Author: Michele Bigoni
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 135167501X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 275
Book Description
The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History provides compelling evidence of how accounting, when conceived of as a technology rather than simply as a tool to increase efficiency, can work as a means to sustain power relations in different sites, such as the Church, the State or the factory. This book, drawing upon the growing body of work which focuses on Italy and the Iberian Peninsula, demonstrates how accounting practices were effective in the subjugation of single individuals or entire populations, whether Roman Catholic priests, State functionaries, inhabitants of conquered lands or workers. The effectiveness of accounting as a tool of power is linked to its neutral and technical appearance, which makes it difficult for those oppressed and controlled by its practices to oppose it. Its adaptability to different organizational contexts, as documented in The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History, makes it a valuable tool for sustaining existing power relations and reproducing inequalities and exploitation. The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History is vital reading for academics and researchers in the fields of accounting, accounting history, political management and sociology and European history.
The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History
Author: Michele Bigoni
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 135167501X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 275
Book Description
The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History provides compelling evidence of how accounting, when conceived of as a technology rather than simply as a tool to increase efficiency, can work as a means to sustain power relations in different sites, such as the Church, the State or the factory. This book, drawing upon the growing body of work which focuses on Italy and the Iberian Peninsula, demonstrates how accounting practices were effective in the subjugation of single individuals or entire populations, whether Roman Catholic priests, State functionaries, inhabitants of conquered lands or workers. The effectiveness of accounting as a tool of power is linked to its neutral and technical appearance, which makes it difficult for those oppressed and controlled by its practices to oppose it. Its adaptability to different organizational contexts, as documented in The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History, makes it a valuable tool for sustaining existing power relations and reproducing inequalities and exploitation. The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History is vital reading for academics and researchers in the fields of accounting, accounting history, political management and sociology and European history.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 135167501X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 275
Book Description
The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History provides compelling evidence of how accounting, when conceived of as a technology rather than simply as a tool to increase efficiency, can work as a means to sustain power relations in different sites, such as the Church, the State or the factory. This book, drawing upon the growing body of work which focuses on Italy and the Iberian Peninsula, demonstrates how accounting practices were effective in the subjugation of single individuals or entire populations, whether Roman Catholic priests, State functionaries, inhabitants of conquered lands or workers. The effectiveness of accounting as a tool of power is linked to its neutral and technical appearance, which makes it difficult for those oppressed and controlled by its practices to oppose it. Its adaptability to different organizational contexts, as documented in The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History, makes it a valuable tool for sustaining existing power relations and reproducing inequalities and exploitation. The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History is vital reading for academics and researchers in the fields of accounting, accounting history, political management and sociology and European history.
The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History
Author: Michele Bigoni
Publisher: Routledge New Works in Accounting History
ISBN: 9780367889128
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 314
Book Description
The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History provides compelling evidence of how accounting, when conceived of as a technology rather than simply as a tool to increase efficiency, can work as a means to sustain power relations in different sites, such as the Church, the State or the factory. This book, drawing upon the growing body of work which focuses on Italy and the Iberian Peninsula, demonstrates how accounting practices were effective in the subjugation of single individuals or entire populations, whether Roman Catholic priests, State functionaries, inhabitants of conquered lands or workers. The effectiveness of accounting as a tool of power is linked to its neutral and technical appearance, which makes it difficult for those oppressed and controlled by its practices to oppose it. Its adaptability to different organizational contexts, as documented in The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History, makes it a valuable tool for sustaining existing power relations and reproducing inequalities and exploitation. The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History is vital reading for academics and researchers in the fields of accounting, accounting history, political management and sociology and European history.
Publisher: Routledge New Works in Accounting History
ISBN: 9780367889128
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 314
Book Description
The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History provides compelling evidence of how accounting, when conceived of as a technology rather than simply as a tool to increase efficiency, can work as a means to sustain power relations in different sites, such as the Church, the State or the factory. This book, drawing upon the growing body of work which focuses on Italy and the Iberian Peninsula, demonstrates how accounting practices were effective in the subjugation of single individuals or entire populations, whether Roman Catholic priests, State functionaries, inhabitants of conquered lands or workers. The effectiveness of accounting as a tool of power is linked to its neutral and technical appearance, which makes it difficult for those oppressed and controlled by its practices to oppose it. Its adaptability to different organizational contexts, as documented in The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History, makes it a valuable tool for sustaining existing power relations and reproducing inequalities and exploitation. The Italian and Iberian Influence in Accounting History is vital reading for academics and researchers in the fields of accounting, accounting history, political management and sociology and European history.
The Routledge Companion to Accounting History
Author: John Richard Edwards
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351238868
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 814
Book Description
The Routledge Companion to Accounting History presents a single-volume synthesis of research in this expanding field, exploring and analysing accounting from ancient civilisations to the modern day. No longer perceived as the narrow study of how a mysterious technique was used in past, the scope of accounting history has widened substantially. This revised and updated volume moves beyond the history of accounting technologies, accounting theories and practices and the accountants who applied them. Expert contributors from around the world explore the interfaces between accounting and the economy, society, culture and the polity. Accounting history is shown to offer important insights into such disparate phenomena as the evolution of capitalism, control of labour, gender and family relationships, racial exploitation, the operation of religious organisations, and the functioning of the state. Illuminating the foundation and development of accounting systems, this updated, classic book opens the field to a new generation of accounting scholars and historians around the world.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351238868
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 814
Book Description
The Routledge Companion to Accounting History presents a single-volume synthesis of research in this expanding field, exploring and analysing accounting from ancient civilisations to the modern day. No longer perceived as the narrow study of how a mysterious technique was used in past, the scope of accounting history has widened substantially. This revised and updated volume moves beyond the history of accounting technologies, accounting theories and practices and the accountants who applied them. Expert contributors from around the world explore the interfaces between accounting and the economy, society, culture and the polity. Accounting history is shown to offer important insights into such disparate phenomena as the evolution of capitalism, control of labour, gender and family relationships, racial exploitation, the operation of religious organisations, and the functioning of the state. Illuminating the foundation and development of accounting systems, this updated, classic book opens the field to a new generation of accounting scholars and historians around the world.
Accounting for Alcohol
Author: Martin Quinn
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351734210
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
Consumption of alcohol is a globally ubiquitous, often controversial activity, and business organizations in this sector are of significant social and economic relevance. This book draws on accounting records from the sector to reveal fresh and unique insights into the historic development of the production of alcoholic beverages. Offering a historic overview of the three major areas of the alcohol industry – brewing, distilling and wine – this book reveals the commonalities and differences which are present in the industry, while also highlighting its social impact. The editors bring together contributions from around the world, including Mexico, France, Japan and Ireland, to demonstrate how accounting has developed over time. Offering diverse geographical and historical perspectives, it explores multiple aspects of accounting within the industry, including internal control, earnings management, competition, and regulatory aspects. The fascinating insights into breweries, wineries, spirit distillers, vineyards and other related organizations provides a unique historic perspective of accounting systems, techniques and practices. Drawing on an international range of examples and rich archival material, this valuable research collection will be of great interest to researchers and advanced students of accounting and business history.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351734210
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
Consumption of alcohol is a globally ubiquitous, often controversial activity, and business organizations in this sector are of significant social and economic relevance. This book draws on accounting records from the sector to reveal fresh and unique insights into the historic development of the production of alcoholic beverages. Offering a historic overview of the three major areas of the alcohol industry – brewing, distilling and wine – this book reveals the commonalities and differences which are present in the industry, while also highlighting its social impact. The editors bring together contributions from around the world, including Mexico, France, Japan and Ireland, to demonstrate how accounting has developed over time. Offering diverse geographical and historical perspectives, it explores multiple aspects of accounting within the industry, including internal control, earnings management, competition, and regulatory aspects. The fascinating insights into breweries, wineries, spirit distillers, vineyards and other related organizations provides a unique historic perspective of accounting systems, techniques and practices. Drawing on an international range of examples and rich archival material, this valuable research collection will be of great interest to researchers and advanced students of accounting and business history.
