Sima Reinisch holds a Bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature and Philosophy from Freie Universität Berlin, where she is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Comparative Literature. She receives a scholarship from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes). Since 2015, she is part of the foundation's interdisciplinary research group studying the effects of globalization and migration in the arts, culture and education. Her own research focuses on German and French literature and history of ideas, multilingualism and translation, and cultural exchange. She has published an article about the correspondence between Peter Szondi and Jacques Derrida and its affect on Derrida’s reception in Germany. Sima has also worked as an education and programming assistant for cultural organizations, most recently at Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin.

Making World Literature. Dynamics of Canonization at Work in Unesco’s “Collection of Representative Works”

Sima Reinisch examines the process of literary canonization and how it reflects the changing role of literature in society. Her research uses Unesco’s “Collection of Representative Works”, which can be seen as a political attempt to open up the canon of world literature, as a case study. Through detailed analysis of meeting protocols, correspondence and a selection of literary works that were translated as part of the project in the post-war period, she examines the dynamics that formed both the ideological and the aesthetic background of the project. This debate among experts from all over the world about literary greatness seems like a historical forerunner for current discussions about world literature in a postcolonial context. Her research sheds light on how the past decades have shaped the present global literary landscape.