A Journey to a “Lost Center”: Studying Complete Literary Texts in the Programme of Greek Studies at the Open University of Cyprus

Abstract

This paper sets forth the educational advantages of and the issues deriving from the study of complete literary works of the classical, Byzantine and post-Byzantine period (or substantial parts thereof) as taught in several undergraduate courses at the Programme of Studies in Greek Culture of the Open University of Cyprus. The authors unpack the criteria of prescribing particular texts, the opportunities offered to students for getting acquainted with what literary analysis is about, but also the complications which may hamper the teaching of literature in a distance-learning Programme. Before selecting the academic year’s syllabus, the tutors must weigh the pros and cons of a particular text in terms of representing a certain period and a certain genre in the history of literature. They must also mind the balance between established prose works or poems and other, lesser-known ones which are still of importance. The learning outcomes to be expected are significant: for instance, the students are familiarised with periods and genres heretofore unknown or underappreciated. Furthermore, students who in the past treated literature with indifference learn to appreciate the value and the pleasure of reading. Fulfilling, however, these aims is contingent upon the educational material the course would be based on, the quantity and the quality of contacts between the tutor and his/her students, as well as the utilisation of technology which has been put in the service of the Open and Distance-Learning Education.