The common ground of literary and area studies lies in our joint focus on questions of comparison. At the root of our academic activity is the characterization of similarity and difference, be it cultural, political, linguistic or aesthetic. Issues of comparability are visible in shared anxieties regarding the origins and directions of our disciplines. In our overlapping pursuit of self-definition we depend on each other for collaboration and provocation.
In analyzing texts and cultures, our approaches can be seen as complementary or discordant. What is lost when Area Studies leaves literary and theoretical work to Comparative Literature? Conversely, is the political urgency and historical rigor of Area Studies lost in Comparative Literature? With our conference we aim to foster productive dialogue among disciplines by together exploring problems of comparison and comparability, both philosophical and methodological. In theory and practice, we are all led to compare, to define ourselves in terms of the Other (or to strive against such definition). What motivates and conditions this desire? How does it play out in our work?
To these ends, papers should address the following or related questions and themes: