A one-day symposium to consider the challenge of 'worlding' comparative literatures, featuring a keynote by Wail S. Hassan (UIUC).

Worlding Comparative Literatures

A one-day symposium organized by the Centre for Worlding Modern Languages, University of Bristol

Humanities Research Space (ARTS 1.H020), School of Humanities, 7 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UJ

Thursday 10 December 2026, 10.15am—5.30pm

Sponsored by the Institute of Languages, Cultures, and Societies and the University of Bristol

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What is the future of comparative literary studies? This one-day symposium brings together researchers working across languages, cultures, and methods, from early-career academics to established scholars. Instead of traditional panels and papers, we offer a more dynamic format of roundtables aimed at maximizing dialogue.

What does ‘world literature’ mean for comparative literature, modern languages, and literary translation? How have the transnational, planetary, and global turns changed the field? How might comparative literary studies recognize the challenges of decolonization, climate change, and AI? What are the ethical stakes of conceptualizing literature on a world scale? And how do we protect deep expertise in a single language and culture – the bedrock of modern languages in the UK – while thinking on a world scale?

The symposium serves in part as a launch for Worlds of Comparative Literature: The ACLA State of the Discipline Report (https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/worlds-of-comparative-literature-9798216447696/) (Bloomsbury, forthcoming 2026), edited by Waïl S. Hassan and Shu-mei Shih. We are delighted that Professor Hassan (https://complit.illinois.edu/directory/profile/whassan) (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), the incoming President of the MLA in 2027, will deliver the keynote address at our symposium based on their volume.

Following the keynote, we will have three roundtables, dedicated to ‘Methods’, ‘Translation’, and ‘Languages’. Rather than delivering standard 20-minute presentations, our speakers will offer 7-8 minute interventions that speak to the questions above in light of their own research. We hope that this format will lead to genuine dialogue between our speakers, while leaving plenty of room for audience participation.

This event is free to attend and all are welcome, but please sign up here.

Enquiries about the event should be directed to connor.doak@bristol.ac.uk.

Description supplied by the event organiser.