Literature from Antiquity to 1800: Drama and Poetics

The course offers an introduction to drama and poetics (reflections on literature) in the oldest literary tradition. We read some of the most prominent drama and poetics texts, from antiquity, the Renaissance, the baroque, and into the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. The students are taught fundamental analytical approaches to texts and genres, and they get insights into how social, cultural and aesthetic contexts have shaped the literature of the past. The course is organized in two modules: In the drama course, we read works by Sophocles, Shakespeare, Goethe and others. In the poetics course, we study how the great minds of the past have discussed literature as an art form, in texts by Aristotle, Horace, Schiller, and several others.

The candidate will after successfully completing this course have KNOWLEDGE about:

- the outlines of Western literature from the Antiquity until 1800

- of essential literary works within the genres of drama and lyric poetry

- of the origin, development and poetics of these genres

The candidate will after successfully completing this course be SKILLED in:

- presenting and discussing her/his acquired knowledge in writing

- employing comparative literary analytical tools.

The candidate’s GENERAL COMPETENCY includes:

- an understanding literature in an extensive aesthetic, historical and cultural connection

- a basic understanding of the function of the main literary genres.

Lectures and group sessions including written assignments. Obligatory activity: 1-2 obligatory activities, including one approved written assignment (4-5 pages) with feedback.