Tools for Students
Foreign Literature Requirements 2009-2010
The general principle behind our foreign literature requirement is this: We want you to take a literature course (not a language course) in which you read works in their original language, to deepen and broaden your understanding of the study of literature. We do not require the class to make you speak or write papers in that language. Your grade must be B- or above. In the fields of Britain and America, you may take any course listed below. Students in fields that require a foreign language should take a literature course in that language and field. (We expect that you will be reading literature in the language of your choice by the end of the junior year.) If you have any questions, ask the Assistant Director of Studies.
We do our best to keep this list up to date and complete--but it is not definitive. We do not, for example, list the (many) 200-level courses that may fulfill the foreign literature requirement. In addition, the list may not mention newly-introduced courses that fulfill the requirement. There also may be courses not on the list where students can read texts in their original language, even though this is not stated in the course description; if you think this may be a possibility, speak to the instructor and to the Assistant Director of Studies.
By the same token, the courses on this list may not necessarily fulfill the foreign literature requirement (although, in almost all cases they will). For example, a new professor may change the language in which readings are done. Or we may simply be misinformed about requirements for a course. Ultimately, it is your responsibility to ensure that your course allows you to read the literature in the original language, not in translation. You have an obligation to call to our attention any course we have listed here improperly. We will not count a course for which you do not read works in the original language. If you have any doubts, speak to the Assistant Director of Studies and to the course instructor.
In a course where reading in the original language is optional, you must get a letter from the instructor testifying to the fact that you have read the works in the original. Some, but not necessarily all, such courses are noted on this list by asterisks (**). Bracketed courses will not be offered this year.
Talk to the Assistant Director of Studies if you have any special questions or concerns, and if you wish to take a 200-level course.
Also please read our Note Regarding Petitions.
- [Foreign Cultures 22a. La critique sociale à travers l'humour]
- [Foreign Cultures 22b. La critique sociale à travers l'humour]
[NOTE: Foreign Cultures 22a & b must be taken together.]
- Literature and Arts A-26.** Dante's Divine Comedy and Its World
African and African-American Studies Back to Top »
- Gikuyu 101ar. Reading in Gikuyu
- Gikuyu 101br. Reading in Gikuyu II
- Swahili 101ar. Reading in Swahili
- Swahili 101br (formerly African and African American Studies 121b). Reading in Swahili II
- Twi 101ar. Reading in Twi
- Twi 101br. Reading in Twi II
- Yoruba 101ar. Reading in Yoruba
- Yoruba 101br. Reading in Yoruba II
Celtic Languages and Literature Back to Top »
- [Celtic 192. Modern Irish Poetry and Drama]
- [Celtic 193. Modern Irish Prose Literature]
- Greek Ba (formerly Greek 3). Introduction to Attic Prose
- Greek Bb (formerly Greek 4). Selections from Homer’s Iliad
- [Greek Bbm. Introduction to Late Antique and Mediaeval/Byzantine Poetry]
- [Greek 102. Attic Orators]
- Greek 105. Attic Comedy
- Greek 110r. Plato, Symposium
- Greek 112a.** History of Greek Literature I
- Greek 112b.** History of Greek Literature II
- Greek 134. The Language of Homer
- Latin Ba (formerly Latin 3). Latin Prose Selections (Classical)
- Latin Bam (formerly Latin 3m). Latin Prose Selections (Late Antique and Medieval)
- Latin Bb (formerly Latin 4). Introduction to Latin Poetry (Classical)
- Latin Bbm (formerly Latin 4m). Introduction to Latin Poetry (Late Antique and Medieval)
- Latin 100. Roman Satire
- Latin 102a. Catullus and Horace - (New Course)
- Latin 106b. Virgil: Aeneid
- Latin 109. Lucan’s De Bello Civili
- Latin 112a.** History of Latin Literature I
- Latin 112b.** History of Latin Literature II
- Latin 131. Cicero, De Officiis
- Latin 134. Archaic Latin
- Medieval Greek 115ar. Introduction to Byzantine Greek
- [Medieval Greek 125. Byzantine Religious Tales]
- Medieval Greek 195. Byzantine Saints’ Lives of the 7th Century
- Medieval Latin 105 (formerly Medieval Latin 205). The Waltharius
- Medieval Latin 110. Latin Literature of the Twelfth Century - (New Course)
- [Medieval Latin 115. The Cambridge Songs and Medieval Lyric]
- Modern Greek 100. Advanced Modern Greek: Introduction to Modern Greek Literature
- [Modern Greek 145.** Dreams and Literature]
- Modern Greek 146. The Greek Novel - (New Course)
East Asian Languages and Literatures Back to Top »
- Chinese 106a. Introduction to Literary Chinese
- Chinese 106b. Introduction to Literary Chinese
- Chinese 107a. Intermediate Literary Chinese
- Chinese 107b. Intermediate Literary Chinese
- Chinese 120a. Intermediate Modern Chinese
- Chinese 120b. Intermediate Modern Chinese
- Chinese 123xb. Intermediate Modern Chinese for Advanced Beginners
- [Chinese 125ab. Intensive Intermediate Modern Standard Chinese]
- Chinese 130a. Advanced Modern Chinese
- Chinese 130b. Advanced Modern Chinese
- Chinese 130xa. Advanced Modern Chinese for Heritage Students
- Chinese 130xb. Advanced Modern Chinese for Heritage Students
- Chinese 140a. Advanced Readings in Modern Chinese
- Chinese 140b. Advanced Readings in Modern Chinese
- Chinese 187. Art and Violence in the Cultural Revolution
- Chinese Literature 152.** Masterworks of Chinese Fiction: Tradition and Modernity - (New Course)
- Japanese 106a. Classical Japanese
- [Japanese 106b. Kambun]
- [Japanese 106c. Later Classical Japanese]
- Japanese 130a (formerly Japanese 103a). Intermediate Japanese II
- Japanese 130b (formerly Japanese 103b). Intermediate Japanese II
- Japanese 140a (formerly Japanese 104a). Advanced Modern Japanese
- Japanese 140b (formerly Japanese 104b). Advanced Modern Japanese
- Japanese 150a. Readings and Discussion in Japanese Social Sciences
- Japanese 150b. Readings and Discussion in Japanese Social Sciences
- Japanese History 126.** Shinto: Conference Course
- Japanese History 145.** Lady Samurai in Medieval Japan - (New Course)
- Korean 120a (formerly Korean 102a). Intermediate Korean
- Korean 120b (formerly Korean 102b). Intermediate Korean
- Korean 140a. Advanced Korean
- Korean 140b. Advanced Korean
- Korean 150a (formerly Korean 110a). Readings in Cultural Studies
- Korean 150b (formerly Korean 110b). Readings in Cultural Studies
- Manchu 120a. Intermediate Manchu
- Manchu 120b. Advanced Manchu
- [Mongolian 120a. Intermediate Written Mongolian]
- [Mongolian 120b. Advanced Written Mongolian]
- [Uyghur 120a. Intermediate/Advanced Uyghur]
- [Uyghur 120b. Intermediate/Advanced Uyghur]
- Uyghur 300. Readings in Uyghur Language and Literature
- Vietnamese 120a. Intermediate Vietnamese
- Vietnamese 120b. Intermediate Vietnamese
- Vietnamese 130a. Advanced Vietnamese
- Vietnamese 130b. Advanced Vietnamese
- Vietnamese 140a. Advanced-High Vietnamese - (New Course)
- Vietnamese 140b. Advanced-High Vietnamese - (New Course)
English and American Language and Literature Back to Top »
- English 102f. Anglo-Saxon Language and Culture: Heroic Poetry and Heroic Legend - (New Course)
