UCLA
The Department of Comparative Literature
From the recent Andalusian play, “Clytemnestra. Una mujer.” Faculty expert, Kathleen L. Komar. Banner image: John Locke. Faculty expert, Kirstie McClure.
Seminar, three hours. Study of theory of literature, with emphasis on genealogy of theoretical problems. S/U or letter grading.
Recent calls to theorize from below have drawn attention to how cosmopolitan theory circulating today often draws from limited archive of modern Euro-American sources. Study aims to create alternative ways of theorizing through consideration of archives from premodern global south, which can help articulate new theories. Using decolonial thought, varieties of historicism, and translation theory, students think about ethics of conceptual excavation and travel. Authors include Homi Bhabha, Dipesh Chakrabarty, Michel Foucault, Antonio Gramsci, and Gayatri Spivak. Study addresses questions such as what networks of circulation are that cause theory to become cosmopolitan; and what it means to theorize with global south materials while in global north. Readings include both primary and secondary sources. Study moves between seeking to understand theoretical debates, and generating methods and research questions when encountering specific materials from past.
Study of concepts, theories, and practices of what is often termed health humanities, with particular focus on narrative. Topics include narratives and/of embodiment, life writing, narrative ethics, and humanities and arts in clinical and other spaces, including narrative medicine. Consideration of texts, theories, and methodologies from humanities and arts, social sciences, and life and health sciences.