THE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PH.D.) IN COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

COURSES:

The number of required courses for the Ph.D. in Comparative Literature is sixteen, of which only two may be reading courses; at least fourteen are to be letter-graded courses (i.e., not reading courses). Candidates are required to have at least as many 200-level courses as 100-level courses, and only in rare exceptions will courses below the 100-level be allowed to count toward the degree. Candidates may arrange to produce extra work, often in the form of longer papers, so as to receive from the Department 200-level credit for courses that are listed at the 100-level in the Courses of Instruction. Such arrangements should be made early in the term when the course is being taken, because they must be approved by the course instructor and the Director of Graduate Studies or the Chair.

Each candidate will normally be expected to balance coursework in the following manner: 4 courses in the Department of Comparative Literature; 3 in a first literature; 2 in a second literature; and 2 in a third literature. Other coursework may include relevant courses in any of the above literatures; in another literature; in philosophy, anthropology, religion, linguistics, art, economics, and so forth. Any question regarding the nature of courses taken should be resolved with advisors before submission of study cards. If candidates or advisors have questions, they should pose them to the Curriculum Committee.

To satisfy literature requirement in first, second and third literatures, reading must be done in the original language. If we determine that work was not read in the original, the departmental credit will be withdrawn.

Courses that are cross-listed in our program will be counted either toward the Complit or a national literature requirement, but not for both.

Each degree candidate is expected to fulfill the 16-course requirement by including a significant dimension of comparative historical study. This dimension can be met by taking a minimum of three courses with a chronological emphasis or focus different from the candidate's primary chronological focus. It is important that these three courses be distinctly different from the main period in the candidate's program. Thus a candidate concentrating upon twentieth-century modernism would not be able to fulfill this requirement with three courses in the nineteenth century, nor would a candidate specializing in neo-classicism be able to claim satisfactory completion on the basis of three courses in the Renaissance.

Many candidates declare a chronological focus. However, candidates may request a focus that covers a genre or field of study if it is followed throughout a very broad historical range, e.g., tragedy or lyric poetry in languages ancient and modern. In addition, all candidates will be welcome to identify a special interest in a particular literary form (such as drama, lyric, narrative, and the like) or a topic of substantial scope in literary theory (poetics, literature in its social context, the relation between literature and one of the other arts, and so forth). Whatever choice the candidate makes, the decision must be communicated to the chair by April 1 during the first year of study.

Candidates should have knowledge of at least four languages variously related to their course of study and long-term interests. Hence one language may be studied for "instrumental" reasons and at least one must be studied because it stands in a useful "cross-cultural" or "diachronic" relationship to others.

After appropriate consultation with the Chair and/or DGS, candidates will draw up a list of four or more proposed languages. The list will be submitted to the Chair for consideration by the Department no later than October 1st of the first year and voted upon no later than November 1st. (The list of proposed languages may be resubmitted at a later date so long as they meet the guidelines.)

Language requirements must be finished by the end of the third year (of course, candidates who want to take an A.M. after the second year must complete language requirements for that degree before the degree can be awarded).

English:

If English is presented as one of the four languages, it must have a strong historical component. This requirement may generally be satisfied by two half courses in English or American Literature prior to 1800 or by similar coursework accepted for credit done elsewhere (see above); a course in the history and structure of the English language may be one of these two courses. Medievalists or those whose coursework in English falls prior to 1800 will need to display coursework in later periods of English or American Literature. The goal is to have study in the language spread over more than one historical period in its development. Since individual programs can vary, students should consult with the Chair or DGS in advance regarding fulfillment of the stipulation of a strong historical component.

Instrumental language:

One of the four languages may be "instrumental"—a means for reading criticism, or an access to philological and/or historical issues, or a first step toward eventually studying the literature. Candidates may exercise this option by taking an advanced course or by passing a language exam in reading knowledge administered under the auspices of the Department. The instrumental language is an option that may appeal to candidates who seek in three languages a command that may extend to include speaking, listening, and writing, and in one language reading knowledge only; other candidates may choose to develop full command of all four languages.

