The purpose of this course is to explore the nature of the literary as an aesthetic, historical, and social category in a comparative context. Topics to be considered include: definitions of literature; literary studies as an academic discipline; theories of literary meaning; the connections between literature and identity (including national identity) and the relative usefulness of these connections; cross- cultural and cross-historical concepts of literary art. Students will do research in the original language of their area of focus. This course will require advanced, in-depth theoretical and critical approaches to the material. May be repeated up to six credits with different subtitles.