Comparative Literature -- Its Current Situation and Theoretical Perplexities

Professor Saussy has a range of scholarly interests, including Chinese poetry, literature, aesthetics and culture. His published articles explore a wide variety of topics such as Chinese musicology, the history of the idea of oral literature, Haitian literature, health care for the poor and contemporary art. In his first book, The Problem of a Chinese Aesthetic, he applied a new model of comparative literature. In his book, Great Walls of Discourse and Other Adventures in Cultural China, he examines the ways that assumptions and consensus within a discipline affect collective thinking about the object of study. We talk with Professor Saussy about comparative literature -- its current situation and theoretical perplexities.