Accounting Thought and Practice Reform
Author: Frank Clarke
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429808585
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 274
Book Description
Raymond John Chambers was born just over a century ago on 16 November 1917. It is more than fifty years since his first classic, Accounting, Evaluation and Economic Behavior, was published, more than forty since Securities and Obscurities: Reform of the Law of Company Accounts (republished in 1980 as Accounting in Disarray) and over twenty since the unique An Accounting Thesaurus: Five Hundred Years of Accounting. They are drawn upon extensively in this biography of Chambers’ intellectual contributions, as are other of his published works. Importantly, we also analyze archival correspondence not previously examined. While Chambers provided several bibliographical summaries of his work, without the benefits of reviewing and interspersing the text with correspondence materials from the Chambers Archive this study would lack an appreciation of the impact of his early childhood, and nuances related to his practical (including numerous consultancies) and academic experiences. The ‘semi-biographical narrative’ codifies article and editorial length exercises by the authors drawing on parts of the archive related to theory development, measurement and communication. Other parts are also examined. This allows us to respond to those critics who claim his reforms were naive. They further reveal a man of theory and practice, whose theoretical ideas were solidly grounded on observations from his myriad interests and experiences. Many of his practical experiences have not been examined previously. This approach and the first book-length biography differentiates this work from earlier analyses of Chambers’ contribution to the accounting literature. American Accounting Association’s 2021 Thomas J. Burns Biographical Research Award winner, this book provides evidence to support the continued push for the reforms he proposed to accepted accounting thought and practice to ensure accounting is the serviceable technology so admired by Pacioli, Da Vinci and many other Renaissance pioneers. It will be of interest to researchers, educators, practitioners and regulators alike.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429808585
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 274
Book Description
Raymond John Chambers was born just over a century ago on 16 November 1917. It is more than fifty years since his first classic, Accounting, Evaluation and Economic Behavior, was published, more than forty since Securities and Obscurities: Reform of the Law of Company Accounts (republished in 1980 as Accounting in Disarray) and over twenty since the unique An Accounting Thesaurus: Five Hundred Years of Accounting. They are drawn upon extensively in this biography of Chambers’ intellectual contributions, as are other of his published works. Importantly, we also analyze archival correspondence not previously examined. While Chambers provided several bibliographical summaries of his work, without the benefits of reviewing and interspersing the text with correspondence materials from the Chambers Archive this study would lack an appreciation of the impact of his early childhood, and nuances related to his practical (including numerous consultancies) and academic experiences. The ‘semi-biographical narrative’ codifies article and editorial length exercises by the authors drawing on parts of the archive related to theory development, measurement and communication. Other parts are also examined. This allows us to respond to those critics who claim his reforms were naive. They further reveal a man of theory and practice, whose theoretical ideas were solidly grounded on observations from his myriad interests and experiences. Many of his practical experiences have not been examined previously. This approach and the first book-length biography differentiates this work from earlier analyses of Chambers’ contribution to the accounting literature. American Accounting Association’s 2021 Thomas J. Burns Biographical Research Award winner, this book provides evidence to support the continued push for the reforms he proposed to accepted accounting thought and practice to ensure accounting is the serviceable technology so admired by Pacioli, Da Vinci and many other Renaissance pioneers. It will be of interest to researchers, educators, practitioners and regulators alike.
The Origins of Accounting Culture
Author: Massimo Sargiacomo
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351592637
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 403
Book Description
The Origins Of Accounting Culture aim at studying the origins of the accounting culture in Venice, with a specific focus on accounting education. The period covered by the work ranges from Luca Pacioli to the foundation (in 1868) of the Royal Advanced School of Commerce (Regia Scuola Superiore di Commercio), that in 2018 is celebrating its 150 anniversary as Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Ever since the Middle Ages, Venice was home of a number of favourable circumstances that have been accumulating over the years. As a trading city par excellence, Venice allowed the spreading of the bookkeeping at first among firms and then in the public administration that was much in need of sophisticated accounting principles for the purpose of controlling its activities. Venice was among the first cities to implement Gutenberg print method and it quickly became the most important city in the world in the publishing industry, allowing printing and spreading the first handbooks about double-entry bookkeeping and merchant studies. The Origins Of Accounting Culture goes beyond the study of Luca Pacioli and tackles in a more organic and holistic way the social and economic conditions that allowed the accounting culture to spread in Venice. This book will be a vital resource to academics and researchers in the fields of Accounting, Accounting History, Economic Development and related disciplines.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351592637
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 403
Book Description
The Origins Of Accounting Culture aim at studying the origins of the accounting culture in Venice, with a specific focus on accounting education. The period covered by the work ranges from Luca Pacioli to the foundation (in 1868) of the Royal Advanced School of Commerce (Regia Scuola Superiore di Commercio), that in 2018 is celebrating its 150 anniversary as Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Ever since the Middle Ages, Venice was home of a number of favourable circumstances that have been accumulating over the years. As a trading city par excellence, Venice allowed the spreading of the bookkeeping at first among firms and then in the public administration that was much in need of sophisticated accounting principles for the purpose of controlling its activities. Venice was among the first cities to implement Gutenberg print method and it quickly became the most important city in the world in the publishing industry, allowing printing and spreading the first handbooks about double-entry bookkeeping and merchant studies. The Origins Of Accounting Culture goes beyond the study of Luca Pacioli and tackles in a more organic and holistic way the social and economic conditions that allowed the accounting culture to spread in Venice. This book will be a vital resource to academics and researchers in the fields of Accounting, Accounting History, Economic Development and related disciplines.
Accounting for the Holocaust
Author: Warwick Funnell
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 104004705X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 324
Book Description
Accounting for the Holocaust: Enabling the Final Solution reveals how accounting practices allowed the attempted annihilation of Jews by the German Nazis and the Italian Fascists to be carried out with machine-like efficiency and devoid of any moral considerations. This largely hidden aspect of the Holocaust will allow a wide range of readers, both academic and across many sectors of the general population, to understand how the systematic murder of more than six million Jews was expedited by accounting practices and the information that these produced by allowing the humanity of those killed to be denied when they became mere numbers in a process. Readers will gain a new understanding of how the enactment of the scale of the Holocaust was made possible by the way in which accounting practices as “technologies of death” were used to reduce Jews to a life without value. The numerical calculations, techniques, and reports that constitute accounting practices allowed the systematic murder of Jews to be drained of any considerations that would imply that the numbers and costings were related to prescient human beings. These technologies of death also allowed those who managed and organised the murder of Jews to absolve themselves of the actual killings.
