In this course, we will investigate the metropolis as a paradigmatic site of modern life and globalism. Being a place or ‘melting pot' of various cultures, societies, languages and religions, the city also negotiates many amalgamations characteristic of modern life, such as time, place & space, traffic & mobility, anonymity & small-talk, advertisement & media, country vs. city-life, etc.
Dealing with ‘Text-Cities' in paradigmatic ‘City-Texts' such as Victor Hugo's Notre Dame Du Paris (1831), Georg Simmel's "The Metropolis and Mental Life" (1903), James Joyce's Ulysses (1922), Jon Dos Passos's Manhattan Transfer (1925), Walter Benjamin's "Paris, Capital of the 19th Century" (1927), Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) and Alfred Döblin's Berlin Alexanderplatz (1929) comparatively, this course offers theoretical, historical and cultural approaches to the metropolis as a global phenomenon. We will consider what makes a city, how cities signify and also renegotiate their role as sites of migration, globalization and transnationalism.
SLO 1: Identifying, defining, and solving problems.
The course teaches an array of theoretical approaches to identify stylistic and formal features within a single work, and among separate works. Students are encouraged to explain and analyze the connections between texts and their historical and literary contexts as well as clearly articulate an enhanced cultural and aesthetic awareness.
SLO 2: Locating and critically evaluating information.
By partaking in this course students learn the ability to critically evaluate ways in which literary texts challenge our conceptions of society and culture.
SLO 3: Mastering a body of knowledge and a mode of inquiry.
By conducting independent research into texts and present research findings in a variety of written and spoken formats, students learn to express these using appropriate terminology.
SLO 4: Understanding diverse philosophies and cultures within and across societies, language, cultures.
By looking at literatures from various languages and genres, students learn to apply critical and interpretive methods appropriate for comparative literary study.