CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Article Title

Comparative Literature and Latin American Studies: From Disarticulation to Dialogue

Authors

Sophia A. McClennen, Illinois State University

Abstract

In her paper, "Comparative Literature and Latin American Studies: From Disarticulation to Dialogue," Sophia A. McClennen surveys the profound changes that characterize Latin American cultural studies today. McClennen reads these changes in light of recent transformations in the fields of comparative literature and cultural studies and suggests that scholars in these fields are now in a position to embark on productive dialogue and exchange. Before such interaction takes place, however, McClennen cautions, we should recall why there has historically been little intellectual exchange between comparatists and scholars of Latin American literature. Barriers to exchange between these areas have been: The traditional US-Eurocentric bias of comparative literature, the history of culturally colonizing Latin America, comparative literature's repudiation of inter-Spanish American comparative work, and the different tendencies in critical approaches and methods used by comparative literature scholars versus their counterparts in Latin American Studies. If scholars remain mindful of this history, she argues, there are several key areas of study that would be strengthened and enriched by greater collaboration between comparatists and Latin Americanists and McClennen outlines five key areas of collaborative research.

Recommended Citation

McClennen, Sophia A. "Comparative Literature and Latin American Studies: From Disarticulation to Dialogue." CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 4.2 (2002): <http://dx.doi.org/10.7771/1481-4374.1155>

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