Research Cluster B – Comparativity

Project cluster B focused on similarities and differences between law and literature. The cluster was based on the topic of comparativeness, inasmuch as the notion of comparison was crucial not only for the main disciplines of the CRC, but also for other cultural formations, such as legal and literary practice. The research cluster investigated results and conditions, forms and effects of processes of comparison and their strategies of not only determining similarities and differences, but also claiming their relevance eo ipso. Thus, the cluster also reflected on basic forms of comparison as well as interdisciplinary uses and methods of comparing (comparison of comparisons). As the CRC focused on law and literature, a special focus on the nature of the comparison was absolutely indispensable. Whenever such two notions are brought together, questions regarding their differences and similarities arise. Moreover, the interpretation of the word ‘and’ as ‘as,’ which is a traditional element of the Law-and-Literature movement, necessarily raises the question of how the two relate to and compare with one another.