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 writing, 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 knowledge 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. Contributors include George Elliott Clarke (University of Toronto), Dominique Hétu (Alberta & Montreal), Monique Tschofen (Ryerson), Jolene Armstrong (Athabasca), E.D. Blodgett (Alberta), Ndeye Fatou Ba (Ryerson), Maria Cristina Seccia (Hull), Sneja Gunew (UBC), Deborah Saidero (Udine), Elizabeth Dahab (CSULB), Gaetano Rando (Wollongong), Anna Pia De Luca (Udine), Mark A. McCutcheon (Athabasca), Giulia De Gasperi (PEI), and Joseph Pivato (Athabasca).

Articles in this volume focus on theories and histories of comparative literature and the field of comparative cultural studies. Contributors are Kwaku Asante-Darko on African postcolonial literature; Hendrik Birus on Goethe's concept of world literature; Amiya Dev on comparative literature in India; Marian Galik on interliterariness; Ernst Grabovszki on globalization, new media, and world literature; Jan Walsh Hokenson on the culture of the context; Marko Juvan on literariness; Karl S.Y. Kao on metaphor; Kristof Jacek Kozak on comparative literature in Slovenia; Manuela Mourao on comparative literature in the USA; Jola Skulj on cultural identity; Slobodan Sucur on period styles and theory; Peter Swirski on popular and highbrow literature; Antony Tatlow on textual anthropology; William H. Thornton on East/West power politics in cultural studies; Steven Totosy on comparative cultural studies; and Xiaoyi Zhou and Q.S. Tong on comparative literature in China. The papers are followed by an index and a bibliography of scholarship in comparative literature and cultural studies compiled by Steven Totosy, Steven Aoun, and Wendy C. Nielsen.