Ben Hutchinson, Comparison and its Discontents

Comparative literature is the most capacious of categories. But it is also a misnomer: it should really be called comparative literary studies. This lecture will explore what it would mean to take the term literally. What is comparative literature?

Ben Hutchinson is Professor of European Literature and Director of the University of London Institute in Paris. He is the author of seven books, including Lateness and Modern European Literature (2016), Comparative Literature: A Very Short Introduction (2018), The Midlife Mind (2020), and On Purpose (2023). He is a Phillip Leverhulme Prize winner and member of the Academy of Europe, as well as a Consulting Editor at the Times Literary Supplement.

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Host or Publisher University of London Institute in Paris