- English 103f. Anglo-Saxon Language and Culture: Before Love
** NOTE: English 102e and 103e must be taken together.
Germanic Languages and Literatures Back to Top »
- German 61. Advanced Grammar and Reading
- German 62. Advanced German: Berlin Since 1989
- German 71. German Literature from Goethe to Nietzsche
- German 72. German Literature from Kafka to Jelinek
- German 123. Fear and Pity: German Tragedies from the 18th to the 20th Century
- German 142. Writing to the Point: Short Forms - (New Course)
- [German 151.** Franz Kafka: Modernity and Its Discontents]
- [German 162.** Gender Theory and Narrative Fiction]
- German 166. Storytelling and Enchantment: The Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen - (New Course)
- [German 170. Before Modernity]
- German 181. Heinrich von Kleist or the End of the 18th Century - (New Course)
- German 182.** German Music in Culture and Politics - (New Course)
- [German 186. German Poetry: Innovation and Experiment]
- [German 187. The Sacred and the Secular in German Poetry]
- Scandinavian 160a.** Old Norse Language, Literature, and Culture: The Viking Legacy
- Scandinavian 160br.** Old Norse Language, Literature, and Culture: Mythology
[NOTE: Scandinavian 160a and 160br must be taken together.]
- Scandinavian 191r. Supervised Reading and Research
- Swedish Ba. Intermediate Swedish
- Swedish Bb. Intermediate Swedish
[NOTE: Swedish Ba and Bb must be taken together.]
- History 1151** (formerly History 1450). France 1500-1715. Ann M. Blair
- [Literature 109.** On Translation]
- Literature 150.** Colonial and Post-Colonial Spaces: France-North Africa
- Literature 163.** Jewish Languages and Literature
- Literature 166.** The Comic Tradition in Jewish Culture
Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Back to Top »
- Akkadian 120. Intermediate Akkadian
- Akkadian 141r (formerly Ancient Near East 141r). Akkadian Myths and Epics
- [Akkadian 143. Akkadian Literary Texts]
- [Akkadian 144. Akkadian Divination Texts]
- [Akkadian 148. Old Babylonian Letters]
- Akkadian 149. Akkadian Legal and Economic Texts
- [Akkadian 152. Texts and History of Imperial Assyria]
- [Akkadian 153. Old Akkadian]
- [Akkadian 154a. Peripheral Akkadian]
- [Akkadian 156. Neo-Babylonian Inscriptions]
- Ancient Near East 131. Readings in the Septuagint
- Arabic Ba (formerly Arabic 120a and 120a).** Intermediate Arabic I
- Arabic Bb (formerly Arabic 121a and 121b).** Intermediate Arabic II
- Arabic 130a. Upper-Level Classical Arabic I
- Arabic 130b. Upper-Level Classical Arabic II
- Arabic 131a. Advanced Modern Arabic I
- Arabic 131b. Advanced Modern Arabic II
- Arabic 150r.** History of Classical Arabic Literature
- Arabic 158.** Modern Arabic Literature Seminar: Lebanese Civil War in Fiction
- Arabic 160r.** Readings in Arabic Historians, Geographers, and Biographers
- Arabic 162.** Introduction to the Modern Arab World: Foundations of the Modern Age, 1798 to 1920
- Arabic 170.** The Modern Arab World Since WWI
- Armenian 120. Armenian Magical Texts
- Armenian 130. Advanced Classical Armenian
- [Armenian Studies 105.** Survey of 19th and 20th Century Armenian Poetry: From Romantics to Revolutionaries]
- Classical Hebrew 120a. Intermediate Classical Hebrew I
- Classical Hebrew 120b. Intermediate Classical Hebrew II
- Classical Hebrew 130ar. Rapid Reading Classical Hebrew I
- Classical Hebrew 130br. Rapid Reading Classical Hebrew II
