About the Department of Comparative Literature

About the Department

The Department of Comparative Literature serves as a space for dialogue between Serbian national literature and other European literary traditions. It emphasizes critical reflection on literature within broader social and artistic frameworks, including the visual arts, film, philosophy, sociology, cultural studies, and gender studies. The Department’s academic staff includes scholars with significant international experience, evidenced by research fellowships, invited lectures, visiting professorships, and workshops at universities across Europe and North America (Ljubljana, Zagreb, Barcelona, Halle, Giessen, Bamberg, Regensburg, London, Graz, Innsbruck, Toronto, Chicago, Szeged, Alicante, Frankfurt). The Department is committed to fostering an inclusive academic environment that supports diverse perspectives, critical engagement, and ethical research and pedagogy.

Founded in 2000 by Professors Miodrag Radović, Nikola Strajnić, and Zoran Konstantinović, the Department of Comparative Literature with Literary Theory is one of the youngest at the Faculty. Notable former faculty members include Professors Jovan Popov (2000–2007) and Sofija Košničar (2003–2018). Since its founding, 164 students have earned their Bachelor's degrees and 61 their Master's degrees. Alumni of the Department have pursued successful careers in writing, education, cultural work, publishing, translation, marketing, and business, representing the program’s diversity and applied value.

The Department is particularly active in areas such as the history and theory of comparative literature, cultural memory studies, translation theory, and the intersections of literature with philosophy and visual culture. Recent initiatives have also explored socialist and post-socialist cultural legacies and transnational literary relations.

Program and Students

Each year, the undergraduate program admits 20 students (15 state-funded and 5 self-funded). The accredited BA program (since 2015) includes four groups of one-semester courses: general academic, theoretical-methodological, professional, and applied-professional. The curriculum places strong emphasis on student participation and continuous assessment. It offers a range of courses in comparative literary theory, world and national literatures approached through both diachronic and thematic-problematic perspectives. The program fosters critical thinking, interdisciplinarity, and dialogic learning. Students also take courses in art history, philosophy, pedagogical and methodological modules, media studies, Serbian language and general linguistics, two foreign languages, and information literacy.

The curriculum is designed to familiarize students with current trends in literary and cultural interpretation and to develop practical skills for work in education, cultural institutions, media, and publishing. Graduates of the program have demonstrated adaptability in various professional contexts. The Master's program accepts 20 students per year and qualifies graduates to teach literature in secondary education. Students from other philological and humanities programs across Serbia may also apply. The doctoral module in Comparative Literature is offered within the Language and Literature PhD program.

Research

Faculty members have published widely in the fields of literary theory, modern and contemporary European literature, comparative poetics, and critical theory, with articles and books appearing in both regional and international venues.

Under the leadership of Prof. Bojana Stojanović Pantović, the Department conducted a research project funded by the Ministry of Science of the Republic of Serbia (2006–2010): “A Theoretical and Historical Overview of Comparative Terminology among Serbian Scholars.” The project included colleagues from other departments at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad and the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade and resulted in the publication of a glossary, Overview Dictionary of Comparative Terminology in Literature and Culture (2011). Members of the Department are currently engaged in the national research project “Aspects of Identity and Their Formation in Serbian Literature,” led by Prof. Svetlana Tomin. The Department also took part in the international project Media and Memory (DAAD, 2010–2013) and in the East Looks West initiative coordinated by the University of London. In 2018, the Department organized the international workshop “Did Yugoslav Literature Exist?” (in cooperation with the Universities of Nottingham and Belgrade), which led to the publication of Yugoslav Literature: Past, Present, and Future of a Contested Concept (2019). A current bilateral project with Slovenia, “Student Movements in Slovenian and Serbian Literature: Avant-Garde Theories and Practices,” is led on the Serbian side by Prof. Stojanović Pantović.

International Cooperation

Committed to the internationalization of education and research, the Department actively supports student and staff mobility through Erasmus+ and CEEPUS programs. At least 10% of students have participated in mobility opportunities at all levels of study. Exchanges have been realized with partner institutions in Graz, Halle, Bologna, Bamberg, Jaén, Alicante, Madrid, Bordeaux, Kraków, Poznań, Gdańsk, Opole, Vienna, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Prague, and others. These experiences allow students to strengthen language skills and engage with contemporary literature and theoretical developments in the field. The Department also hosts incoming students from universities in Poland, Hungary, and Germany, fostering intercultural dialogue and comparative approaches to literature. It regularly organizes guest lectures and public talks, and its faculty members are active participants in international conferences and collaborative research initiatives.

Library

Students of Comparative Literature have access to a departmental library containing over 39,000 publications relevant to their coursework and research. In addition, they benefit from the resources of the Central Library of the Faculty of Philosophy. Print and digital catalogs provide access to a wide array of materials, and dedicated library staff are available to assist with research and academic work. The library facilities support students in preparing for classes, exams, and the writing of seminar papers, theses, and dissertations.

Contact Information

E-mail: komparativna@ff.uns.ac.rs
Tel: 485-3873