Premodern or cross-cultural language:

One of the four languages must be either premodern ("diachronic") or cross-cultural. The term "premodern" implies that this language stands in a historically foundational or, in certain cases, diachronic relationship to one of the other languages. Foundational languages would include classical Latin and Greek, biblical Hebrew, classical Arabic and Chinese, and Sanskrit. Normally this language is not simply the "Old" form of a modern language which is studied in Old, Middle or Medieval, and Modern forms. In the event of uncertainty, candidates and/or their advisors should consult the Curriculum Committee.

The term "cross-cultural" implies that this language is from another linguistic-cultural group than the others. Usually a candidate working primarily on European languages and literatures, and choosing not to study a premodern language, would need to study a language such as Chinese or Arabic to meet this requirement.

Normally, English will not count as a cross-cultural language.

Language Exams:

Competence in languages can be demonstrated by taking 100-level courses in the literatures of the languages (not language-learning courses . . . but ordinarily courses in the departments in which those languages are offered: arranging to do some of the required readings in the original language in a course taught in translation is not usually sufficient) or by taking a departmental translation examination. Under most circumstances Ph.D. candidates will demonstrate competence in three of their four literatures by meeting the course requirements for the first, second, and third literatures. For instance, a student who wishes to concentrate on literatures in English, French, and Spanish would take three courses in one of these and two in each of the others. Such a student might need to take an exam to meet the requirement for a language that stands in a “cross-cultural” or “diachronic” relationship to the candidate’s literatures. Students who hope to meet the requirement through an exam are encouraged to take it as early as they feel ready, since not passing the exam is no dishonor at all and since the exam can be taken again when it is next offered. Sometimes examiners in a given language have established a set group of texts from which passages for translation will normally be drawn. For example, the classical Latin exam has tended to be a passage of 20 to 25 hexameter lines from the poetry of Virgil. The goal of the exams is to demonstrate an ability to read and translate the language in question effectively. For that reason, students taking the exams are allowed to use dictionaries. Students are allowed one hour for the examinations.

General Exams are made up of the Common Essay Exam, which takes place in April of a student’s 2nd year, and the 3rd year exams, which include the Reading Test, held in the Fall of the 3rd year, and the Prospectus exam, which takes place in the Spring of the 3rd year.

COMMON ESSAY — Candidates must take a written take-home Common Essay examination by the end of the second year, usually in April. Candidates will be asked to answer one of six general/theoretical questions. Candidates will be expected to write from a comparative perspective and not respond solely on the basis of one literary tradition. The exam is graded by an examination committee which awards grades of pass or fail.

THE THIRD YEAR EXAM — The third-year requirements in the Ph.D. program in Comparative Literature will comprise two parts, a written Reading Check no later than December and a Prospectus Conference no later than the end of April of the candidate’s 3rd year. Ideally, the three examiners for the Reading Check will also serve as the three faculty participants in the Prospectus Conference—but this is a recommendation rather than a requirement. Ordinarily, the three faculty participants in the Prospectus Conference will be three readers of the dissertation.

A disseration conference can provide not only welcome closure to the experience of writing a disseration but also an occasion for receiving invaluable advice about the revision of the submitted draft so that the resultant dissertation is the best it can be (which may also mean that it is closer to being publishable). Additionally, a scheduled dissertation conference guarantees that the dissertation committee must b prepared to offer its reponses formally by a set date to the dissertation writer which can facilitate careful scheduling of revisions. Dissertation writers should give a substantially complete draft of the dissertation to all members of the committee to read. Three months prior to the degree deadline all the members of the committee should meet together with the student then to offer substantive rcommendations for revision (As this description indicates, “complete” here does not necessarily mean completely finished). The aim is for this meeting to take place while there is still time for the writer to benefit from the committee's comments and to make revisions.

THE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PH.D.) IN COMPARATIVE LITERATURE WITH A SPECIAL PROGRAM IN THE STUDY OF ORAL TRADITION AND LITERATURE

The requirements for this special program are essentially the same as those listed above, except that at least one of the literatures must constitute (or at least include) a substantial corpus that is independent of written transmission and that derives from collections of performance recorded under strictly supervised conditions of fieldwork. A major resource for such purposes is the Milman Parry Collection at Harvard. Students in this program are overseen by the Department’s Committee on the Study of Oral Tradition and Literature.