Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2015 - WL 103W D200

Pre-Modern World Literature (3)

Class Number: 9258

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 6 – Apr 13, 2015: Mon, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Exam Times + Location:

    Apr 22, 2015
    Wed, 3:30–6:30 p.m.
    Burnaby

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Surveys pre-modern texts of world literature. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.

COURSE DETAILS:

Ancient Ideas: Pre-Modern World Literature

How do you turn down an advance from the goddess of love? In the world’s oldest epic, our hero tries to let her down gently and logically—Which of your lovers did you ever love forever?—but goddesses do not take rejection well. Her wrath pushes him to such great deeds that his name was remembered a full millennium after the epic itself was lost, its clay tablets buried beneath the desert and only rediscovered three thousand years later by Victorian archaeologists.    

This course looks at a variety of texts from the ancient and medieval worlds, stories of travel, adventure, myth, romance, and accounts of daily life. Over the course of the semester we will practice strategies for reading works of ancient literature and accessing the past. Key questions to be examined include: What is the relationship between historical literature and history? What is the relevance of the literature of the past for the present? Why do some works of ancient literature thrive in the modern day, while others languish in relative obscurity?

Grading

  • Language and Culture Exercise 10%
  • Short Text Analysis (Draft, 10%; Revision, 20%) 30%
  • Midtern 20%
  • Term Paper (Abstract and Draft, 10%; Final, 20%) 30%
  • Participation 10%

NOTES:

There will be additional short readings available online and / or through Canvas, e.g. The Wooing of Étaín.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Al-Jāḥiẓ, The Book of Misers: Al-Bukhala (Ithaca, paperback)
ISBN: 978-1859641415

Apuleius, The Golden Ass. Trans. P.G. Walsh (Oxford)
ISBN: 978-0199540556

R. K. Narayan, trans. The Ramayana (Penguin)
ISBN: 978-0199538362

Lahney Preston-Matto, trans. Aislinge Meic Conglinne: The Vision of Mac Conglinne (Syracuse University Press)
ISBN: 978-0-8156-3218-4

Sei Shōnagon, The Pillow Book. Trans. Ivan Morris (Columbia)
ISBN: 978-0231073370

Stephanie Dalley, trans., Myths from Mesopotamia (Oxford)
ISBN: 978-0199538362

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://students.sfu.ca/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS