Comp Lit and Linguistics?

conticuere
Sat, 10 May 2008 02:08:40 +0000

Strange question, because the two departments could not be more different. Linguistics is a science, almost a social science. Comparative Literature involves the study of literature in the original language, but it is not centered on the study of language as such; often comparatists begrudge the fact that they must learn the languages required of them. In your freshman year, you should shop a course in the Literature major and a course in the Linguistics major and you will quickly observe the dramatic difference between the two.

That said, the literature major is truly outstanding (for the most part). Many people end up not majoring in literature simply because of the language requirement, so if you like language and literature, it is the department for you.

The comparative literature faculty at Yale is a collection of professors who mostly have joint appointments in other departments, such as English, Classics, German, French, Spanish and Portuguese, and even Philosophy. No two comparatists are alike; that said, if you are interested in German at Yale you should release that the department has recently strengthened and has become heavily theoretical. If you don’t like theory this might turn you off.

I should also note that the department is undergoing some changes right now so if you should find yourself at Yale in the fall of 2010 or or 2009 you might observe that it is very, very different from how it is now. Please feel free to PM me if you have any other questions about Comparative Literature.