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School of Letters Department of Humanities Literature Course English Linguistics & Literature Major Major (Credit 2) Intended Year: Intended School: |
American Literature (Lecture I)
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Numbering Code: LET-HUM2581J Course Code: 2026 SpringTerm weekly Thu3 Ito Classroom E/J科目 (日本語, English) |
| Course Overview |
The primary aim of this course is to survey the history of American literature through film. This does not mean, of course, that watching the films eliminates the need to read the original works; rather, the films serve as an introduction that allows students to gain a broad overview of many classic works of American literature in a limited time. Students are encouraged to go beyond the classroom and engage with the original texts of any works that spark their interest, reading as widely as possible. The course covers a range from Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans to contemporary authors such as Cormac McCarthy, tracing the broad arc of American literary history (see the course schedule for details). Beyond this introductory survey of American literature, however, the course also aims to address the question of adaptation, a topic of growing importance in literary studies in recent years. Adaptation, as understood here, refers to a critical perspective that actively evaluates the alterations and creative strategies that arise when a work is transformed from one medium to another. It goes without saying that a change in medium necessarily entails changes in the way a story is presented and in its content. Traditionally, however, such "alterations" were regarded as a necessary evil; the original text alone was considered the "authentic" work, and adapted works were judged solely by how faithfully they reproduced the source material. In recent years, by contrast, adapted works have come to be recognized as independent works of art in their own right, deserving of evaluation on the same level as their source texts. In other words, adaptation is now legitimately valued as an act of interpretation, criticism, and new creative endeavor. This course seeks to engage with these questions of adaptation by comparing original texts and their film versions in concrete and specific ways. |
| Last updated | : 2026/3/7 (17:09) |