World Literature is an interdisciplinary program for students interested in studying literature and culture as these are produced and spread from one place to another. In pursuing the study of literature and culture in global contexts, our courses offer a variegated array of literary genres, historical periods, and translated texts from Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. Our affiliated faculty members represent a broad range of approaches and areas of studies, including postcolonialism; comparative literature; classics; film studies; women, sexuality, and gender studies; modern languages; religious studies, and translation studies.

With a long, intricate history, the dissemination and propagation of literature and culture remain topical in today's global economy and multipolar world. In aspiring to study Western and Non-Western works through innovative constellations and beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries, our students stand to gain a much needed perspective on what it means to navigate and circulate in today's world for a broad spectrum of people, characters, objects, and ideas. Moreover, students are called upon to develop a critical understanding of their own world citizenship.

Our program is especially committed to exploring translation as a model activity at the core of the liberal arts. World literature's inherently global perspective (both in historical and geographical terms), the practice of close reading and flexible interpretations, and above all, a focus on linguistic diversity and the art and politics of translation make World Literature a model interdisciplinary program in the humanities.

Students may minor in World Literature or create their own independent interdisciplinary major in World Literature. For more information on independent interdisciplinary majors and forms, go to http://www.depauw.edu/academics/departments-programs/interdisciplinary/requirements/

Course Catalog

Requirements for a minor

World Literature

Courses in World Literature

Introduction to World Literature (formerly WLIT 205)

This course is an introduction to literature in translation from multiple traditions across national boundaries. Readings include fiction, drama, and poetry. The course aims to develop literary sensibilities conducive to students' self-reflection on cultural difference and their own globally-situated identities and responsibilities. Cross-listed with ENG 141.

Topics in World Literature

This course offers close examination of global issues and features in literature, often those at the center of current critical interest. May be repeated for credit with different topics.

Advanced Topics in World Literature

This course offers advanced, intensive examination of specific issues in World Literature, often those at the center of current critical interest. Examples may include translation issues; cross-cultural fertilizations; competing conceptions of world literature; literature in a global economy. May be repeated for credit with different topics.

Readings in World Literature

Directed studies, with individual conferences, centered on a specific project arranged with the instructor. Prerequisite: permission of instructor and program director. May be repeated for credit.

Readings in World Literature

Directed studies, with individual conferences, centered on a specific project arranged with the instructor. Prerequisite: permission of instructor and program director. May be repeated for credit.