Comparative Literature Program,
Division of Humanities and Fine Arts,
Phelps Hall 4206;
Telephone (805) 893-3161
Fax (805) 893-8341
Program Chair: Gerhart Hoffmeister
Robert Egan, Ph.D. (East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies)
Richard Helgerson, Ph.D. (English)
Gerhart Hoffmeister, Ph.D. (German, Slavic, and Semitic Studies)
Sydney Lévy, Ph.D. (French and Italian)
Torborg L. Lundell, Ph.D. (German, Slavic, and Semitic Studies)
Ellen McCracken, Ph.D. (Spanish and Portuguese)
Harvey L. Sharrer, Ph.D. (Spanish and Portuguese)
Simon Wiliams, Ph.D. (Dramatic Arts)
Comparative literature is the study of literature without specific regard for national or linguistic boundaries. It is comparative in that it deals with the interrelationships between different literatures and disciplines. The comparatist also deals with the masterpieces, theories, themes, and periods of world literature.
The interdepartmental program in comparative literature offers an undergraduate major leading to the B.A. degree, and graduate programs leading to the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. The advisory committee represents the Departments of Classics; Dramatic Art; English; French and Italian; Germanic, Slavic, and Semitic Studies; Latin American and Iberian Studies; and Spanish and Portuguese. Students are advised by the chair of the program and by members of the advisory committee within their major departments.
The comparative literature program provides preparation for possible careers as teachers and scholars as well as for positions in federal, state, and local government and in community service. Students with a bachelor's degree in comparative literature who are interested in pursuing a California Teaching Credential should contact the credential advisor in the Graduate School of Education as soon as possible.
Upper-division major. Forty units of upper-division coursework in two national literatures in their original languages; one of these may be in English. Twenty of these units must be in the student's primary literature, 16 in the secondary literature. Majors must also take Comparative Literature 100, normally in their senior year. Up to 8 units of comparative literature courses may be substituted for required upper-division courses.
Note: No courses in grammar or composition will apply toward fulfillment of upper-division major requirements.
Graduate study in comparative literature requires completion of courses offered by various departments and programs. These include classics, East Asian languages and cultural studies, English, French, German, Latin American and Iberian studies, and Spanish and Portuguese. Applicants to the Comparative Literature Program should confirm that appropriate resources are available for their desired course of study.
In addition to fulfilling the general requirements for admission to graduate status, the applicant should have an undergraduate major in comparative literature, or the equivalent. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required of all applicants to the graduate program. Applicants whose native language is not English must receive a score of at least 550 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), taken within two years of their application to UCSB. Students who have earned a bachelor's or master's degree from a U.S. college or university are exempt from this requirement. TOEFL exam results are sent directly to the Graduate Division.
In addition to fulfilling the general requirements for admission to graduate status, the student must meet the requirements of the comparative literature program. A student entering with an M.A. degree from another university must demonstrate, normally by examination, satisfactory literary background and linguistic resources. Any course deficiencies should be made up during the first quarter of residence. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required of all applicants to the graduate program. Applicants whose native language is not English must receive a score of at least 550 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), taken within two years of their application to UCSB. Students who have earned a bachelor's or master's degree from a U.S. college or university are exempt from this requirement. The student will have an advisory committee composed of faculty members who represent the major and minor languages.
One of the literatures may be English, the other(s) must be studied in their original languages (e.g., a related discipline such as history in place of a second minor literature should be read in the original language, where applicable). The selection of these options must be approved by the degree committee.
A student with an M.A. in literature (classics, comparative literature, East Asian languages and cultural studies, English, French, German, Latin American and Iberian studies, Portuguese, or Spanish) needs 24 units of graduate coursework beyond the M.A., to be distributed in consultation with the graduate advisor.
