Comparative Literary Studies
Academic Program Introduction
Comparative Literary Studies introduces students to the study of literature beyond individual national and linguistic boundaries. The program allows students to link literary studies with other areas of interest—film, philosophy, linguistics, translation, human rights, gender and sexuality, and more. Our courses emphasize how language operates within different cultural and historical contexts, providing students with skills for appreciating cultural diversity and difference. Students also gain advanced skills in writing and interpretation.
We offer a rare breadth of linguistic and cultural expertise and curricular options. Students choose from courses from departments and programs across the College to construct a major program that suits their interests, and they often pursue a second major, including in STEM fields.
Learning goals
Analyze literary texts, genres, and movements across departmental, national, and linguistic boundaries and in conversation with other texts, cultures, media, or technologies.
Apply key concepts of theoretical approaches to cultural and textual studies.
Understand the history of comparative literary studies and world literature, especially as they evolve in the current global literary moment.
Understand the dynamics presented by a literary text in translation and adaptation.
Acquire skills to appreciate cultural differences.
Programs of Study
Comparative literary studies major
Students go beyond the study of an individual literary tradition to embrace the study of literature in a broadly comparative context.
Course Highlights
A study of translation in theory and in practice, in its literal and many metaphorical senses, and of the vast multilingual world in which translation takes place. Among the possible topics: translation of literary texts, translation of sacred texts, the history and politics of translation, the lives of translators, translation and gender, translation and colonialism, machine translation and Google Translate, endangered languages, the representation of translation in literature and film, invented languages. Students taking the course at the 300 level will do a substantial independent project: a translation, a scholarly inquiry, or a combination of the two.
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We tend to place epic and lyric poetry at opposite ends of the spectrum: epic poetry is musty, monumental, and masculine while lyric poems are fresh, exquisite, and feminine. This class will read and discuss the works of those contemporary lyric poets who reach across this divide to embrace Homeric epic -- revising these ancient poems for modern times, for different audiences, in new forms. The class will read the Iliad and Odyssey together with the works of contemporary poets (e.g., Anne Carson, Louise Gluck, Alice Oswald, Adrienne Rich, Derek Walcott) to explore the nature of this contrapuntal conversation about poetic form across time and genre. All readings will be in English. (CLCV 221 and CPLT 221 are cross-listed courses.)
Research highlights
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Professor Sergio Parussa investigates the relationship between Judaism and writing in contemporary Italian literature as well as its intertwining with LGBTQ+ culture in Italy. His work includes translations of literary works, such as L'orso maggiore by Ginevra Bompiani, as The Great Bear (Italica Press, November 2000), and Simonetta Perkins by L.P. Hartley (Nottetempo, 2008).
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Professor Carol Dougherty works at the intersection of literature, politics, and history in archaic and classical Greece. Her current research approaches Greek tragedy within the discourse of hospitality, exploring the political and ethical issues that narratives about welcoming the foreigner represent on the Athenian stage. Her book Travel and Home in Homer’s Odyssey and Contemporary Literature was published by Oxford University Press in 2019.
Beyond Wellesley
Beyond Wellesley
A major in comparative literary studies adds value to any résumé. Our graduates pursue careers in media, law, public service, the tech industry, the nonprofit sector, publishing, international business, and academia, among other areas.
Recent Employers
Comparative Literary Studies Program
106 Central Street
Wellesley, MA 02481