COML 3075

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  • Schedule of Classes - October 15, 2026 7:07PM EDT

COML 3075
Epic Form and the Inhuman

Course information provided by the 2026-2027 Catalog.

What symbolic forms might be adequate to phenomena of such inhuman scale as the sixth extinction or the catastrophic climate change of the Anthropocene? Revisiting important literary theoretical discourses on the epic and the realist novel through the lens of Amitav Ghosh’s argument that the realist novel actively occludes the realities of its time and that its form forecloses the non-human, this course will investigate the affordances of epic form, myth and fable for modes of apprehending and representating the inhuman. Materials will range from ancient and medieval epic to contemporary novels, films and anime with special attention to the challenging work of Guyanese writer Wilson Harris. Authors may include Homer, Dante, Han Kang, Flaubert, Miyazaki, Lukacs, Walter Benjamin, Benh Zeitlin and Wilson Harris.


Distribution Requirements (ALC-AS, GLC-AS)

Last 4 Terms Offered (None)

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ENGL 3075

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  6106 COML 3075   SEM 101

  •  
    • TR
    • Jan 25 - May 11, 2027

    • Melas, N

  • Instruction Mode: In Person