- Hebrew 130. Scriptural Interpretation in Ancient Israel: Inner-Biblical Exegesis - (New Course)
- Hebrew 140. The Poetics of Midrash: Approaches to Rabbinic Hermeneutics - (New Course)
- Hebrew 143. Deuteronomy - (New Course)
- Hebrew 150a. Introduction to Rabbinic Literature
- Hebrew 160. The Origins and Development of the Classical Jewish Liturgy
- Hebrew 161. First Isaiah: Seminar on Isaiah 1-39
- Hebrew 163. Interpretation of Amos: Seminar
- Hebrew 171. The Problem of Language in Medieval Jewish Thought
- Hebrew 176. Aristotle’s Ethics in Medieval Jewish Thought
- Hebrew 177. Introduction to Critical Talmud Scholarship
- Iranian Ca. Middle Persian I
- Iranian Cbr. Middle Persian II
- Jewish Studies 109 (formerly Yiddish 109).** The Yiddish Novel Under Tsars and Stripes
- Jewish Studies 144.** History and Memory: Modes of Jewish Discourse
- Jewish Studies 146 (formerly Jewish Studies 215).** Does Glikl Stand Alone? Medieval and Early Modern Jewish Autobiographical Writing
- Modern Hebrew 120a. Intermediate Modern Hebrew I
- Modern Hebrew 120b. Intermediate Modern Hebrew II
- Modern Hebrew 125. Advanced Modern Hebrew I: "All About Boys and Girls"
- Modern Hebrew 130r. Seminar in Advanced Modern Hebrew: A Cultural History of Israel
- Modern Hebrew 134r. Seminar in Advanced Modern Hebrew: Israeli Humor and Satire
- Modern Hebrew 136ar (formerly Modern Hebrew 136r).** Hebrew for Academic Reading
- Modern Hebrew 136br (formerly Modern Hebrew 136r).** Hebrew for Academic Reading
- Persian 120a. Intermediate Persian I
- Persian 120b. Intermediate Persian II
- Persian 131r. Advanced Persian
- [Persian 132r. Advanced Persian]
- Persian 150r. Readings in Persian Historians, Geographers and Biographers
- Sumerian 120. Intermediate Sumerian
- [Sumerian 141. Sumerian Myths and Epics]
- Sumerian 146. Sumerian Religious Literature
- Sumerian 149. Sumerian Legal and Economic Texts
- Turkish 120b. Intermediate Turkish II
- Turkish 125b. Intermediate Uzbek II
- Turkish 130r (formerly Turkish 130a). Advanced Turkish
- Yiddish Ba. Intermediate Yiddish I
- Yiddish Bb. Intermediate Yiddish II
- Yiddish Ca. Advanced Yiddish I
- Yiddish Cb. Advanced Yiddish II
Romance Languages and Literatures Back to Top »
- French 70a. Introduction to French Literature I
- French 70b. Introduction to French Literature II
- French 70c. Introduction to French Literature III
- [French 102. Introduction to Medieval Literature and Old French]
- French 108. “Amours et armes”: A Study of Medieval Romances
- French 121. The Text of the Renaissance
- French 124. Violences, passions et performance. Ordres et désordres de la scène classique - (New Course)
- French 129. Les masques de l’homme de cour : civilité et société au XVIIe siècle - (New Course)
- [French 132b. 20th Century French Fiction II: The Experimental Mode]
- [French 136. Feminist Literary Criticisms]
- [French 139a. The 18th Century: Self and Society]
- French 139b. The 18th Century: Ethical Dilemmas
- French 152. La Poésie française au XIXe siècle - (New Course)
- French 157. The Hermaphroditic Imagination
- [French 161. Walk, Look, Write: 19th-Century Flâneurs and Flâneuses]
- French 162. Voyages of Self-Discovery - (New Course)
- [French 165. Marcel Proust]
- French 167. Parisian Cityscapes
- [French 170. The City]
- French 172. Twentieth-Century Republican Geographies - (New Course)
- French 180. "The Words to Say It": Women Writing in French from Colette to Satrapi
- French 184. Cinema and the auteur - (New Course)
