Comparative Literature, Twenty Years Later
Le Comparatisme, vingt ans après
Trans-. Revue de littérature générale et comparée (Sorbonne Nouvelle), n. 32
Trans-. Revue de littérature générale et comparée (Sorbonne Nouvelle), n. 32
Published on Wednesday, October 02, 2024
Abstract
After a first issue dedicated to critical examination of “Contemporary comparative literature studies” in 2005, the journal invites its contributors to provide a new assessment of contemporary comparative literature studies, whose dynamics the Journal has tried to reflect, by showcasing the diversity of approaches used by young scholars in the field, as well as the academic programs in France and abroad. What redefinitions of comparative literature, of its methods and its challenges are we witnessing? How is our discipline renewing our thinking on otherness, relation and connection to the foreign? This call is part of the current epistemological reflection on the contributions of “general and comparative literature,” coupled with a reflective evaluation of the comparative approach itself.
Announcement
Argument
In 2005, the doctoral students at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle dedicated the first issue of the general and comparative literature journal TRANS- to a critical examination of “Contemporary comparative literature studies”. The 20th anniversary of TRANS- offers us the opportunity to revisit these propositions. The journal thus invites its contributors to provide a new assessment of contemporary comparative literature studies, whose dynamics the Journal has tried to reflect since 2005, by showcasing the diversity of approaches used by young scholars in the field, as well as the academic programs in France and abroad. What redefinitions of comparative literature, of its methods and its challenges are we witnessing? How is our discipline renewing our thinking on otherness, relation and connection to the foreign?
This call is part of the current epistemological reflection on the contributions of “general and comparative literature,” coupled with a reflective evaluation of the comparative approach itself. Around 2005, the first issue of TRANS- was published in a context of epistemological reorientation in comparative literature, driven by the need for global perspectives in the age of globalization. The development of “critical approaches” within comparative studies led to a shift in the questions that had been centered, for nearly half a century, on the ongoing “crisis” of the discipline. This shift sparked debates on the foundations of a genuinely comparative critique. For instance, while the State of the Discipline Reports published every decade by the ACLA testify to comparative literature studies’ increasing openness to non-European cultural areas, enriched by postcolonial and decolonial inputs, the latest report is particularly noteworthy for its pronounced prospective dimension, open to the “futures” of the discipline.
This publication resonates with many recent assessments of the discipline in France and abroad, which have worked in recent years to renew its objects and methods. The six volumes of Le Comparatisme comme approche critique, published by Classiques Garnier following the 20th AILC congress, also demonstrated the richness of recent contributions in general and comparative literature, whether it be thinking about relations with the past or with the otherness (through the lens of translation and cultural transfers), or the relationships between literature and adjacent discourses (notably those of the human and technical sciences). This ambitious and extensive publication allows us to gauge the diversity of comparative approaches. These renewed observations of the vitality and plurality of comparative approaches also reflect the political and ethical potentials of our discipline, which implies an ethics of attention to foreign expressions, marginal and emerging poetic forms, and language as a site of engagement. The necessary boldness of critical engagement is not neglected in this reflection: for example, the outgoing president of the International Comparative Literature Association, Jean Bessière, advocated for “open cognitive approaches” and defended a “dynamic undecidability” capable of sustaining the vitality of our approaches and expanding interdisciplinary approaches to its objects. Undoubtedly, in an era of spatio-temporal fragmentation of cohabitation, in an era of challenges to the notions of alterity and pluralism, comparative literature asserts itself as an essential pathway for understanding not only literary works, but also the world they address.
In response to this call, presentation proposals may follow several directions, outlined below (the list is not exhaustive):
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Comparative knowledge
from a metacritical approach to the contribution of new analytical tools (e.g., digital); the new concepts proposed by theoretical glossaries, or current reinterpretations of older terminologies; more broadly, the role of formal and thematic analyses within comparative studies as an interdisciplinary practice. To what extent do these theoretical and critical contributions renew the understanding of primal, old, issues or issues that have fueled the recent developments of comparative literature (literature and politics, ethics of interpretation, intersections between Gender Studies and literature, Subaltern Studies, etc.)?
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Teaching, dissemination, and mediation
including the institutional and editorial integration of the discipline’s new research dynamics (websites, resources, learned societies, and research groups, etc.); the interactions between literature and various artistic and cultural expressions and practices.
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Comparatism according to the universities and countries where it is practiced
Following the “Guest Universities” sections hosted by the journal TRANS-, one might consider the different ways of approaching the discipline outside of Europe and in postcolonial spaces (Asia, Latin America, Africa), in order to understand the transformations of international comparative literature studies and the means to decentralize hegemonic perspectives. Additionally, one might consider the reconfigurations of the discipline in Europe, in connection with the emerging field of Comparative European Studies. Are there convergences between universities and national research laboratories, or divergences within comparative discourses? What actions should be taken in response to the plurality of attitudes? What role does the linguistic factor play in the unity or diversity of comparative approaches within universities? Are there still cultural or linguistic areas that remain overlooked in comparative studies?
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Critical approaches to cultural transfers and cosmopolitanism
What might be the new branches of comparative studies, amidst the tension between world literature and the supposed “abolition of borders” on one side and composite cultural legacies and identity markers on the other? What political and ethical values does comparative literature engage with in this context? This section may also encompass new critical approaches to multilingualism and translation, seen dynamically as privileged spaces for cultural transfers and zones of conflict and tension.
Submission guidelines
In light of these reflections, issue 32 of TRANS- will also feature a selection of articles developing research in general and comparative literature. These articles, whose themes and topics are open, will be selected based on the rigor of their methodology and a critical reflection on their own comparative approach.
Article proposals (3,000 characters), accompanied by a brief bibliography, must be submitted
by November 15, 2024,
in .DOC or .RTF format to lgcrevue@gmail.com.
In a separate file, contributors must include their personal presentation.
The selected articles are due by March 15, 2025.
We remind you that the journal of general and comparative literature TRANS- accepts articles written in French, English, Spanish, and Italian. The Committee evaluates submissions based on their relevance to the call, the originality of their corpus, their comparative approach, or the quality of their theoretical reflection on the proposed theme. Articles that have been previously published (in an article, book, or book chapter), including in another language, will not be accepted.
Éditorial board
- Maéva BORIS (Sorbonne Nouvelle)
- Carola BORYS (Université de Sienne)
- My-Linh DANG (Sorbonne Nouvelle)
- Antoine DUCOUX (Sorbonne Nouvelle)
- Davide MAGONI (Université de Sienne-Université de Lisbonne)
- Sana M’SELMI (Sorbonne Nouvelle-Université de Jendouba)
- Julie OLIVEIRA DA SILVA
- Carola PAOLUCCI (Sorbonne Nouvelle)
- Luca PENGE (Sorbonne Nouvelle-Université de Rome La Sapienza)
- Cécile ROUSSELET (Université Sorbonne-Nouvelle-Sorbonne-Université)
- Maëlle SAVINA (Sorbonne Nouvelle)
Subjects
- Language (Main category)
- Mind and language > Language > Literature
- Mind and language > Epistemology and methodology
Date(s)
- Friday, November 15, 2024
Keywords
- comparatisme, littérature, méthodologie
Contact(s)
- Carola Borys
courriel : carola [dot] borys [at] unisi [dot] it
Information source
- Carola Borys
courriel : carola [dot] borys [at] unisi [dot] it
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Comparative Literature, Twenty Years Later », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Wednesday, October 02, 2024, https://doi.org/10.58079/12ekc
