At our annual “Reading in Translation” event, students enrolled in Translation Studies 260 read selections from their work. Here, Emily Wan, a first-year Ph.D. student in Japanese Literature specializing in medieval poetry and pursuing the Graduate Secondary Field in Translation Studies, presents her translations of renga or “linked verse.”
Ollie Cowley, a second-year Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Literature, reads from her translations of the early twentieth-century Greek poet Maria Polydouri.
Anna Hennigan, a second-year Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Literature, reads from her translation of the German-language novel Strange Stars Stare towards Earth (Seltsame Sterne starren zur Erde, 2003) by Emine Sevgi Özdamar.
Raphael Halff, a Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Literature and a former translation fellow at the Yiddish Book Center, reads selections of his translations of Yiddish literary manifestos.
Taylor Browning, an undergraduate concentrator in Comparative Literature specializing in Japanese Literature, presents his prismatic translations of Bashō.
At our annual “Reading in Translation” event, students enrolled in Translation Studies 260 read selections from their work. Here, Emily Wan, a first-year Ph.D. student in Japanese Literature specializing in medieval poetry and pursuing the Graduate Secondary Field in Translation Studies, presents her translations of renga or “linked verse.”
Ollie Cowley, a second-year Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Literature, reads from her translations of the early twentieth-century Greek poet Maria Polydouri.
Anna Hennigan, a second-year Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Literature, reads from her translation of the German-language novel Strange Stars Stare towards Earth (Seltsame Sterne starren zur Erde, 2003) by Emine Sevgi Özdamar.
Raphael Halff, a Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Literature and a former translation fellow at the Yiddish Book Center, reads selections of his translations of Yiddish literary manifestos.
Taylor Browning, an undergraduate concentrator in Comparative Literature specializing in Japanese Literature, presents his prismatic translations of Bashō.
Beginning with jokes like this one, this course will examine the question of Jewish humor, exploring the concept of therapeutic joking, the politics of self-deprecation, and strategies of masking social critique behind a well-timed joke. Rather than reach some essential definition, we will instead investigate literature, stand-up comedy, film, and television of the twentieth and twenty-first century in order to 1) think together about the theory, mechanics, and techniques of comedy and humor and 2) ask how and when a text or performance gets labeled Jewish, by whom and for what purposes.
In this course, students will read English translations of novels that have won major prizes. In addition to exploring themes of contemporary literature from around the world, special attention will be paid to the role of translation in shaping the work and its reception, and to the question of what makes for a prize-winning translation. Each week students will read a prize-winning translation alongside reports from the prize committee, reviews of the translation, and what the translators say about their work.
This course will explore contemporary literature and cinema across Southeast Asia, focusing on regional developments after the Asian financial crisis of 1997 through the present. Themes discussed include literature’s relationship to economic turmoil and political change; questions of class and social mobility; anti-authoritarian writing and issues of censorship; literature, youth culture, and new media landscapes; and literary explorations of gender and sexuality. Readings will include a selection of critical essays to foreground these central themes of the course, along with poetry, short fiction, and films from: Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. Readings will be taught in English translation and films will be screened with English subtitles.
Reflecting the ongoing paradigm shift of comparative studies from an almost exclusive focus on Western European traditions to a newly global awareness, our faculty ranks have expanded in recent years to encompass a world-wide range of languages and cultures.
Check out our Prospective Concentrators and Peer Advisors
pages for more information.
Contact our Director of Undergraduate Studies,
Dr. Sandra Naddaff.
The Department of Comparative Literature is currently carrying out two tenure-track searches during the academic year 2023-2024: one in Translation Studies, the other in Media History and Archeology. The department is also now accepting applications for a College Fellow in Translation Studies position in 2024-2025.
Founded as a graduate program in 1904 and joining with the undergraduate Literature Concentration in 2007, Harvard’s Department of Comparative Literature operates at the crossroads of multilingualism, literary study, and media history.
© 2023 President and Fellows of Harvard College
Sign up to receive news and information about upcoming events, exhibitions, and more