In a poetry anthology I edited long time ago, I quoted acclaimed Mexican poet José Emilio Pacheco, who compared monolingualism to living in a fish tank: “Without translations we would suffocate.” As soon as we step out of that fish tank, we risk a symbolic death for the world sometimes does not have the resources to provide us with the oxygen of our native tongues. While this statement holds a kind of poetic truth, it is obvious that the common citizen of the planet does not have the resources, the time, or the ability to learn all available languages. Since the very beginning of what we now know as “the novel” the impulse to translate has been as strong as the desire to share with others what we like and admire in the books we read. When Cervantes published Don Quijote de La Mancha in 1604, he probably had no idea that within eighteen years his book would be translated into three languages: English (1612), French (1614), and Italian (1622); most likely the work of excited bilingual readers eager to share with others their discovery. Think for a second how extraordinary this process must have been with the technology proper of the seventeenth century.In this seminar we will study the work a few international authors whose works have made a great
impression on readers and other writers across the world. I have chosen to read authors who write in four languages: Chinese, French, Japanese and Spanish. I will propose several approaches to the reading of these works and will always keep in mind that this is a dialogue between makers. Texts might include works by Osamu Dazai, Eileen Chang, Mariama Ba, Yu Hua, Emmanuel Carrere, and Pola Oloixarac.Modern Topics courses are designed for Writing and Literature Majors and Minors and are focused on the critical investigation of a specific modern topic, movement, style, or tradition of literary and performative production, typically after the year 1900. Students will read and write critically on these topics, including multi-modal responses, and will position the texts within a socio-historical context.

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