About Comparative Literature

Having recently been designated the official journal of the American Literature Association (ACLA), Comparative Literature is the oldest U.S. journal in its field. "Founded," according to the original 1949 masthead, "at a time when the strengthening of good international relations is of paramount importance," the journal was created by a group of American scholars in part to replace Revue de litterature comparée, which had been forced to suspend publication during the Second World War. After several attempts to locate this new journal at other universities failed, Chandler Beall, a Professor of Romance languages at the University of Oregon, convinced its President, Harry K. Newburn, to finance Comparative Literature for a trial period of three years. Comparative Literature has remained the property, and been under the direction, of the University of Oregon since that time.

Chandler Beall became the first editor of Comparative Literature; Werner P. Friederich served as associate editor. The original editorial board had only five members: Helmut Hatzfeld, Victor Lange, Harry Levin, Austin Warren, and René Wellek. The inaugural issue opened with René Wellek's article, "The Concept of 'Romanticism' in Literary History," and closed with Ulrich Leo's admiring review of Erich Auerbach's Mimesis. ("One may see in Auerbach's beautiful book not only a seal on a philological past, but also a beacon to a philological future," he enthused.)  In between, readers encountered Ernst Robert Curtius, discussing "Antike Rhetorik und vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft," and Auerbach, himself, reviewing the work of a Leo Spitzer whose scholarship, Auerbach explained, sometimes succumbed to dangers--"overinterpretation, propensity to speculative combinations, and indiscriminate use of general terms"--characteristic of a "temperament more spontaneous and creative than self-critical."

Since that first issue Comparative Literature has of course evolved--expanded, really--in ways that have reflected changes in the field it represents: the advent of the "new criticism" in the early 1950s, the growing influence of (mostly French) literary theory in the late 60s and 70s, the "globalization" of comparative literary studies in the 80s and 90s, among them.   Currently, the journal has approximately 2400 subscribers, over 400 of whom reside outside the United States.  As in the past, our editors and editorial board are sympathetic to a broad range of theoretical and critical approaches.  We welcome submissions that explore important issues of literary history not confined to a single national literature or address significant problems in literary theory. 

For detailed information regarding subscription rates, submissions, journal policies, and recent and forthcoming articles, please follow the links below: