Imagology is a branch of comparative literature. More specifically, it is concerned with "the study of cross-national perceptions and images as expressed in literary discourse".[1] While it adopts a constructivist perspective on national stereotypes and national character, it does emphasize that these stereotypes may have real social effects. It was developed in the 1950s with practitioners in France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.[2][3] It never gained much of a foothold in anglophone academia. This may be attributed to imagology's skewed relationship[clarification needed] to Edward Said's influential Orientalism, which is much better known in this context.[3]
- ^ Horn, Masja (1 January 1992). "Studia Imagologica". Brill. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
- ^ "On Imagology". Imagologica. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- ^ a b Wesseling, Elisabeth (2019). "Imagology and Children's Literature: Beyond Intellectual Parochialism". In Dettmar, U.; Roeder, C.; Tomkowiak, I. (eds.). Jahrbuch of the Geselschaft für Kinder- und Jugendliteratur. Studien zu Kinder- und Jugendliteratur und -medien. Vol. 1. Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler. pp. 171–179. doi:10.1007/978-3-476-04850-9_11. ISBN 978-3-476-04849-3.