The Modern Period

Also listed as Italian Studies 117 (4 units) 

“Kafka and World Literature” explores ongoing debates about what world literature means through the lens of Kafka, who has played a significant role in them. From the earlier works that Kafka re-imagined, including the Odyssey, Don Quixote, and David Copperfield, to works that in some way react to or adapt Kafka’s work, this course will examine the ideas of world literature, literary traditions, and influence. Using different genres and media, such as film (Federico Fellini’s Intervista) and graphic novels (Art Spiegelman’s Maus) and authors from Europe (Svevo, Robbe-Grillet and Gogol), North America (Philip Roth), South America (Borges, Márquez, and Lispector), and Asia (Kobo Abe) the course covers a wide range of works which will aid the class in our discussion of world literature and Kafka’s work itself. This course invites students both to compare texts as well as to question what is lost and gained when comparing works across time periods, languages, and genres.

Course Requirements: Active participation, frequent short responses, three short papers.

Texts:

Required Texts:

Franz Kafka, The Sons 0805208860

Franz Kafka, Amerika: The Man who Disappeared 0811215695

Franz Kafka, The Trial 0805209999

Clarice Lispector, Passion according to G.H. 0816617120

Gabriel García Márquez, Chronicle of a Death Foretold 140003471X

Kobo Abe, The Woman in the Sand Dunes 0679733787

Alain Robbe-Grillet, Jealousy 080215106X

Philip Roth, The Breast 0679749012

Art Spiegelman, Maus 0394747232

Suggested (the parts required will be available on-line):

Albert Camus, The Stranger 0679720200

Miguel De Cervantes, Don Quixote 0060934344

J.M. Coetzee, Elizabeth Costello 0142004812

Charles Dickens, David Copperfield 0679783415

Elfriede Jelinek, The Piano Teacher 0802144616

Franz Kafka, The Complete Stories 0805210555

R. Crumb’s Kafka 1560978066

W.G. Sebald, Vertigo 0811214850

Italo Svevo, Zeno’s Conscience 0375727760