Paperback reprint. Originally published: 2020.
David Damrosch Book order
David Damrosch is a leading scholar of comparative and world literature, whose work spans from antiquity to the present day. He delves into the evolution and transformation of literary genres, exploring the historical and cultural contexts that shape the creation and dissemination of literary works. His research illuminates how to read and understand world literature on a global scale, emphasizing the interconnectedness of literary traditions across cultures and centuries. He also addresses the academic environment and pedagogical approaches within literary studies.
- 2022
- 2021
A transporting voyage around the globe through classic and modern literary works in conversation with one another and the world. Inspired by Jules Verne's Phileas Fogg, David Damrosch, chair of Harvard's Department of Comparative Literature, explores eighty exceptional books to counter pandemic travel restrictions. His literary journey spans from London to Venice, Tehran, and beyond, featuring authors from Woolf and Dante to Nobel laureates like Orhan Pamuk, Wole Soyinka, Mo Yan, and Olga Tokarczuk. Damrosch examines how these works shape our understanding of the world and how the world influences literature. He highlights the duality of writers' experiences: their personal lives and the literary canon that informs them. His cartography includes contemporary works, timeless classics, gritty crime fiction, and enchanting fantasy, along with formative tales that introduce us to the world. Collectively, these eighty titles provide fresh perspectives on enduring issues, from the social impacts of epidemics to rising inequality, as explored by Thomas More in Utopia, and the patriarchal struggles faced by many heroines, from Murasaki Shikibu to Margaret Atwood. This exploration invites readers to look beyond themselves and perceive their world and its literature in new ways.