This project, led by Friederike Pannewick (Freie Universität
Berlin) examines the diverse reception and exchange relationships between the literatures of the Near East and other regions. In 2003-2004 the thematic emphasis will be on WORLD LITERATURE. "World literature" is understood as a phenomenon which, instead of simply perpetuating a canon of exemplary works, aims to establish a genuinely reciprocal discussion and a mutually beneficial exchange between literatures. Literary canons, transnational and pre-national writing and hegemonic discourse will be dealt with as well as cultural syncretism. Another focus will be on the seeming dichotomy of "world literature" crossing borders while remaining dependent on national literatures. Migrations, hybridization, and the undermining of boundaries are
often accompanied by efforts to draw new linguistic, political,
social, religious and poetical dividing lines.

The project Cultural Mobility in Near Eastern Literatures will
bring comparative literature scholars of Middle Eastern philology together with researchers in other philological areas and in cultural studies. The Working Group Modernity and Islam, as an interdisciplinary research network of the federal state of Berlin, is striving to tie regional studies more closely to other disciplines. In several independent projects, the attempt is being made to expand the horizon of Europe's history, its present, and its culture, which currently bears the strong stamp of nineteenth-century national identities. To ensure the inclusion of non-European experiences and perspectives, the Working Group seeks closer cooperation
with researchers from non-European regions in the sense of
"research with, not on."

Deadline for application: 28 February 2003.
Further information