Director: Stephen Donadio; Program Coordinator: Renée Brown
The Program in Literary Studies draws upon the combined resources of the individual language and literature departments and provides undergraduates with access to the literature curriculum as a whole. As a consequence, the program enables them to achieve a broad awareness of a variety of major Western literatures of different periods (in addition to the literature of China and, since 1994, Japan), while at the same time requiring them to demonstrate a mastery of a single body of literature (e.g., works limited to a particular language, period, or genre).
Required for the Major: The overall design of the program is simple. Each literary studies major is required to take a total of 15 courses in literature during his or her four years at Middlebury College. No more than six of these courses may be taken within a single department, and no more than ten in either the literature or foreign languages division, but in general the courses may be selected from the literature of any language and of any period. They can be wide-ranging surveys or courses devoted to the study of single authors. The specific selection of courses is entirely up to the student, but in order to fulfill the requirements for the major, he or she will be obliged to take: (a) two courses-one generally historical, one generally theoretical in orientation from the list specified below under the "Summary of Major Requirements"; (b) one literature course in a foreign language (including Greek and Latin)-normally 0300-level; and (c) a colloquium for majors to be taken during the fall semester of the senior year. In addition, the student should be aware that, in conjunction with an independent reading course for which he or she will be enrolled during the fall semester of the senior year, he or she will be scheduled to take a one-hour oral examination in the area of specialization (as described below) at the end of the fall semester, to be followed by a five-hour written comprehensive examination at the end of winter term.
The written examination will require the student to demonstrate a thorough knowledge of major works by the authors listed below. For reasons of practicality, the number of authors from this list whose works students will actually choose to discuss on the comprehensive examination in any given year will be limited to 12.
The following current list will give the student a general sense of the range of works it is presumed he or she will be prepared to discuss at some length:
- Homer
- Natsume Soseki
- Chikamatsu
- Aeschylus
- Calderón
- Lu Xùn
- Sophocles
- Lope de Vega
- Gogol
- Vergil
- Borges
- Dostoevsky
- Ovid
- Molière
- Tolstoy
- Lucretius
- Baudelaire
- Shakespeare
- Dante
- Proust
- Milton
- Boccaccio
- Goethe
- Wordsworth
- Pirandello
- Kafka
- Joyce
- Cervantes
- Mann
- Emerson
- Tirso de Molina
- Wang Wei
- Melville
- Murasaki Shikibu
- Câo Xuequin
- Faulkner
In addition to works by authors whose names appear on this primary list, in the course of the comprehensive examination each literary studies major will be expected to demonstrate an acquaintance with the Old and New Testaments (especially Genesis, Psalms, Job, Song of Songs, Matthew, John, Revelation, and the Epistle to the Romans), as well as principal works of Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Darwin, Marx, and Freud. A full list of the specific works by these authors included on the current primary and secondary lists is available from Mr. Donadio, director of the program.
Beyond the two historical and theoretical courses required for the program (which may be counted toward the major), the 0300-level foreign language course, the senior year colloquium and independent reading course, and the total of 15 courses, the general, defining requirement for the literary studies major is the comprehensive examination, the overall content of which will be known to the student at the start of the undergraduate career. But in the process of completing this general literature requirement, the student will also be expected to complete a specialization in the literature of a particular culture (e.g., German, English, American, classical), or period (e.g., the eighteenth century), or genre (e.g., the novel). The specific authors and texts selected by the student for each such specialization will be approved by the director in conjunction with the two examiners where appropriate (e.g., for a specialization in French literature), with the consultation of the particular department involved. Thus, in the fall semester of the senior year, before completing the five-hour written comprehensive examination, the student will take a one-hour oral examination in the area of specialization; this examination will be administered by two faculty members, normally one from each division (literature and foreign languages).
After completing all the specified requirements, the student will be graduated from Middlebury College as a literary studies major with a specialization: for example, in Classics, or lyric poetry, or the nineteenth century. Should he or she wish to pursue graduate study, depending on the nature of his or her interests and preparation, the student might choose to do so in such fields as English or American literature, comparative literature, or a specific foreign language; in addition, he or she would have a secure background for further studies in law, political philosophy, religion, and cultural and intellectual history.
Students will be eligible for honors if their combined performance in literature courses and on the two parts of the comprehensive examination indicates that they have achieved an average grade of B+ or higher. Honors will be awarded on the basis of the overall grade average in the major, performance on the comprehensive examination, and a senior honors essay of 30-40 pages to be completed during the spring semester of the senior year (this project counts as one course). A one-hour oral examination on the content and implications of this honors essay is also required, and, as in the case of the oral examination in the area of specialization, this examination will be conducted by two faculty members, normally one from each division.
