Comparative Literature

Abstract

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  Profile of the study programme

  The University of Fribourg is the only university in Switzerland to offer the possibility of studying Comparative Literature (CL) in two languages. The bilingual programme of studies in German and French deals with the interactions of different literatures in an international context. It addresses questions of general literature and combines comparative and intercultural perspectives with theoretical approaches. The aim of the master programme is to provide students with specific skills and methods for the systematic and historical analysis of transnational developments and phenomena in the literatures of Europe and beyond.

  General Literature is concerned with the basic concepts of poetics, aesthetics and rhetoric, i.e. the academic instruments which are used, or were used in the past, to analyse literary texts. Among other things, it addresses fundamental questions concerning the concept and definition of literature, the relationship between literature and reality, the effect of literature on its readers, and the systematic allocation and description of literary forms and topoi.

  Comparative Literature is concerned with comparing works, authors or groups of authors from different linguistic and cultural areas. The keyword «World Literature» steers the focus of academic interest towards questions of cultural transfer, intertextuality and global networking. The area of thematology in comparative literature examines works and groups of works which are comparable with each other because they use common themes and motives, or deal with similar types of subject matter. Further issues here are traditions and developments and the historical or cultural change in function and meaning of the elements focused on.
  Intermedial Comparative Literature is additionally concerned with interactions between literature and other media. The transfer of contents, subject matter and aesthetic forms between various media is one of the issues examined here.

  The bilingual programme of studies with its well-balanced contents consists of seminars and lectures on European literature from ancient times to the present day. The programme also includes exercises and colloquia on comparative practice (e.g. courses on theory and practice of translation or work with manuscripts) and interdisciplinary meetings on theoretical problems of comparative or general literature.

  The core curriculum consists of courses offered by the Fribourg Institute for General and Comparative Literature (Institut de littérature générale et comparée/Institut für Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft). These are complemented by lectures and seminars from other areas of literature and additional cultural events from other disciplines. Individual student care and support is not just an empty cliché with us in Fribourg: CL prides itself on close, personal scholarly exchange between students and teaching staff.

  The CL programme opens up a wide array of career prospects in cultural, political and administrative areas, e.g. in publishing companies, theatres, foundations, archives and media, cultural management and the education system, public relations for various institutions (e.g. universities, enterprises and parties), federal and cantonal authorities, international organisations and NGOs, the diplomatic service, and development cooperation.

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Minor study programmes to be chosen