In what we consider to be a timely collection of essays, the volume Rethinking the Humanities: Paths and Challenges tries to reflect upon the present condition of the humanities and their manifold challenges, acutely dramatized in an era of increasing contingency and globalization. By drawing upon a wide variety of perspectives and areas of research (from literary studies to philosophy, from cultural criticism to the history of ideas), we hope to surpass the now dominant rhetoric of crisis (as it features, for example, in George Steiner's essay 'Humanities - At Twilight?'), not only by devising new horizons for a humanistic-literary culture (Candido de Oliveira Martins) and envisioning literary studies in a Post-literary age (David Damrosch), but also by advocating an ethical turn for the humanities (Peter Levine and Jose Pedro Serra) - seen as an education toward autonomy (Richard Wolin), as well as by reconsidering the very notion of crisis within the humanities (Marjorie Perloff and Antonio Sousa Ribeiro). By doing so, and whilst it does not claim to offer definitive answers, the volume nevertheless strives to open up new fields of debate and innovative perspectives. - The editors
About the Author: Ricardo Gil Soeiro (PhD, Literary Studies) is a researcher at the Research Center for Comparative Studies in the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon, Portugal, where he has taught graduate and postgraduate courses (ranging from contemporary Portuguese literature to the MA course 'Memory and literature in a globalised culture'). His interests include contemporary Portuguese poetry, Holocaust studies, the philosophy of language, ethics, hermeneutics, and memory studies. His publications include Gramatica da Esperanca (Vega, 2009), Iminencia do Encontro (Roma, 2009), collections of poetry and the edited volume O Pensamento tornado danca: estudos em torno de George Steiner (Roma, 2009). His essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in numerous journals and collections, including Ellipsis, Itaca, Impossibilia, and the Journal of Romance Studies. He is the recipient of several national literary and academic awards, including a PEN Prize, awarded in 2010. Sofia Tavares (PhD, Literary Studies) is a researcher at the Research Center for Comparative Studies in the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon, Portugal, and the Director for Strategy and Fundraising at the Cultural Foundation of the University of Coimbra. Her research focuses on Memory Studies, the area in which she has completed her post-doctoral work. At the moment she is working on her first book, entitled Africa, Thereafter . . . Time and Memory in the (Re)construction of the National Cultural Identity.