When we ask comparative questions we are concerned to understand the differences and similarities of our respective positions. Our languages, our use of translation, our ideology, our view of the world make a difference, especially in comparative literature, so if we understand literary texts as created in different cultural contexts to our own, then our interpretation and critical analysis of the texts must consider these differences.

2x1hr seminar per week, Tuesday at 1pm and Friday at 11am over 10 weeks as scheduled on MyCampus.

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The standard assessments for this course are:

■ Commentary (1000 words) - 30%

■ Essay (3000 words) - 70%

If required, for instance where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, the following alternatives are available:

■ There is no alternative to the essay and commentary, but an extension to the deadline can be offered as reasonable adjustment (students should follow the usual process for extensions).

Further reasonable adjustments may be provided where necessary. Students are encouraged to consult with the course convenor.

This course aims to:

■ engage students in a critical, interdisciplinary exchange with the comparative cultures of text, through the material conditions of their authors' writing and the conditions of our reading;

■ explore the theoretical and practical possibilities that such an approach to literature and culture may afford, using various examples of intercultural texts - poetry, prose, intellectual biographies, film etc.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

■ articulate their own cultural position vis a vis different texts encountered during the course;

■ describe and evaluate the significance of languages and translation in the study of any text;

■ trace themes of 'difference' - the stranger, the guest, the foreign, the traveller - in texts encountered during the course;

■ articulate an understanding of the complex relationships between cultures (one's own and others).

■ analyse issues and problems involved in the process of intercultural reading, and write about them critically, presenting arguments cogently and concisely within time-limited deadlines.