Junior Seminar: Introduction to Comparative Literature

What is comparison, and what are its stakes? How do we compare across languages, genres, and/or media? How and why might we "read" closely, at a distance, historically, politically? What can we learn from engaging in and with translation(s)? This course incorporates readings and exercises that will get us out of our read-and-discuss comfort zone: we visit archival spaces on campus; explore data-driven projects in the digital humanities; engage in archival research; imagine collaborative, plurilingual projects that embrace broad histories of production and circulation; and experiment with translation, editing, and the creation of paratext.