David Damrosch

David Damrosch is Professor of Literature and Comparative Literature at Harvard University and has written widely on world literature from antiquity to the present. He is the author of numerous publications, including What Is World Literature? (2003), and How to Read World Literature (2008). He is the founding general editor of the six-volume Longman Anthology of World Literature (2009), the editor of Teaching World Literature (2009) and co-editor of The Text and the World: A Comparative Literature Sourcebook (2009). In What is World Literature? Prof. Damrosch discusses how literary works evolve as they cross temporal and spatial borders, and finds that, as texts move between cultural spheres, world literature gains in the process of translation. He has been instrumental in reviving and innovating the Goethean concept of “world literature”, arguing that it should be perceived as a “mode of global circulation and reading” rather than a specific set of texts. His current research projects include the cultural history of the conquest of Mexico and its colonial aftermath, and a book on the role of global scripts in the formation of national literatures.

Workshop with Professor Damrosch

Prof. David Damrosch
Prof. Dr. Thomas Claviez, University of Bern, Moderator

Registration is required for the Distinguished Lectures Series Workshop featuring the invited speaker (for contact details, please see below). After a short introduction round of the participants, the workshop is structured in three parts. Part 1 allows participants to ask questions related to the speaker’s lecture. Part 2 serves discussing a text by the invited speaker that participants receive as preparatory reading to the workshop. Part 3 offers the opportunity to bring up topics of discussion related to one’s own research or interest.

Date: October 11th, 2011
Time: 9:30 – 12:15
Place: University of Bern, Haus der Universtiät, Schlösslistrasse 5

Organization:

Prof. Dr. Thomas Claviez, thomas.claviez@ens.unibe.ch
For all organizational details, please contact dls@wbkolleg.unibe.ch

Registration Workshop:                       

dls@wbkolleg.unibe.ch