LIT-460 Non-Western Literature

Designed to help students gain familiarity with values and issues from non-Western cultures. The term Non-Western literature generally refers to writings by people in any culture or country except those of Western Europe, Ancient Greece and the United States. Literature can immerse a reader in another's mind, allowing the reader to live a different life through the writer's imagination. The unfamiliar context of the non-Western writer may challenge a Western reader in this regard. The course will cover both postcolonialism and feminist thought, examining each through non-Western eyes. At least one Western work will be introduced in each case, allowing students to contrast a typical Western point of view with the views and issues of non-Western cultures. A third major course topic is literature in translation. We are fortunate to be able to read works of literature that date back thousands of years, but few of us can read them in their original languages. This part of the course will look at issues concerning the translation of thoughts and ideas (specifically religious experiences) from one culture to another.

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