C LIT 240 G: Writing In Comparative Literature

As people, we are socialized to accept, and adopt, standards of behavior (physical, psychological, and moral) that build our notions of civilization. That is how we separate the strange and foreign from the sane and familiar. Any deviation from an established norm is often labeled as “other.” That figure of “other” resides in us and consequently we find ways to cope with our drive for self-preservation, fear of loss, and desire for freedom.
We live as “doubles.” Invisibility, double consciousness, and the crisis of identity are contained in the theme of the double. The double represents the complex, and often contradictory, relationship between the individual and society. Our study of the double, in all its variations, will lend itself to
exploration and analysis of those relationships.