Spring 2012 Friends Of Comparative Literature

UW—MilwaukeeVolume 8, Issue 2Spring 2012Friends of Comparative LiteratureAmericaAlan Ginsburg (1956)America when will we end the human war?.When will you be angelic?When will you take off your clothes?When will you look at yourself through thegrave?When will you be worthy of your million Christs?American why are your libraries full of tears?.When will you re-invent the heart?When will you manufacture land?.There must be some other way to settle thisargument.I don’t want to die youngI want to die old and unhappy.It occurs to me that I am America.I am talking to myself again.Department of French,Italian and ComparativeLiteratureCurtin Hall 772PO Box 413Milwaukee, WI 53201Phone: 414-229-4382Fax: 414-229-2939(Editor: Daniel Russell)From the Coordinator, Caroline Seymour-JornI would like to echo the sentiments that mycolleague Jian Xu expressed in the previousissue of the newsletter. ComparativeLiterature, along with other disciplines in thehumanities, faces challenges about itsexistence, its meaning and its importance inthe contemporary era of belt tightening andcut backs. Nevertheless, I feel that it isprecisely during such difficult times that artand literature are so important for studentsand for society at large. I was in Cairo at thebeginning of this year, and I was soimpressed to see the wealth of artistic andcreative production that was beinggenerated as a result of the 2011 Revolution there. I was gratified tosee that artists of all kinds were expressing their views through publicexhibitions, readings and book events and that the public was listeningand watching them. Writers and artists are indeed some of thevisionaries of the future in Egypt, and, I would argue writers and artists,and the people who study and think about them, are the visionaries forour own future in the United States.Spring appears to be arriving early to campus, and bringing somepleasurable warmth and sunshine! Thus, although it seems rather earlyto be thinking about courses for next fall, please see the Fall 2012course offerings listed at the back of this newsletter, as I think we havea particularly exciting array of courses for our students. Keep readingand talking about world literature and spread the news of the dynamicofferings of the Comparative Literature Program!

ComparativeLiterature2Comparative Literature News and AnnouncementsKristin Pitt presented a paper entitled “Food, Trauma, and Migration in Edwidge Danticat’s Narratives” at the University ofNotre Dame's "Food Networks: Gender and Foodways" conference in January. She is on sabbatical leave this semester,working on a manuscript provisionally entitled "Vulnerable Bodies: Immigration and Corporeality in ContemporaryAmerican Narrative" and a translation of Spanish author and journalist Rosa Montero's 1988 novel Amado amo.Justin Ramm, a Comp Lit major, has been accepted into the PhD program in English at the University at Buffalo. It is ahighly regarded program, widely acclaimed for producing innovative scholarship. He will receive full financial support forfive years.Comparative Literature EventsConversation over Lunch: Discussion "Reflections on the Holocaust in Testimonial Writings" led by Christiane Ehrenreich,who introduces her topic in this way: “I will look at genres (memoires, epistolary, etc.) and gender as vehicles forconveying History and histories, and the literary formation of memory and commemoration. I will use as a basis HelenLewis' book A Time to Speak.” It will be held on Tuesday, May 1st at noon in Curtin Hall, room 766.End of the Semester Party for Majors and Minors: Comparative Literature will host a party for majors and minors onTuesday, May 8th at 4pm in Curtin Hall, room 766. Please come and meet your fellow Comp Lit students, as well as thefaculty and staff. We hope to see you there!Book Recommendations by Michael FountainDaniel Stein, Translator: A Novel in Documents by Ludmila Ulitskaya (2006) and translated from the Russian by ArchTait. (Overlook Duckworth, 2011) I have read historical biographies, epistolary fiction and non- fiction, documentarynovels, memoirs and religious and political novels and hagiographies. But I have read few literary collages, in fact, I canthink of only one other: the Bible. Ludmila Ulitskaya identifies her book as a “collage” which is more accurate than thechosen subtitle: “A Novel in Documents” since it includes many scraps that are not actually documents but newspaperitems, letters, diary entries, etc. The book is like the Bible in another way, i.e. it presents a basic “belief” that ties all thepieces of the puzzle together: This world in which we have such difficulty living is filled with misunderstanding at everylevel. The Moses/Jesus figure in the book is Daniel Stein (historically the Oswald Rufeisen of Nechama Tec’s biography, Inthe Lion’s Den) who has all the characteristics of a great fictional hero. He was a Polish Jew belonging in his youth to theBnei Akiva, Zionist youth group, he worked as an interpreter for the Gestapo, he warned the Jews of Emst ghetto of apogrom against them, he escaped the Nazis and he hid with nuns in a convent, he converted to Catholicism, he became aCarmelite priest, he served on Mt. Carmel Haifa, Israel, with Jewish and Arab congregants. The story Ulitskaya tellstranscends the ability of historical biography (Tec’s In the Lion’s Den) which presents the facts but finds it hard to relatethe soul of a person. Ulitskaya fictionalizes the facts (but not bending them much) to reveal Daniel mostly by revealing thesouls of human beings who were touched by him.The House I Loved by Tatiana de Rosnay (2012) (St. Martin Press) Although my favorite serving of literature is not thelove story, I was able to endure the syrup and whipped cream of this book to enjoy the Kaiserschmarrn underneath. I aminterested in the representation of the city in literature (e.g. Emile Zola’s In the Belly of Paris) and this in novel form isabout the human cost of the restructuring of Paris under Napoleon III and city planner Haussmann. I will not be able toread Baudelaire, or look at the paintings of Pissarro, Monet, Caillebotte or Renoir without images of the House on rueChildebert coming to mind. I will not be able to read Balzac without saying goodbye to his Paris settings.If you love a love story, this is a book for you. If you love a story about a city in transition, this is definitely a book for you toread.Comparative Literature at UWM on FacebookThe Comparative Literature Program is now on Facebook! Like Comparative Literature at UWM to keepconnected with the program and receive information about news and upcoming events from your facultyand staff. re-at-UWM/167470999945006

