COURSE UNIT TITLE

Offered By

American Culture and Literature

Level of Course Unit

First Cycle Programmes (Bachelor's Degree)

Course Coordinator

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR NILSEN GÖKÇEN ULUK

Offered to

American Culture and Literature

Course Objective

Comparative literature provides possibilities for dialogues between different languages and cultures. Therefore, it has the potential to create a democratic platform on which different cultural norms can be negotiated and appreciated. This course is designed to look into these possibilities and potentials in the selected material from a variety of national literatures. This semester, we will examine the body, one of the most controversial issues of all time, and its differing configurations and representations in the novels written at different times and in different cultures. At the end of this course, in addition to learning the basic theories and concerns of comparative literature, the students are expected to discern how the body has been conceptualized and perceived in its gendered, racial(ized) postcolonial, religious, and animal(ized) materializations.

Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit

Mode of Delivery

Face -to- Face

Prerequisites and Co-requisites

None

Recomended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Contents

Recomended or Required Reading

Ali Behdad and Dominic Thomas, eds., A Companion to Comparative Literature
Susan Bassnett, Comparative Literature: A Critical Introduction
Azade Seyhan, Tales of Crossed Destinies: The Modern Turkish Novel in a Comparative Context

Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid s Tale
Kate Chopin, The Awakening
Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood
Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin
Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things
Yaşar Kemal, Deniz Küstü,
J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace
Philip Roth, The Human Stain
Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
Elif Şafak, Pinhan
Yaşar Kemal, Kuşlar da Gitti
Bilge Karasu, Gece
Haruki Murakami, Sputnik Sweetheart

Pierre Ancet, Ucube Bedenlerin Fenomenolojisi
Elaine Ginsberg, ed., Passing and the Fictions of Identity.
Kitap-lık
"Kedi," v. 96, Jul-Aug. 2006;
"Çiftdilli Yazarlar," v. 98, Oct. 2006;
"Karşılaştırmalı Edebiyat," v. 115, Apr. 2008;
"Yaşar Kemal'de Ölüm," v. 122, Dec. 2008;
"J. M. Coetzee," v. 148, Apr. 2011

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

Lecture
Discussion
Text Analysis
Student Presentations

Assessment Methods

Further Notes About Assessment Methods

None

Assessment Criteria

Either the midterm or the final of this course will involve writing a research paper. The minimum criteria in the evaluation of this assignment will be the sensibleness and coherence of the argument, fluency of the development of ideas and thoughts, the quality and range of research, the intellectual level of the analyses and syntheses of the sources, their integration to the main idea, and the success in the accuracy, fluency in the idiomatic usage of language.
The minimum criteria for the in-class exam with essay type questions include the logical associations with the question, coherence and consistency in the unfolding and development of the idea(s), and the accurate and fluent usage of language.
In the quizzes, the questions are tailored to evaluate the student s class preparation for the day; therefore, they will be based on facts in rather than interpretations of the assigned materials.
In all sorts of exams, personal interpretations must be supported by facts and fact-based knowledge on the part of the student.
The grade from class participation will be earned based on the intellectual level of the student s class participation in discussions.
In the presentations the minimum criteria for evaluation are an overall command of material, clarity and succinctness of verbal expression, organization of thoughts and ideas, timing, and the knowledgeableness of the presenting student in answering questions in the ensuing discussion.

Language of Instruction

English

Course Policies and Rules

In order to be able to follow class discussions and lectures, the students must read the required material for the week. Each student is thus expected to be ready to participate in an intellectually stimulating discussion of the texts. In addition, s/he is expected to establish ties between the present and previously introduced material in order to be able to develop a wider perspective on underlying issues.

Contact Details for the Lecturer(s)

Office Phone: 232 301 8678
E-mail: gokcenils@yahoo.com

Office Hours

By appointment

Work Placement(s)

None

Workload Calculation

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes