The CHASE Comparative Literature Summer School 2019, which took place from 24 – 26 June, was organised by the Centre for Modern European Literature with the generous support of the Consortium for the Humanities and Arts South-East England (CHASE). This year’s framework was the paradigm of the Global South circulating around the recurring questions ‘Is comparative literature for the globalized age?’ and ‘Whose world exists in world literature?’

The international range of the participants – with projects covering African, Asian, European, and Latin American topics – allowed for insightful discussions addressing the range of research questions, and a panel discussion on the pragmatics of comparative literature addressed questions of employability in world literature studies. This offered participants the opportunity to think about various routes to pursue after PhD completion.

Participant Penny Carthwright described the Summer School as ‘…impressively multilingual. Contributors spanned the more staple Europhone languages of English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese (the latter in European and Latin American contexts), but also Turkish, Mandarin, Bengali, Hindi, Afghani and Persian.’ She also commented that ‘the range and diversity of student projects was remarkable, spanning from old age and the absurd in avant-garde European radio to “Dalit” resistance poetry’.

Participant Lida Amiri commented: ‘The final day of the summer school offered students the platform to present their research embedded in knowledge acquired over the course of the three days. Constructive feedback from academic staff and peers was very insightful, and proved a fittingly stimulating note on which to conclude an invigorating week.’

Dr Patricia Novillo-Corvalan, Head of the Department of Comparative Literature, said: ‘The CHASE-funded 2019 summer school offered intensive training in the principles and practices of comparative and world literature. Following the success of the inaugural CHASE summer school in June 2018, this second iteration built on the first event while taking its intellectual focus in a new direction by prioritising a global South theoretical orientation. Attended by students from all corners of the world, the summer school featured a packed programme of exciting events, including seminars, keynote lectures, round-table discussions, and, on its final day, student presentations. The event undeniably showed that Comparative Literature as a discipline is in great health and I felt extremely privileged to be given the opportunity to train and inspire the next generation of comparatists.’