Imagology

Imagology is a branch of comparative literature that studies the images of 'other' peoples and countries (hetero-images) and of one's own people (auto-images) in literature and culture, as well as the mechanisms by which national stereotypes are formed. Imagology examines how notions of the 'self' and the 'foreign' are formed, function, and become fixed, analyzing ethnic images, clichés, and 'sites of memory.' The movement took shape within French comparative literature (Jean-Marie Carré, Marius-François Guyard) and was theoretically developed by Hugo Dyserinck and Joep Leerssen (co-editor, with Manfred Beller, of the foundational 'Imagology,' 2007). Imagology is closely linked to postcolonial criticism and studies of national identity. In Ukrainian literary studies, imagological research on the image of Ukraine and 'others' in world literature was carried out by Dmytro Nalyvaiko, author of 'Through the Eyes of the West: The Reception of Ukraine in Western Europe, 11th–18th Centuries.'