“Pourquoi ces choses et non pas d’autres?”

Abstract

Taking a short quotation from Le Mariage de Figaro by Beaumarchais as motto, this article reflects on important issues of comparative literature, namely, questions of inclusion and exclusion in the delimitation of the discipline’s boundaries. In the context of recent discussions on the shifting role and modes of attention in contemporary society (and following Bernard Stiegler), it argues that the issue can be seen in broad terms as a matter of attention and its techniques, and that comparative literature can be understood as both the practical and theoretical study of attention. Finally, it briefly considers the pivotal role of listmaking within the material productions of comparative literature (canons, syllabi, anthologies) as manifestations of this attentional identity.

Keywords

• canon
• anthology
• crisis
• catalogue
• boundary