We had three guiding themes this semester:
The hero’s journey: What does the he hero’s journey look like across time and culture?
Translation: What is the significance of translation in either the act of reading or writing World Literature?
And finally: What do we even mean when we say ‘World Literature’?
For your final assignment, you are to choose one of these three themes to trace across three of the works we read this semester, including what we read from the poet Táhirih (Ṭāhira) in Week One. This does not mean you are required to write about Táhirih, but was just meant to be a reminder that we read her poetry, if only briefly, at the beginning of the semester.
Your essay should be 500-750 words (roughly 2 – 3 pages double spaced using a standard 12 pt font and including a word count). You should include one specific example from each text (including pages numbers and an explanation of the example in the context of your reflection essay) to support your observations or argument, and while you may feel free to use our “How Can We Define World Literature” reading to help, there is no need to do any secondary research for this essay. Think of this less as an essay and more of a reflection on what you read this semester, not unlike the weekly assignments but on a larger scale.
Specific topics you might address include but are not limited to:
how the archetypal hero changes throughout history
how cultural contexts shape the hero’s journey
how the hero’s struggles have changed–or not–since The Odyssey
the challenges and complexities of translating literature across languages and cultures
how translation influences the interpretation and reception of World Literature
the role of the translator as a mediator between cultures in World Literature
the role of World Literature in promoting cultural exchange and understanding
how adaptations in different genres and formats impacts or changes the preservation of World Literature
who or what gets privileged in some of the definitions of World Literature we’ve encountered this semester
the role of factors like globalization, geopolitics, and climate change in common understandings of or themes in World Literature
