Why Valeurs? Comparative Literature in Mid-Century Alexandria

Abstract

"Since comparative literature makes pedagogy and research indissociable, it is apt to dwell on literary transnationalism as a form of pedagogy, particularly in the work of wandering scholars who create international networks. This article will focus on the Francophone scholars working in Alexandria in the 1940s, placing Étiemble in the centre. The article will analyze the reception of the work of these intellectuals in Arabic, French, and English periodicals and memoirs of the time; and it will suggest some ways in which the pedagogical heritage of comparative literature overseas might be relevant to current discussions of world literature."