ComparativeLiterature3Student Spotlight– Natalie Worden“I found out about Comp Lit through a former professor who encouraged me to go into the major. As a lover ofliterature, I was amazed that I could actually study it. Combining this with my passion for French, it seemed likea perfect fit. It has truly been a valuable experience.”Alumnus– Christopher Dolloff"After graduating with a degree in comparative literature, I moved to Paris, France, to pursue a master’s degreein technical writing and translation at the Université Paris Diderot. I worked as a teaching assistant in theAcademy of Versailles before starting an internship in an IT company based in Orsay, France. The department ofComparative Literature at UWM strengthened my communication skills and encouraged me to look outside of myown culture."Department OutreachOn Feb. 26 staff gathered to prepare a Beef Stroganoff meal to be served to 29 residents of CapuchinApartments on 25th and Tamarack in Milwaukee. This transition residence is sponsored by HeartlandAlliance, Capuchin Franciscans and Guest House. It provides transitional housing for homeless, people withmental illnesses or those struggling with substance abuse. The meal shared was good for body and soul. Wehope to continue in this outreach.Comparative Literature Reading List for Spring 2012The Egyptian Book of the DeadThe New TestamentNorton Anthology of World MasterpiecesArieti, Silvano- The ParnasBarry, Peter- Beginning TheoryBerenbaum, Michael- The World Must KnowBorn, Daniel, et. Al.- The 7 Deadly Sins SamplerBreton, André- NadjaCalvino, Italo- If on a Winter’s Night a TravelerCamus, Albert- The StrangerChaucer, Geoffrey- The Parson’s TaleConan Doyle, Arthur- Vampire StoriesConnell, Liam/Nicky Marsh (eds)- Literature and GlobalizationDante- PurgatorioDazai, Osamu- No Longer HumanDorfman, Ariel- Death and the MaidenDoria Russell, Mary- A Thread of GraceDostoyevsky, Fyodor- Notes from the UndergroundEgan, Jennifer- A Visit from the Goon SquadEhrman, Bart D.- The New Testament: A Historical Introductionto the Early Christian WritingsGallagher, J. P.- The Scarlet and the BlackGhosh, Amitav- The Calcutta ChromosomeGolding, William- The SpireGreene, Graham- A Burnt-out CaseHearn, Lafcadio- Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange ThingsIshiguro, Kazuo- Pale View of the HillsKafka, Franz— The TrialLevi, Primo- Survival in AuschwitzMalamud, Bernard- The FixerMaugham, Somerset- The Razor’s EdgeMenninger, Karl- Whatever Became of Sin?Murakami, Ryu- Sixty-NineNiemi, Mikael- Popular Music from VittulaO’Conner, Flannery- Wise BloodRyan, Alan- Penguin Book of Vampire StoriesSacco, Joe- But I Like ItSartre, Jean-Paul- No Exit and Three Other PlaysSatrapi, Marjane- Chicken with PlumsSebald, W.G.- AusterlitzShelley, Mary- FrankensteinUgrešić, Dubravka- The Museum of Unconditional SurrenderZuccotti, Susan- The Italians and the HolocaustInvitation to Consider a Comparative Literature Major or MinorComparative Literature is a discipline that will complement whatever course of study students choose and will be an impressive addition to anyRésumé. The skills learned in Comparative Literature classes will benefit beyond reading literature for enjoyment to reading and analyzing journals,history, etc. We would invite you to consider CompLit as a Major (36 Credits of CompLit courses) or Minor (18 Credits of CompLit courses). For moreinformation, talk with your instructor or ask the staff in Curtin 772.