Comparative Literary Studies

The posthuman points to a deep crisis of humanism. Its most powerful critique targets the fundamental malfunction of the existing social order, epistemological paradigm, and modes of governance, production, trade, and culture that have menaced the human conditions and harmed the planetary ecological system. The posthuman thinking in an East Asian context motivates a reevaluation of various modernity projects and reconsiders the position and potentials of humanity in terms of planetary consciousness. In contemporary East Asian culture, posthuman images are particularly applied to reflections concerning the deteriorating ecological system, evolution or devolution enabled by mutations of the political economy, and above all, an awareness of multiplicity that replaces the human-centric singular form of globalization. This seminar guides students to rethink about concepts like gender, sex, class, race, and species in the emerging cultural contexts of the Chthulucene, the Neo-Baroque, virtual reality, digital consciousness, and the metaverse. The course integrates theoretical studies to case analyses of literary works, films, TV dramas, video games, and digital artworks from Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mainland China, and the Asian diaspora across the Pacific. (CPLT 328 and EALC 328 are cross-listed courses.)

The course explores the theme of human rights in Italian society during the twentieth and the twenty-first centuries. First, it is designed to discuss the rights of literature, i.e., the role that literature can play in the understanding of human rights. Second, it will provide students with a survey of the discussion of human rights in Italian literature. By presenting literary texts as narratives that have contributed to the debate on human rights, the course will introduce students to the most important moments in the history of human rights in Italy, from the first political organizations which fought for equal rights for factory workers, to the struggle of the feminist movement for women's emancipation throughout the twentieth century, to the approval of laws that legalized divorce and abortion during the 1970s and 80s, up to the new legislation on domestic violence, marriage, and adoption rights for LGBT people, and today’s debate on the issue of citizenship for immigrants.The course will be taught in English. Students who wish to take the course to fulfill the major or minor in Italian should register for ITAS 324. The course will provide reading and writing assignments in Italian, as well as individual discussion sessions in Italian, for students who are taking the course at the 300-level. (CPLT 224 and ITAS 224 are cross-listed courses.)