This course attempts to, through the eyes of literature, explore and discuss the major themes that encompass many aspects of humanity and the society and world that we live in - human existence, relationship among self, society and the state, the meaning of war, identity in the change of time, romance and love, documenting history, and finding one's voice in the colonial and postmodern world. Students will be guided through a critical reading of the representative literary works from both Western and Asian traditions, and attention will be paid to the ways in which different literary forms help convey and reflect on these ideas and themes.