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 leave 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, hence the value of the literary translation. In this seminar we will study the work a few international authors whose works have made a great impression on readers, critics and writers across the world. I have chosen to read authors who write in four or five different languages. 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, Yoko Ogawa, Mariama Ba, Yu Hua, Han Kang, and Mariana Enriquez. 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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