S P E C I F I C AT I O N S October 2018 -i2l9lii87l7SS-l2ZZu,,9n996ZbmU4Zu,,9n996ZA64Zg2Sn99ZZ150r$ hZBZ-ZZ8ih33 a:00£ZoDot5oT5a S P E C I F I C AT I O N S November 2018 -i2l9lii87l77,8lhZZu,,9n996ZbmU4Zu,,9n996ZA64Zg2Sn99ZZ150r$ hZBZ-ZZ8,c33ZZ,7Z3$0r0. a:00£ZoDot5oT5a Since its beginning, Comparative Literature has been characterized as a discipline in crisis. But its shifting boundaries are its strength, allowing for collaboration and growth and illuminating a path forward. In Comparative Literature for the New Century a diverse group of scholars argue for a distinct North American approach to literary studies that includes the promotion of different languages. Chapters by senior scholars such as George Elliott Clarke, E.D. Blodgett, and Sneja Gunew are placed in dialogue with those by younger scholars, including Dominique Hétu, Maria Cristina Seccia, and Ndeye Fatou Ba. The writers, many of whom are multilingual, discuss problems with translation, identity and belonging, the modern epic, the role of tradition, minority writ- ing, Francophone and Anglophone novels in Africa, and politics in literature. Engaging with theory, history, media studies, psychology, translation studies, post-colonial studies, and gender studies, chapters exemplify how the knowl- edge and tools offered by Comparative Literature can be applied in reading, exploring, and understanding not only literary productions but also the world at large. Presenting some of the most current work being carried out by academics and scholars actively engaged in the field in Canada and abroad, Comparative Literature for the New Century promotes the value of Comparative Literature as an interdisciplinary study and assesses future directions it might take. Giulia De Gasperi is an independent scholar, editor, and translator living in Prince Edward Island. Joseph Pivato is professor emeritus in literary studies at Athabasca University. Is Superman Canadian? Who decides, and what is at stake in such a ques- tion? How is the Underground Railroad commemorated differently in Canada and the United States, and can those differences be bridged? How can we acknowledge properly the Canadian labour behind Hollywood film- making, and what would that do to our sense of national cinema? Reading between the Borderlines grapples with these questions and others surrounding the production and consumption of literary, cinematic, musical, visual, and print culture across the Canada-US border. Discussing a range of popular as well as highbrow cultural forms, this collection investigates pat- terns of cross-border cultural exchange that become visible within a variety of genres, regardless of their place in any arbitrarily devised cultural hierar- chy. The essays also consider the many interests served, compromised, or negated by the operations of the transnational economy, the movement of culture’s “raw material” across nation-state borders in literal and conceptual terms, and the configuration of a material citizenship attributed to or negoti- ated around border-crossing cultural objects. Challenging the oversimplification of cultural products labelled either “Canadian” or “American,” Reading between the Borderlines contends with the particularities and complications of North American cultural exchange, both historically and in the present. Gillian Roberts is associate professor of North American cultural studies at the University of Nottingham and author of Discrepant Parallels: Cultural Implications of the Canada-US Border. 3 8 M Q U P F A L L 2 0 1 8 Comparative Literature for the New Century edited by giulia de gasperi and joseph pivato Foreword by Linda Hutcheon Arguing for a pluralistic approach to the study of lit- erature and different languages. C U LT U R A L S T U D I E S • C A N A D I A N S T U D I E S C O M P A R AT I V E L I T E R AT U R E Reading between the Borderlines Cultural Production and Consumption across the 49th Parallel edited by gillian roberts An investigation into how culture is made, moved, and used across the Canada-US border.