MICHAEL ALLAN
comparative literature/cinema/media
My research and teaching explore the aesthetic and technological forms through which worlds are imagined. Postcolonial literature and histories of reading; world cinema and colonial archives; and global media and information systems.
Professor, University of Oregon / Editor-in-Chief, Comparative Literature
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Cinema before the World (Fordham 2026)
At the crossroads of film theory and history, the book traces cinema’s transnational beginnings through the Lumière Brothers’ cinematograph. It tracks a camera operator’s journey across North Africa and the Middle East to reveal how early film shaped new modes of seeing and understanding the world.
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The Cambridge Companion to Modern Arabic Literature (Cambridge 2026)
A comprehensive collection that analyzes modern Arabic literature and traces the histories, movements, and critical questions that have shaped the field from the nineteenth century to the present.
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In the Shadow of World Literature (Princeton 2016)
The book examines world literature as a disciplinary force that transforms reading practices, ethical frameworks, and notions of subjectivity. The various chapters highlight how literary practices mediate between religious, scientific, and aesthetic traditions.