Against the dual background of ancient and medieval commentaries on the one hand, and modern psychoanalytic and ethnographic studies on the other, diverse literary texts will be explored. The major focus will be on Greek literature from antiquity to the present, but examples from other European literatures will also be considered (including film). Major topics: typology of dreams; dreams as narratives; dreaming and writing; religious dimensions. Theoretical readings to include: Aristotle, Aelius Aristides, Artemidorus, Synesius of Cyrene; Freud, Jung, Levi-Strauss, Lacan, Foucault, Lyotard.
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.
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