Comparative Literature


Literatures and cultures from across the world in dialogue

The Department of Comparative Literature brings into sharper focus literatures and cultures from around the world by holding them under a comparative light. It expands the boundaries of national traditions and bring them in dialogue with each other. 

Our curriculum seeks to prepare students for reading and research in the languages and histories of different societies and periods. It also emphasized cultural and critical analysis, literary theory and interdisciplinarity. Literary theory in all its forms helps to break down the borders between national literary fields, as well as between literary studies and other disciplines. Indeed, the discipline of Comparative Literature asks, often, just what "literature" is, and how it functions as a product of (and response to) our imaginations, our languages, and our social and economic lives. Students in our courses, majors in the department, and graduate students in the Ph.D. program all interact to shape debates about the place of the verbal and visual arts (and the methods of their study) in past times and our own.

Statement on Sexual Harassment and Retaliation

Comparative Literature condemns sexual harassment and sexual violence unequivocally. Such behavior is inimical to a productive learning environment and incompatible with the values of our department and discipline. We pledge to oppose such behavior, just as we promise to work with appropriate university offices to accommodate, support, and protect any student who is a survivor of sexual harassment or sexual violence or has been a victim of retaliation.

Upcoming Events

June
2
Date
Friday, June 2, 2023, 3:00am - 4:30pm
Location:
Building 260, Pigott Hall
450 Jane Stanford Way, Building 260, Stanford, CA 94305
Rm 312

Language Teaching is a core part of all the DLCL doctoral tracks.

June
18
Date
Sunday, June 18, 2023, 12:30pm - 3:30pm
Location:
Dinkelspiel Auditorium & Oregon Courtyard at Pigott Hall

Congratulations to all our graduating students!
 
The Division will host our Diploma Ceremony and Reception on Sunday, June 18, 2023.
 

News

Here are the forms to submit papers to the DLCL Undergraduate Academic Prizes for Academic Year 2022-2023.
Congratulations to Cintia Santana whose poem, “The sentinel speaks to me on the post-apocalyptic dance floor” was selected by final judge Jane Wong for inclusion in the 2023 Best of the Net Anthology.
Jin Yun Chow, a Stanford Ph.D. candidate in comparative literature, credits finding her passion and academic success to good teachers and advisors. To help others find great mentors and mentees in high school projects ranging from fashion history to…