C LIT 320 B: Studies In European Literature

 with SLAV 320 A

In the post-World War II period, Eastern European writers have created a wealth of dazzling and still lesser known literary works. This course introduces students to fiction by Polish, Czech, Yugoslav and post-Yugoslav, Hungarian, and Baltic writers, created during and after the communist era in the Eastern European countries themselves and in exile.  The course also discusses features of the literary production in non-market socialist-era societies, with values and world views profoundly different from those in the west.  Required readings consist of four novels (two of them around 100 pages-long), shorter excerpts from another two novels, and selected stories from the two collection of stories. All readings are in English, and no prior specialized knowledge of the area or its literature is required.