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/lit/ - Literature

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15458928 No.15458928 [Reply] [Original]

Why can't you study "literature" at university, including literature from languages other than your own? Right now I have two very limited degree options:

A. English literature - where you basically only read Dickens, Austen, Twain etc.

B. Modern languages - where you get to read some French or Russian or whatever, but not much, and only in their original language.

Why isn't there a course for literature in general, including translations?

>> No.15458955

>>15458928
Did you look at what the higher level or capstone classes were for the English Lit degree? Sometimes the classes with the good stuff are for seniors or grad students. Check with your advisor to see if they offer any and if you can get an exception for taking those classes. But the fact that you didn't already do that research shows that you don't have the will power or research capabilities of getting what you want.

>> No.15459257

>>15458928
Check if your school has a comparative Literature department. That's what I'm studying now, it's a separate discipline that focuses on world literature in translation. Sounds like what you want.

If not you could try comparative studies, with a focus on Literature. Some schools even have world literature which is practically the same thing just less emphasis on understanding translation.

>> No.15459550

>>15458955
>capstone
>seniors
>advisor
Did you consider the possibility that I might be from an English-speaking country that isn't the USA?

>>15459257
To be honest I've always assumed comparative lit was less about literature itself and more about linguistics, anthropology, translation, and cultural issues. I'm going to try to see if I can do a joint degree or something, thanks.

>> No.15459555

Just do philosophy instead

>> No.15459594

University prepares you for academia and the world of jobs. No respectable academic works discuss only translated works unless they discuss the translation itself (like those on Pope's Homer). If you want classic language literature, study Classics. If you want German literature, go to Germany. Etc.

>> No.15459598

>>15459550
Have you ever considered not being a huge contrarian faggot and attempt to solve your problems instead of complaining about them and fighting people over the internet about your diary and inability to do anything right that has lead you to this place in your life you absolute fucking troglodyte?

>> No.15459613

>>15458928
A lot of universities that let you choose modules have options for literature in translation (i'm pretty sure York has one called exactly that and a pretty good english department). I know Cambridge English offers you the option to substitute a paper from one part of the course for a paper from the MML course, but no options for translation (unless you count translations from Latin like More's Utopia, but even when it came to reading stuff like Ovid they made us read weird renaissance translations to see what the authors at the time would've been using). I have no clue about oxford. There is not much point in studying translations at uni level because the amount of detail that you have to focus on individual words means translations are just dodgy.

>> No.15459624

>>15459613
If you are a yank or kiwi or something im sorry lol

>> No.15459628

>>15458928
>literature in general, including translations?
JESUS FUCK KAREN, WE'VE BEEN OVER THIS. LEARN THE FUCKING LANGUAGE.