Practices of Comparing

Practices of comparing shape how we perceive, organize, and change the world. Supposedly innocent, practices of comparing play a decisive role in forming categories, boundaries, and hierarchies; but they can also give an impetus to question and change such structures. Like almost no other human practice, comparing pervades all social, political, economic, and cultural spheres. This volume outlines the program of a new research agenda that places comparative practices at the center of an interdisciplinary exploration. Its contributions combine case studies with overarching systematic considerations. They show what insights can be gained and which further questions arise when one makes a seemingly trivial practice - comparing - the subject of in-depth research.

Angelika Epple, born 1966, is vice-rector for International Affairs and Diversity at Universität Bielefeld and teaches history with a focus on the history of the 19th and 20th century. Numerous stays abroad and guest lectureships have taken her to the Università de Bologna (Italy), the Universidad de Guadalajara (Mexico), the University of Notre Dame (USA), and the Wesleyan University (USA). Since January 2017, she has been the spokesperson of the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1288, »Practices of Comparing«.
Walter Erhart, born 1959, teaches German literature at Universität Bielefeld. Since 2017, he has been vice-speaker of the Collaborative Research Center on Practices of Comparing. His research focuses on German literature from the 18th to the 20th century and practices of comparing in world travel literature and in autobiographical writing.
Johannes Grave, born 1976, is a professor of art history at the Department of Art History and Film Studies at the Friedrich-Schiller- Universität Jena. His research focuses on theories of the image, the temporality of pictures and of their perception, practices of comparing, art, art theory, and art history around 1800, as well as Italian paintings of the early Renaissance.