Eng 3229  Comparative Literature  Nature: East & West

Taught by Brother Anthony / 안선재   Fall Semester 2011.  Wed / Fri  15:00 – 16:15  J207

This course will read and compare works of Western and Asian Literature and look at works of art that depict Nature.  Students should print out the PDF file and read the texts in advance. I shall ask students to spend time in group discussions. The main questions are how Nature is understood, experienced and depicted in literature, and the relationship of the human person with the natural world.

The course will be taught in English.

1. (August 31 / Sept 2)  Introduction to the course   First Texts  

2.  (Sept 7 / 9) Genesis, and Greek / classical narratives of the origins of the cosmos, nature myths

3. (Sept 14 / 16)  Nature in Taoist thought and Chinese / Korean myths. FuXi , Shennong, Yellow Emperor.  Buddhist approaches  to the physical cosmos.

4. (Sept 21 / 23)  Western poems about Nature; Korean poems about Nature

5. (Sept 28 / 30)  Scientific accounts of origins and the development of Nature today 

6. (Oct 5 / 7) Gary Snyder poems;  Classical Chinese Nature poems 

7. (Oct 12 / 14)Gary Snyder's Ecological Philosophy;

8.  Midterm exams

9. (Oct 26 / 28)  Landscape art East & West (Wikipedia): Chinese (or this page with many links),  Shan-shui Wikipedia, Korean landscapes, Korean art blog, Gangsanmujin-do, Western landscape painting:  Albrecht Altdorfer ,  Pieter_Brueghel_the_Elder , Dutch Golden Age painting,  John Constable ,  Turner ,  Caspar David Friedrich ,  Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot     Impressionists   Paul Cezanne 

10.  (Nov 2 / 4)  The book of Job (Old Testament)   A Bale of Salt by Ku Hyo-sŏ

11. (Nov 9 / 11) Shakespeare: King Lear

12. (Nov 6 / 18) King Lear

13. (Nov 23 / 25) King Lear  video online

14. (Nov 30 / Dec 2) King Lear  

15 (Dec 7 / 9)  The Ramayana  (Wikipedia)

16 Final exams

The course will be taught as lectures, discussions.

The mid-term report will be a comparison of the texts studied in the first half-semester 

The final report will be an in-depth analysis of and a comparison of the main themes of A Bale of Salt, King Lear and The Ramayana, with a description of the meaning of love, human suffering and justice expressed in each.

There will be a mid-term and a final exam. Each exam will be graded in such a way as to make it and the grades for the 2 reports roughly equal, with some credit also being given for class preparation