- French 185. National Identity and Narrative Representation in 20th-Century Francophone Literature
- French 190. Albert Camus
- Italian 82. Italian Travels - (New Course)
- [Italian 113.** On the Road and in the Streets: Sites of Transition in Italian Cinema and Literature (1941-to the present)]
- Italian 130c. Dante’s Paradiso - (New Course)
- [Italian 140.** The Human Comedy: the novella from its origins to the Renaissance]
- Italian 141.** Renaissance Epic
- Italian 147. The Culture of the Baroque - (New Course)
- [Italian 148. Between Africa and Italy: Literature, Film and Cartoons]
- Italian 162 (formerly Italian 182). Intimate Architectures: Dwelling and Subjectivity in the Works of Italian Women Writers
- [Italian 171**. Cultural History and Nation-Making: 1870-1920]
- [Italian 174.** On Beauty: History and Representation]
- Italian 175.** Picturing Place: Landscape, Literature, and Cinema from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Century - (New Course)
- Latin American Studies 70.** Modernity, Culture and Politics in Latin America. Sevcenko
- [Portuguese 118. Major Poems of the Portuguese Language I]
- [Portuguese 119. Major Poems of the Portuguese Language II]
- Portuguese 122a. Introduction to the Literature of Portugal I
- Portuguese 122b. Introduction to the Literature of Portugal II
- [Portuguese 133a. The History of the Short Story in Portugal and Brazil]
- [Portuguese 133b. The History of the Short Story in Portugal and Brazil, II]
- [Portuguese 139. Sonnets and Sonneteers of the Portuguese Language]
- [Portuguese 141.** The Short Stories of Machado de Assis]
- Portuguese 151 (formerly Portuguese 251).** Culture in Turmoil: Brazil in the 50s, 60s and 70s
- [Portuguese 165.** The Rise and Fall of Nationalism in Brazil]
- Portuguese 166. Literature, History and Subjectivity: from Machado de Assis to Clarice Lispector - (New Course)
- [Portuguese 171. A Poetic of the Senses: The Brazilian Experience]
- Portuguese 172.** Culture and Popular Culture: clashes of times, territories, languages and imaginations - (New Course)
- Romance Studies 79.** Romance Languages in Comparative Perspective
- [Romance Studies 120.** Emergence of the Lyric Subject in Early Romance Poetry (12th-16th Centuries)]
- Romance Studies 150.** Reading the Reader in Italy and France: History, Theory, and Literary Practice 1800 to the Present - (New Course)
- [Romance Studies 170.** Fictions of Marginality: Italian and Latin American Novel and Film in the Age of Globalization]
- [Romance Studies 189.** The Culture of Antifascism]
- [Spanish 70a. Hispanic Literature: Spanish Literature from the Origins to 1700]
- Spanish 70c. Documenting Spanish Modernity: A Survey of Spanish Literature and Culture from the 19th to the 21st Centuries
- Spanish 71a. Demons, Pirates, and Saints: Survey on Colonial Spanish American Literature
- [Spanish 84. Poetry and Grammar: Language and the Making of Poems in Spanish]
- Spanish 90h. Allegories of Identity in Latin American Literature - (New Course)
- Spanish 90j. La juventud latinoamericana en el cine y la literatura - (New Course)
- [Spanish 110. Hispanic Literature: The Middle Ages]
- Spanish 124. Don Quixote
- Spanish 129. Playing the Spaniard: The Politics and Poetics of Identity in Early Modern Spanish Theatre - (New Course)
- Spanish 134. Tracing Voice in Nahuatl Poetry and Painting
- Spanish 139. Trazar y tramar: La selva en la narrativa latinoamericana - (New Course)
- [Spanish 152. Magical Realism and Its Discontent: Latin American Novels that Didn’t Boom]
- [Spanish 154. Travel Literature and Modernity in the 19th Century]
- Spanish 157. "Civilization and Barbarism" and its Discontents - (New Course)
- Spanish 159. Escrituras de la crisis: Violencia y narrativa en la Latinoamérica contemporánea - (New Course)
- Spanish 168. Madness, Transgression, and Anomaly in Latin American Literature / Locura, transgresión y anomalía en la literatura latinoamericana - (New Course)
- [Spanish 172.** Barcelona and Modernity]
- Spanish 181. Cuentos and cuentas: The Economy of Short Story
- Spanish 183. Names of the Father in Latin American Literature: Paternalism, Politics and Literary Form - (New Course)
- [Spanish 191. Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar]
Sanskrit and Indian Studies Back to Top »
- [Indian Studies 123.** Bollywood and Beyond: Language and Culture in Contemporary South Asia]
- Nepali 103a. Advanced Nepali - (New Course)
- Nepali 103b. Advanced Nepali
- Pali 103r. Readings in Pali
- Sanskrit 102a. Intermediate Sanskrit I
- Sanskrit 102b. Intermediate Sanskrit II
- Tibetan 102a. Intermediate Classical Tibetan
- Tibetan 102b. Intermediate Classical Tibetan
- Urdu 102. Intermediate Urdu-Hindi
- Urdu 103a. Advanced Urdu-Hindi
- Urdu 103b. Advanced Urdu-Hindi
- [Urdu 104. The Classical Urdu Ghazal and Its Symbolism]
- Urdu 105r. Topics in Urdu-Hindi Literature
Slavic Languages and Literatures Back to Top »
- Slavic 101.** Advanced Intermediate Russian: Reading, Grammar Review, and Conversation
- Slavic 102.** Advanced Russian: Introduction to the Language of History and the Media
- Slavic 103. Advanced Russian: Reading, Composition, and Conversation
- Slavic 111.** Advanced Russian: Readings in Russian/Post-Soviet Studies
- Slavic 113. Advanced Russian: Readings in Russian Literature I
- Slavic 115 (formerly Slavic 104).** Advanced Russian: Topics in Russian Culture
- Slavic 117 (formerly Slavic 121). Advanced Russian: Reading Literary Texts
- Slavic 120r. Supervised Readings in Advanced Russian
- Slavic 121. Advanced Russian: Reading Literary Texts
- [Slavic 137.** Prague Between Two Empires: Czech Culture from 1914 to 1948]
- [Slavic 140. 18th-Century Russian Literature: Conference Course]
- [Slavic 145b. Russian Literature and Revolution]
- Slavic 148.** Strange Russian Writers
- Slavic 149.** Performance, Theater, Culture, Nation, Self: Russia and Its Others
- [Slavic 150. One Writer]
- Slavic 151.** Experiments in Reading: Chekhov and Nabokov
- [Slavic 152. Pushkin]
- [Slavic 153. Short Russian Prose]
- Slavic 154. Introduction to Russian Poetry
- [Slavic 159. Approaches to Tolstoy]
- [Slavic 165.** Survey of 19th-Century Ukrainian Literature]
- Slavic 166. Russian-Ukrainian Literary Relations in the 19th Century: Conference Course
- [Slavic 170.** Polish Literature from 1945 to the Present]
- [Slavic 174.** Romantic Word, Romantic Deed: Conference Course]
- [Slavic 180. Russian Symbolist Poetry]
- [Slavic 181. Russian Poetry of the 19th Century]
- Slavic 182. Problems in 20th-Century Poetry: Conference Course
- [Slavic 186. Poetry after Brodsky: How Russian Is It?]
- [Slavic 192.** Literature as Institutions: Conference Course]
** Denotes courses which require a letter from the professor to certify that you read the texts in the original language.
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