Comparative Literature

Comparative Literature

Comparative Literature is the study of literature and other cultural expressions across boundaries. These boundaries can be linguistic, medial and, in a general sense, cultural. The discipline’s uniqueness lies in training young scholars to define their own spheres and critical perspectives between and among traditional disciplines and schools of critical thought, and in establishing wide inter- and trans-disciplinary networks. At Western, the Comparative Literature Program promotes modes of literary research and instruction that are international and multilingual.Both the Masters and the Ph.D. programs are flexible, as they accommodate a wide variety of individual emphases on literature and culture, along with critical theory and multimediality. The dominant focus of the faculty’s research and teaching lies within the scope of European and American cultures, but Asian and Middle-Eastern cultures are represented as well. Students are encouraged to take courses outside of the program, especially courses devoted to non-English literatures in the original.