July 15, 2010
President David Naylor
Simcoe Hall, room 206
27 King¹s College Circle
University of Toronto
Dear President Naylor:
I am writing as a U of T alum to express my displeasure and incomprehension at the recently announced plan to disestablish the Centre for Comparative Literature at U. of T. In my view this is an unwise move, not because of the Centre¹s illustrious past (though it is indeed illustrious) but because the gesture points to a failure to understand the role of Comparative Literature in the new global culture of the 21st century.
Comparative Literature is, succinctly put, the study of literature and culture beyond national linguistic borders. In the emerging global, multi-lingual civilization that is ours Comparative Literature provides the laboratory for thinking about how we are to understand our culture. In the current moment it is, in fact, the more traditional so-called "national" literature departments (English, French, Spanish) that have become somewhat obsolete, as the old unified national cultures have been invaded by immigrant experiences and as peoples traverse the planet with ever greater frequency. Even the French are starting to think of themselves as part of a multi-lingual Europe! In twenty years an entire generation of Europeans, Asians, and Latin Americans will have grown up with at least two languages and the old notions of "French" or "English" or "Japanese" culture will be in the dustbin. In other words, if you want U of T to be in the forefront, you should build Comparative Literature not disband it. Or, better yet, work out a new synergy between the various language programs, in which the borders between disciplines become more flexible and permeable and Comp. Lit. provides the motor. That would be a way to move U of T ahead.
I stress the importance of Comparative Literature, in some form, for the future, because in my view most top universities are actually building in this area. I sit on the Advisory Council of the Princeton Comparative Literature Department and at our last meeting President Tigham stressed that Comp. Lit. was at the center of her vision of the Humanities at Princeton for the 21st century. Here, as elsewhere, she¹s very wise. At Stanford, where I have been a visitor several times, Comparative Literature serves as a kind of hub in a new umbrella organization that combines the study of literature and culture across languages. My guess is that one could find similar instances of the dynamic centrality of this field in the humanities, and even in the social sciences (anthropology, history) across the continent.
My own experience at U of T, which dates to the early 1980s, was very important to me. I received training there, in both Comp. Lit. and various national language departments that formed the ground for my entire career. My first teaching experience, in VIC 110, the "Literary Studies Major" under Cyrus Hamlin and Patricia Parker (both, alas, now teaching elsewhere) was the best teaching experience I¹ve ever had and the structure of VIC 110 is something I¹ve longed to recreate at Berkeley.
We all recognize the extreme pressures that the present economic situation places on university administrators. However crises are also opportunities, and I trust that you will be prudent and creative in your decisions. I certainly hope that an exciting and dynamic Comparative Literature program will continue to figure in your plans. If so, it will continue to add luster to the greatness of the University of Toronto.
With best wishes,
Timothy Hampton
Professor of French and Bernie H. Williams Professor of Comparative Literature
U.C. Berkeley
