BOOK REVIEW: DAVID DAMROSCH, “COMPARING THE LITERATURES: LITERARY STUDIES IN A GLOBAL AGE”, PRINCETON: PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2021, 392 P.

Abstract

Harvard professor of comparative literature, director of the World Literature Institute, and researcher in comparative studies, David Damrosch is one of the “founding figures” of World Literature. His latest work, Comparing the Literatures, published in 2020, seems to start from the following idea: “Comparative literature today is experiencing a paradigm shift of the sort that occurs only once or twice in a century, and an effective response will require us to rethink the grounds of comparison from the ground up” (5). This study may appeal to all those interested in engaging in comparative approaches, regardless of their field. Thus, Comparing the Literatures is announced as a book about the comparative method.