For students with a B.A. in literature, a total of 60 units is required leading to the Ph.D., with a minimum of 20 units in the major literature and 20 units in the minor literature. Both of these literatures must be offered in the upper-division undergraduate and graduate levels with more than half of the total to be taken as graduate coursework. The remaining 20 units may be devoted to further coursework either in these two literatures or a third literature or any other graduate-level work related to the student's area of specialization. The minors may be limited to the most important authors or works of literature, or to literary influences, topics, genres, or epochs. For instance, English literature as a major may be complemented by German literature as a minor with a focus on romanticism; the remaining 20 units of the second minor could be devoted to romantic philosophy, art, or music. An advanced reading proficiency in a second foreign language is required.
Upon completion of coursework, the student will take three written examinations on the major and minor literatures or related discipline, to be followed by the oral qualifying examination administered by a doctoral committee. Students who pass this Ph.D. comprehensive examination will be advanced to candidacy. They will propose a dissertation topic and research plan in consultation with a member of the student's degree committee. Candidates will be questioned about their dissertation in an oral examination. Students who pass their qualifying examinations for the Ph.D. in comparative literature are eligible to be awarded the master's degree at the time of advancement contingent upon faculty approval.
105. The Classical Tradition
(4) Staff
Prerequisite: upper-division standing.
Studies in the postclassical uses of Graeco-Roman literature
and mythology. Neoclassicism; myth and literature.
111. The Picaresque Novel
(4) Hoffmeister
Prerequisite: upper-division standing.
Theory of the picaresque novel; analysis of European
masterpieces; using Spanish, French, and English examples as points of
departure, but concentrating on the German branch.
112. Don Quixote Abroad
(4) Staff
Prerequisites: upper-division standing; grade-point
average of 3.0 or better, or consent of instructor. Same course as Spanish
143.
Comparative study of the Quixotic principle applied in
literature outside Spain; for example, in Dickens, Flaubert, Dostoevski,
Mark Twain, etc.
115. The Bildungsroman
(4) Staff
Prerequisite: upper-division standing.
A comparative study of the "novel of education" in French,
German, and English. Readings from Rousseau, Stendhal, Flaubert, Goethe,
Keller, James, and Joyce.
117A-B. European Romanticism
(4-4) Hoffmeister
Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of
instructor.
A. Comparative study of the origins and international
development of the romantic movement from pre-romanticism to romanticism
proper in Europe.
B. Contrastive analysis of the romantic hero and heroine
from Goethe's Werther to Pushkin's Eugene Onegin.
118. Faust in European Romanticism
(4) Hoffmeister
Prerequisite: upper-division standing.
Interpretation of Goethe's Faust and Faust-inspired romantic
literature from a comparative viewpoint: discussion of intermediaries,
translations, adaptations; creative as well as critical reception: Faust
in literature, painting, and music.
120. Arthurian Literature
(4) Sharrer
Prerequisite: upper-division standing.
Studies in the origins, development, and transmission
of the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in medieval
European literature.
125. Myth and Literature
(4) Staff
Prerequisite: upper-division standing.
A comparative study of Greek mythology with special reference
to theories of myth and their relevance to the study of literature.
127. The Tale (Fantastic Tales)
(4) Lundell
Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of
instructor.
A course dealing with the fantastic tale and the nature
of the fantastic from pre-Christian myth to modern science fiction.
131. Surrealism
(4) Staff
Prerequisite: upper-division standing.
A comparative study of surrealism and its impact on other
movements and the arts.
135. Realism
(4) Staff
A comparative study of realism, including the views of
major theoreticians.
140. Camus and Dostoievski
(4) Sturm
Prerequiste: upper-division standing or consent of
instructor.
Analysis of Dostoievski's controlling influence on Camus.
The French writer adapted novels of his Russian predecessor and based The
Fall entirely on Notes from the Underground.
142. Sartre and Freud
(4) Sturm
Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of
instructor.
Examination of Sartre's love/hate relationship with Freud,
whose work played a decisive role in the French existentialist philospher's
theory and fiction.
145. Survey of Twentieth-Century European and Russian
Literary Criticism
(4) Sturm
Prerequiste: upper-division standing or consent of
instructor.
Survey of major figures, theories and trends in French,
Italian, Spanish, German, English, American, and Russian literary criticism
from 1900-1950.
