NJU International Fellowship Initiative Lecture

by Vincent Berthelier

Modeling World Literature: Maps and Trees for World Literary Forms

Speaker

Vincent Berthelier

Associate Professor, Université Paris Cité, France; NIFI Scholar

Moderator

Dongbo Liu

Assistant Professor, School of Foreign Studies, Nanjing University; IAS Resident Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies, Nanjing University

Time

7:00 PM, Friday, June 12, 2026

Venue

IAS Lecture Hall, Room C308, School of International Studies, Xianlin Campus

Language

English, with simultaneous interpretation between Chinese and English

Abstract

This lecture offers a theoretical reflection on the objects of world literature as a discipline. It proposes to combine two approaches: first, a formalist approach inherited from French structuralism and stylistics; and second, a materialist and geographical approach inspired by Franco Moretti. Through this combination, literary forms can be objectified through description, situated within specific historical and economic contexts, and represented through visual models.