Literature and the Meaning of Life

Faculteit—

NiveauBachelor

Studiejaar2026-2027

Beschrijving

Course goals

After completing this course students will:

Articulate in class discussions and written assignments interpretive insights about literary texts that thematize meaning-of-life topics;
Translate personal insights obtained through engaging with the primary texts and with meaning-of-life topics into valuable insights for academic conversations and research;
Prepare and perform in small groups student chaired sessions based on a seminar plan with different work forms, questions and exercises;
Integrate historical, philosophical, contemplative and literary knowledge in contextualized and critically informed interpretations of literary texts;
Independently produce effective comparative analyses involving two or more literary works studied in the course.

Relationship between assessment and learning goals:

Assignment	Assesses which course aims?
Class participation and personal reflection Chairing a session Essay plan Comparative research paper	1,2,4 3 1,2,4,5 1,2,4,5

Content

The School of Life website states that “to wonder about the meaning of life is an extremely important activity,” which requires taking “a range of practical steps ... to ensure we end up leading lives of maximal meaningfulness.” One of the things we can do is to turn to literature and see what it has to say about a life worth living, about life’s purpose, about what it means to have a calling or to lead an authentic life. After all, literary texts have been valued across history and culture for the unique ways in which they engage with these kinds of questions. Different from most philosophical writing, for example, literary prose tends to show how particular circumstances, convictions, and choices play out in individuals’ lives. By illuminating patterns through these particulars, while at the same leaving much to the imagination literature invites readers to bring themselves to the text. Thus, narrative representations pertaining to the meaning of life may help readers to make sense of their own experiences and inform their lived sense of meaning in life. Doing this kind of work is significant, for, as suggested by empirical research, leading a life that is experienced as being meaningful contributes to overall well-being.

In this course we study (excerpts of) literary texts from the late 19th century to the present day, that propose a variety of crucial different meaning-of-life insights and meaning-in-life potentialities, all of which resonate to some extent with ideas from meaning-providing wisdom traditions (e.g., Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Sufism) and philosophical movements (e.g., existentialism and perennialism). Each work is furthermore explored in conjunction with thought-provoking intertexts. For example, we read Etty Hillesum alongside Rainer Maria Rilke and Martin Buber, and engage with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in conjunction with interviews with Maya Angelou and speeches by James Baldwin.

Format

Exploration and discussion of the primary texts takes place in sets of three meetings, namely a lecture, a student chaired session, and a seminar. The lectures introduce the primary texts and illuminate intertextual relationships. Chaired sessions are prepared and run by students collaborating in small groups that put together a seminar plan with different work forms and exercises. In the seminars we discuss questions that students submit weekly and we engage comparatively with the literature and meaning-of-life theories. Students receive instruction on chairing sessions, collaboration, the comparative analysis of literary texts and the essay plan. Assessment is based on class participation, chairinga session, weekly discussion questions, a reading journal, an essay plan, and a final research paper that offers a comparative analysis of two (or more) works of literature discussed during the course. Students provide and receive peer feedback on the chaired sessions and the essay plans. The instructor provides formative feedback on the chaired session, the essay plan and the final paper.

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