Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "EN 310"
COURSE NAME: "World Literature: Literature and History"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2025

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Alessandra Grego
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: TTH 4:30 PM 5:45 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: EN 110 with a grade of C or above.
OFFICE HOURS:

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

World Literature includes literary works that transcend their cultural origins, becoming significant and influential across different cultures. Through the comparative analysis of a selection of texts, students will explore how language, tradition, and history shape recurring themes and forms. The topics covered may differ, and the literature will be read in English translation. This course is reading- and writing-intensive, with 300-level literature students required to complete 5,000 to 6,000 words of critical writing.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

The relationship between history and the novel is foundational to the genre as it developed in Europe in the eighteenth century. After the French revolution, the possibility of change, more or less radical, enters popular consciousness and the novel stages the relationship between major historical events, rising nationalism, and the individual. In the early 1800s, the historical novel by the Scottish author Walter Scott was so popular that it immediately influenced the literature of France, Germany, Italy and beyond.

This course will focus on relationship between history and novel in a selection of texts from Italy, India, Chile, Nigeria and South Korea to question universalizing notions of narrative and investigate the cultural and economic influence of the Western publishing industry. Elsa Morante's La Storia (1974), Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children (1981), Roberto Bolano's Nocturno de Chile (2000), Chimananda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), and Han Kang's Human Acts (2011) reflect in their different ways on a seminal event in their respective national histories and find new ways to represent the narrative relationship between the history of a country and the story of an individual.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

In this course, students will learn to look beyond their own cultural, national, geographical experience, to understand what theoretical and critical tools allow to make meaningful literary comparisons between texts from different parts of the world. Students will learn how to read a text critically, how to research a literary topic, how to use library resources, how to employ the basic critical terminology and how to write research papers of academic quality.

TEXTBOOK:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number	Comments	Format
Postcolonial Translation: Theory and Practice.	Bassnett, Susan, et al.	Taylor & Francis Group, 1999.	n/a	Available from the Frohring LIbrary	Ebook
World Literature in Theory.	Damrosch, David.	John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2014	n/a	Available from the Frohring Library	Ebook
The Return of the Historical Novel? : Thinking About Fiction and History After Historiographic Metafiction	Johnston, Andrew James, and Kai Wiegandt	Universitätsverlag Winter, 2017	n7a	Available from the Frohring Library	Ebook
The Historical Novel	Groot, Jerome De.	Routledge, 2009	9780203868966		Ebook

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number	Library Call Number	Comments
World Literature in Motion: Institution, Recognition, Location.	Shi, Flair Donglai, et al.	Ibidem Verlag, 2020	n/a		Available from the Frohring Library

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
2 research papers	Research Paper (2000 words)	50%
Final exam		20%
participation		15%
Oral presentation		15%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY
You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until ____________

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

Session	Session Focus	Other Assignment
Week 1	Introduction to the course: What is the Historical Novel? What is World Literature?
Week 2	World War II in Italy 1939-1945: Elsa Morante La Storia 1974 (translated as History, A Novel 1977)
Week 3	Morante, La Storia, continued
Week 4	The Partition of India 1947 Salman Rushdie. Midnight's Children 1981
Week 5	Rushdie. Midnight's Children continued
Week 6	Rushdie. Midnight's Children continued	First home paper due
Week 7	Pinochet's Coup in Chile 1973: Roberto Bolaño Nocturno de Chile, 2000 (translated as By Night in Chile 2003)
Week 8	Bolaño: Nocturno de Chile continued
Week 9	Biafran War 1967-1970. Chimananda Ngozi Adichie Half of a Yellow Sun 2006
Week 10	Adichie, Half of a Yellow Sun continued.
week 11	Adichie, Half of a Yellow Sun continued.	Second Home Paper due
Week 12	South Korea, Gwangju uprising 1980: Han Kang Human Acts 2014 (English translation 2016)
Week 13	Han Kang Human Acts continued.
Week 14	Revision
Week 15	Final Exam