HEMISPHERIC STUDIES BEYOND SUSPICION

Abstract

This essay explores the transformation of academic inter-Americanism from a “Literature of the Americas” founded by Comparative Literature (1982-2000) into a U.S.-centered “Hemispheric Studies” field as defined by English and American Studies (1998-present).  The author argues that the subtraction of languages and literatures in the interest of sociological and U.S. hemispheric approaches is largely responsible for the disappearance of Latin America from Hemispheric Studies.  The essay considers a return to literatures in order to reenergize an international and multilingual field—a comparative literature of the Americas.