Introduction to Comparative Literature

In this class we will take a close and multi-faceted look at books written primarily for children, a category of literature that remains rather under-examined, despite its popularity, persistence, and influence. We will read examples of stories for children written in a number of different times (from the 18th places (Europe, Britain, North America), and our readings will make use of many different kinds of literary analysis: historical contextualization, analyses that draw on particular literary theories, psychoanalytical approaches, and close readings. We will also pay some attention to the development of the children’s literature industry in the United States and the ins and outs of children’s publishing today. Readings will include, on the one hand, stories by writers like the Brothers Grimm, Carlo Collodi, Lewis Carroll, L. Frank Baum, Tove Jansson, Madeleine L’Engle, and E. B. White, and, on the other hand, Propp, Freud, Bettelheim, Derrida, Foucault, Genette, and Garber. The instructor is the author of three novels for children: The Cabinet of Earths, A Box of Gargoyles, and The Wrinkled Crown, all published by HarperCollins.