C LIT 240 J: Writing In Comparative Literature

We will cover a large chunk of the Western intellectual history through the insights of Leroy Searle whose definition of modernism is not confined to a historical and literary period in the early 20th century. According to this definition a modernism happens whenever any given widely-held worldview collapses and calls for new frames of reference. Naturally, the notions of progress and crisis will frequently accompany our discussions as well.

We can see this at work in the first few chapters of Genesis where we see two different stories of creation. These ancient narratives will serve as our baseline as we explore the following texts: Other parts of Genesis, the Gospel of John, Augustine's Confessions (Oxford, tr. Chadwick), Hamlet (Signet Classic paperback), Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground (Vintage, tr. Pevear), and finally Konwicki's The Polish Complex (either one of the two available editions).