Here, then, is a summary outline of the structure of the program:
Summary of Major Requirements: Total of 15 courses (no more than ten in either division, no more than six in any one department).
(1) Two courses selected from the historical and theoretical courses listed below, one from each category, as currently offered. (With the permission of the director, alternative courses may be substituted for those specified here.)
Historical
CLST 0150 The Ancient Epic
CLST 0152 Greek Tragedy
RELI 0180 Introduction to Biblical Literature
PSCI 0101 Introduction to Political Science
Theoretical
CHNS/LITS 0360 Introduction to Literary Theory and Criticism
(2) One course in literature in a foreign language (normally 0300 level).
(3) At least four literature courses, but no more than six, to be taken within a single department. (Courses in language instruction may not be counted toward this requirement.)
(4) Area of Specialization (by genre, period, or national literature): A one-hour oral examination, to be taken in the fall semester before the written comprehensive examination in the senior year, is devoted to this area of specialization. The texts required for this examination will be determined in advance by the student in conjunction with the director and the examiners selected where appropriate (e.g., in the case of a specialization in French literature or English literature) with the consultation of the particular department involved.
(5) Senior Colloquium for majors (open to non-majors if space is available).
(6) Senior Independent Reading Course in preparation for the comprehensive examination during the fall semester and winter term: Students engaged in such preparation may choose to meet informally (or regularly) with one another, and may solicit faculty participation in discussions of individual texts. At the end of the fall semester, senior majors in the program will take the one-hour oral examination in the specialization they have selected. This examination represents the first part of the comprehensive requirement.
(7) Comprehensive Examination (on works specified in primary and secondary lists), to be taken at the end of winter term of the senior year: As indicated, this five-hour written examination represents the second part of the comprehensive requirement.
(8) Students achieving an average grade of B+ or higher in the program will be eligible for honors. Honors will be awarded on the basis of the overall grade average in courses in the major, performance on the comprehensive examination, and a senior honors essay of 30-40 pages, to be completed (for one course credit) during the spring semester of the senior year; a one-hour oral examination on the content of this essay to be administered by two examiners, normally one from each division, will also be required.
Please Note: Any literature course in the Middlebury College curriculum may be used to fulfill the requirements for the Program in Literary Studies. Hence, in addition to the specific LITS course descriptions indicated below, students majoring in Literary Studies as well as non-majors with an interest in literature are urged to read through the entire literature offering by various departments grouped together in this section of the college catalog.
LITS/ENAM 0205 Introduction to Contemporary Literary Theory (CR) (Fall, Spring)
See Department of English and American Literatures for course description. (Formerly LITS/ENGL 0205) LIT EUR
(Fall: L. Sorensen; Spring: Y. Siddiqi)
LITS/ENAM 0245 The Historical Novel (Fall)
Although nineteenth century Europeans and Americans regarded their era as the vanguard of international peace and progress, the century was filled with the brutalities of class revolt and the carnage of revolution. The historical novel arose concurrent with these volatile conditions, during the turbulent wake of the American and French Revolutions. We will trace the beginnings of the historical novel in works by Scott and Pushkin, and then its later development in works by Stendhal, Dickens, Anatole France and Pasternak. The central text of the course will be Tolstoi's War and Peace. (Formerly LITS 0220) 3 hrs. lect. LIT EUR (J. McWilliams)
LITS/CHNS 0360 Introduction to Literary Theory and Criticism (Not offered in 2008-09)
See Department of Chinese for course description.
LITS 0500 Independent Reading Course (Fall)
Intended for majors in literary studies preparing for the senior comprehensive examinations. At the conclusion of this course, students will take a one-hour oral examination (part of the senior comprehensive examination) in a specialization of their choice. (S. Donadio)
LITS 0510 Independent Essay Project (Fall, Spring)
LITS 0700 Special Research (Winter)
Intended for majors in literary studies preparing for the written section of the senior comprehensive examinations.
(S. Donadio)
LITS/ENAM 0705 Senior Colloquium in Literary Studies (Fall)
Study, discussion, and analysis of selected great works of world literature from the perspective of their achievements in thought and literary art, and considered as part of a vital literary tradition in which the works enter into dialogue with one another. The works to be considered this semester are Homer, The Odyssey (Lattimore trans.); Tolstoy, War and Peace (Maude trans.); Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov (Pevear & Volokhonsky trans.); Mann, The Magic Mountain (Woods trans.); Proust, Swann's Way (Scott-Montcrieff & Kilmartin trans. revised by Enright, Modern Library); Joyce, Ulysses (ed. Gabler). Open to nonmajors with approval of the instructor. (Formerly LITS/ENGL 0705) (S. Donadio)
LITS 0710 Senior Honors Essay (Fall, Spring)
(S. Donadio)