Comp Lit 258: Tragedy and Trauerspiel

Instructor: Professor Victoria Kahn

This course will explore the history and theory of tragedy in antiquity and the early modern period, with special attention to affect theory. Our main theoretical text with be Walter Benjamin’s Trauerspiel book, but we will also read works by Aristotle, Descartes, Mendelssohn, Lessing, Hume, and Auerbach; and tragedies by Euripides, Lohenstein, Shakespeare, Calderon, Corneille, Racine, and Milton. Reading knowledge of French or German is useful but not required.

  • Elective Requirement: This course fulfills the Intellectual History or an elective requirement for the DE in REMS.
  • Schedule, Location and Class Number: Thurs 2-5, Class Number 30621
  • Section Times and Locations: Schedule of Classes