LIT-498 Senior Seminar in Literature: The Value of Literature

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This course is the first in the capstone sequence for literature majors. It addresses the following questions: Is literature separable from other forms of linguistic expression? Are there modes of interpretation and study unique to literature? Why has the assertion of literary value found expression in specifying a canon of particular works? Since art and literature are traditionally defined in terms of secondariness, either as reflection, mimesis, or as refinement, the course also addresses the issue of secondariness and marginalization in both literature and literary criticism. Usually offered every fall.