If you love books but also love anything else in the world…

Let’s establish something first: Comparative Literature is not the same as English. Despite both majors delving into literature, the Comp Lit major is much more of a choose-your-own-adventure kind of thing. This is because Comp Lit allows you to look at any work—films, poems, video games, you name it—and analyze it from whichever lens interests you the most. 

Comp Lit’s maxim is that a work of literature cannot—should not—be understood in isolation: everything is interconnected, which means that approaching a work from an unexpected angle will yield exciting discoveries about that piece of literature itself and about broader conversations. People often pair Comp Lit with History, Philosophy, Anthropology, Cultural Studies, Women and Gender Studies, Psychoanalysis, Sociology, and Environmental Science, to name a few, but you can bring in whatever perspective, topic, idea or concept you are passionate about. Essentially, Comp Lit is for people who love many things (including books) and want to engage with all of them at once!

Of course, one of the biggest domains of Comp Lit is translation studies, theories and practice. This means that you have to know or learn a different language to be part of the major, since you’ll be working closely with works from at least two languages. This may sound daunting, but many people start learning their second Comp Lit language in college, so you don’t need to be fluent from the get-go. Also, a common misconception is that English cannot count as one of your two languages, but this is not true! In addition, I know of people whose languages include Music or even Python—you can argue for so many things to count as a language! That is to say, Comp Lit is very versatile and fun because it values the way our unique minds think in a vast and diverse world.

(If you can’t tell, I’m a huge Comp Lit nerd and will take any chance I get to convince people to choose this major.)

Requirements

The requirements for Barnard’s Comparative Literature and Translation Studies major consist of 12 courses:

• Introduction to Comparative Literature (CPLT BC3001): This class is generally divided into modules and it is meant to introduce the different ways in which you can approach literature from a cross-disciplinary perspective. It does a great job of showing you the gist of the major and it will also let you explore which facet of it you like the most. People generally take this in their Sophomore Fall or Junior Fall at the latest.
• One course in Topics in Comparative Literature (CPLT BC3143): Focusing on a specific theme, this course teaches you how to analyze and engage with its different representations across literary genres, linguistic and historical contexts. The topic tends to vary but past classes include: Literature and Violence, Literature and Horror, and Global Kafka. This class is meant to work as a sequence alongside Intro to Comp Lit, so you should take it during the Spring after taking Intro.
• Six courses in two distinct literary traditions, studied in the original language: For example, if your two languages are French and Italian, then you must take three courses in each original language; these classes must contain some portion of literature. For instance, to fulfill my three Spanish courses requirement I took: Hispanic Cultures II (SPAN UN3300), Contemporary Latin American Short Fiction (SPAN BC3481), and Rethinking Spanish Translation (SPAN BC3376).
• Three electives in Literature, of which:
  • One pre-modern (for example, I fulfilled this with Intro to Greek Mythology CLCV UN 1001)
  • Two open-choices (for example, I fulfilled this with Intro to Comics ENGL BC3223, and Derrida and Literature CPLT BC3145)
• Senior Seminar (CPLT BC3997): This is the capstone of the major and it works as an accompaniment to writing the Senior Thesis. The Senior Thesis is an essay of significant length with a focused question which studies at least two literary works, one in each of your languages.

Course Recommendations:

Rethinking Spanish Translation (SPAN BC3376): This class will give you such a great base to approach translating different kinds of text (newspaper articles, street signs, songs, poems, informative brochures, etc.) into Spanish. You will build up your skills and confidence as a translator almost without realizing and, best of all, there is a very meaningful and socially relevant project at the end, which involves translating into Spanish some of Barnard’s official documents for those people connected to Barnard students but who cannot speak English. Also, I would just recommend any class with Professor Pérez-Zapatero because he is simply the best and most caring person.

Introduction to Comics and Graphic Novels (ENGL BC3223): This is perfect for someone who knows next to nothing about how to study and analyze comics academically. The readings are a lot of fun and it’s a great opportunity to engage with a very different kind of literature than just your regular novels.

Introduction to Greek Mythology (CLCV UN 1001): I loved this class so much—if you’re a fan of Percy Jackson, of the Greeks and the Romans, of Greek tragedy, or of mythology in general this class is perfect for you. You will learn so much from the basics of Greek mythology to how it remains relevant today. Professor Krasne is a great lecturer and makes the class so much fun with lots of polls (it’s like trivia!) and a very Greek-like system for extra points.

Derrida and Literature (CPLT BC3145): If you’ve ever wanted to delve deep into Derrida’s thoughts, writings and ideas (which he had so many about almost any topic you can imagine) then you’ll really enjoy this class. Professor O’Keeffe is a Derrida expert and he will masterfully guide you through very complex and interesting Derridean concepts.

Advice:

• Both the elective courses and the courses in a specific literary tradition are easier to fulfill than it seems. Many unexpected classes count towards the major; the best way to find out if a class you’ve taken does fulfill a requirement is to make an appointment with the Chair of the department.
• Go to office hours with the Comp Lit faculty—they are all brilliant, willing to help, and the kind of people who like to engage with all sorts of intellectual ideas. And they will have great book recommendations!
• Take Intro to Comp Lit as soon as you can, as this will give you a very good sense of what the major is about and get you familiarized with the techniques and theories used most often.

For more information, visit the website of the Barnard Comparative Literature and Translation Studies Department.

Header via Author’s bookshelf