150. Contemporary Literary Criticism
(4) Staff
Prerequisite: upper-division standing. May be repeated
twice for credit.
Studies in modern and postmodern literary theory. In
any one quarter, the course will examine two or three basic orientations
such as structuralism, semiotics, hermeneutics, deconstruction, or the
esthetics of reception.
150A. Memory and the Study of Culture
(4) Spieker
Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of
instructor.
Study of the relevance of different models of remembering
and forgetting for the development and the transmission of culture especially
in European and Russian modernism. Readings by Cicero, Quintilian, Freud,
Bakhtin, Derrida, Mandel'shtam, and others. Taught in English.
160. The Bible in Narrative and Art
(4) Staff
A comparative study of selected biblical narratives as
presented in the authorized version and in the artworks of the Western
tradition.
170. Literary Translation
(4) Staff
Prerequisite: knowledge of at least one foreign language.
The theory and practice of creative translation; issues
include: literal versus literary translation and the relationship between
translation, original creation, and literary criticism.
190AA-ZZ. Special Topics in Comparative Literature
(4) Staff
Prerequisite: upper-division standing. May be repeated
for credit to a maximum of 12 units.
Studies various topics in comparative literature. Titles
and contents will be announced prior to the beginning of each quarter.
195. Senior Seminar
(4) Staff
Prerequisite: upper-division standing.
Selected methodological issues in comparative literature.
Topics vary with each instructor.
197. Upper Division Special Topics
(4) Staff
Prerequisite: upper-division standing. May be repeated
for credit to a maximum of 12 units.
Content will vary with each instructor.
199. Independent Studies
(1-5) Staff
Prerequisites: students must (1) have attained upper-division
standing; (2) have a minimum 3.0 grade-point average for the preceding
three quarters; (3) have completed at least two upper-division courses
in comparative literature. Students are limited to 5 units per quarter
and 30 units total in all 98/99/198/199/199RA courses combined.
Independent studies with any faculty member. To permit
study of a subject desired by the student but not covered in course offerings.
205A-B-C. History of Literary Criticism
(4-4-4) Staff
Criticism from antiquity to the present.
210A. Tragic Drama
(4) Staff
Prerequisite: graduate standing.
The theory and practice of tragedy from the Greeks to
modern times. Dramatists include Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Shakespeare,
Webster, and Ibsen. Theory includes texts by Aristotle, Hegel, Nietzsche,
Girard, Ricoeur, Lukacs, Frye, and others.
250A. Memory and the Study of Culture
(4) Spieker
Same course as German 250A and Russian 250A.
Study of the relevance of different models of remembering
and forgetting for the development and transmission of culture especially
in European and Russian modernism. Readings by Cicero, Quintilian, Freud,
Bakhtin, Derrida, Mandel'shtam, and others. Taught in English.
591. Teaching Assistant Practicum
(4) Staff
Units earned do not apply toward completion of advanced
degrees.
Supervised teaching of lower-division comparative literature
courses at UCSB. Participation in occasional workshops related to the field
of teaching will be required.
594. Special Topics
(1-4) Staff
A special seminar on research subjects of current interest.
596. Directed Reading and Research
(2-18) Staff
Minimum of 2 units per quarter. No more than half
of units required for M.A. may be taken in 596 series. Letter grade only.
Individual tutorial. A written proposal for each tutorial
must be approved by the program chair.
597. Individual Study for M.A. Comprehensive and Ph.D.
Examinations
(1-12) Staff
No unit credit allowed toward advanced degree. Enrollment
limited to 24 units per examination (12 units maximum in any one examination
quarter). S/U grading only.
For individual study with major professor or chair or
director of student's program.
598. Master's Thesis Research and Preparation
(2-12) Staff
No unit credit allowed toward advanced degree. S/U
grading only.
For research and writing of the master's thesis.
599. Ph.D. Dissertation Research and Preparation
(2-12) Staff
S/U grading only. Twelve units maximum.
For research and writing of the doctoral dissertation.
Instructor should be chair of the student's doctoral committee.