Comparative Literature from 1900 to 2000

This course gives an introduction to 20th century literature, from the turn of the 19th century to postmodernism. Authors and works include novels Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, Franz Kafka's Der Prozess (The Process) and Marguerite Duras' L'Amant (The Lover), as well as dramatic classics such as Berthold Brecht's Mutter Courage, Samuel Beckett's Endgame and Tom Stoppard's Travesties. The curriculum also includes both a selection and literary criticism. Thus the course aims at providing an understanding of art and literature in contemporary society. While the main focus of the course is literature, its overall ambition is to situate the history of literature within a broader historical, philosophical, and social context.

Candidates will have obtained the following qualifications after successfully completing this course:
- knowledge of the general outlines of the history of European literature in the 20th century
- in-depth knowledge of selected works from the early 1900 till the present time, as well as general knowledge of the contemporary notion of 'genre'
- understands literature in an extensive aesthetic, historical and cultural context
- has knowledge of and has the ability to employ the analytical tools of comparative literature
- has the ability to perform a literary analysis and communicate essential academic subject matters in writing

Lectures and group studies including written assignments.

Course requirements:
1-2 compulsory activities including at least one approved written assignment (4-5 pages) with feedback.

Time frame:
1/2 semester (March - June)