International Comparative Literature Association
Founded in 1955, the International Comparative Literature Association (ICLA) offers a home to all comparatists in the world and encourages exchange and cooperation among comparatists, both individually and through the collaboration of various national comparative literature associations. To that end the Association promotes literary studies beyond the boundaries of languages and national literary traditions, between cultures and world regions, among disciplines and theoretical orientations, and across genres, historical periods, and media. Its broad view of comparative research extends to the study of sites of difference such as race, gender, sexuality, class, ethnicity, and religion in both texts and the everyday world.
The Association aims to be inclusive and is open to anyone with an academic interest in comparative literature, including writers and artists. It welcomes the participation of graduate students and early-career scholars.
The Association organizes a world congress every three years. It also oversees and supports research committees that reflect the membership’s current interests and meet more regularly to pursue agenda leading to publications in journals and books. The Association’s annual journal Recherche littéraire / Literary Research contains essays and reviews a wide range of scholarship in the field.