akal, 2009. Traducción Iria Álvarez et al.].
Hardt, Michael & Negri, Antonio. Empire. Harvard University Press, 2000 [Imperio. Paidós, 2002. Traducción de Alcira Bixio].
Multitude. War and Democracy in the Age of Empire. The Penguin Press, 2004 [Multitud : Guerra y democracia en la era del imperio. DeBosillo, 2006. Traducción de Juan Antonio Bravo].
Kaplan, A.E. (ed.). Trauma Culture: the Politics of Terror and Loss in Media and Literature. Rutgers University Press, 2005.
LaCapra, Dominique. Writing History, Writing Trauma. John Hopkins University, 2001 [Escribir la historia, escribir el trauma. Nueva Visión, 2005. Traducción de Elena Marengo].
Lazarus, Neil (dir.). The Cambridge Companion to Postcolonial Literary Studies. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2004 [Penser le postcolonial. Une introduction critique. Paris : Amsterdam, 2006. Traduction de Marianne Groulez et al.].
Software
T0. Programme and introduction - A brief history of Comparative Literature and main trends
T1. Travel literature: definitions and methodological perspectives. Unmoving travel narratives
T2. Senses, emotions and textuality. From the reconstruction of soundscapes to the problem of interpreting past perceptions.
T3. Thematology: definitions and problems.
T4. Genology: the study of genres. Tragedy
T5. The effects of dissens
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TEm) Theory (master) | 1 | Spanish | second semester | afternoon |