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 104004705X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 324
Book Description
Accounting for the Holocaust: Enabling the Final Solution reveals how accounting practices allowed the attempted annihilation of Jews by the German Nazis and the Italian Fascists to be carried out with machine-like efficiency and devoid of any moral considerations. This largely hidden aspect of the Holocaust will allow a wide range of readers, both academic and across many sectors of the general population, to understand how the systematic murder of more than six million Jews was expedited by accounting practices and the information that these produced by allowing the humanity of those killed to be denied when they became mere numbers in a process. Readers will gain a new understanding of how the enactment of the scale of the Holocaust was made possible by the way in which accounting practices as “technologies of death” were used to reduce Jews to a life without value. The numerical calculations, techniques, and reports that constitute accounting practices allowed the systematic murder of Jews to be drained of any considerations that would imply that the numbers and costings were related to prescient human beings. These technologies of death also allowed those who managed and organised the murder of Jews to absolve themselves of the actual killings.
The Economics of Auditing
Author: Dan A. Simunic
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040228879
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 355
Book Description
The financial information provided to governments, creditors, investors etc. by businesses has been verified by auditors since ancient times. In its modern form, the independent public accounting profession has its roots in 19th century Scotland. A distinctive feature of this profession is that it consists of private for-profit businesses – operating as sole practitioners, partnerships, but mostly as large accounting firms. The question naturally arises – why should users of financial information provided by private for-profit firms place trust in the verification of that information by other private for-profit firms? This is the interesting and complex economic issue that underlies research in what has come to be called ‘the economics of auditing’. The author is one of the first researchers in this area. This book traces the development of this important stream of research that applies economic analysis to the study of financial statement audits by professional public accounting firms. It offers a narrative commentary, along with a series of previously unpublished papers that the author presented during the 1970’s, at Accounting Research workshops at the University of Chicago, as part of his dissertation research, that ultimately led to one of the bedrock papers in the field. It provides an explanation and discussion of the economic, regulatory, and research environment at that time. The book concludes with a discussion of important but currently “unanswered questions” in the field that flow from the author’s thesis research but remain unresolved. It will be of significant interest to advanced students and academics who are engaged in developing their own research programs, as well as to any researcher who is working in the area of the ‘economics of auditing’.
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040228879
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 355
Book Description
The financial information provided to governments, creditors, investors etc. by businesses has been verified by auditors since ancient times. In its modern form, the independent public accounting profession has its roots in 19th century Scotland. A distinctive feature of this profession is that it consists of private for-profit businesses – operating as sole practitioners, partnerships, but mostly as large accounting firms. The question naturally arises – why should users of financial information provided by private for-profit firms place trust in the verification of that information by other private for-profit firms? This is the interesting and complex economic issue that underlies research in what has come to be called ‘the economics of auditing’. The author is one of the first researchers in this area. This book traces the development of this important stream of research that applies economic analysis to the study of financial statement audits by professional public accounting firms. It offers a narrative commentary, along with a series of previously unpublished papers that the author presented during the 1970’s, at Accounting Research workshops at the University of Chicago, as part of his dissertation research, that ultimately led to one of the bedrock papers in the field. It provides an explanation and discussion of the economic, regulatory, and research environment at that time. The book concludes with a discussion of important but currently “unanswered questions” in the field that flow from the author’s thesis research but remain unresolved. It will be of significant interest to advanced students and academics who are engaged in developing their own research programs, as well as to any researcher who is working in the area of the ‘economics of auditing’.
The Closing of the Auditor’s Mind?
Author: David J. O'Regan
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1040209971
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 190
Book Description
In The Closing of the Auditor’s Mind?, author David J. O’Regan describes internal auditing as an important "binding agent" of social cohesion, for the accountability of individuals and organizations and also at aggregated levels of social trust. However, O’Regan also reveals that internal auditing faces two severe challenges – an external challenge of adaptation and an internal challenge of fundamental reform. The adaptation challenge arises from ongoing, paradigmatic shifts in accountability and social trust. The command- and- control, vertical hierarchies of traditional bureaucracies are being replaced in importance by networked, flattened patterns of accountability. The most challenging assurance demands of the modern era are increasingly located in three institutional domains – in the inner workings of organizations; in intermediary spaces at organizational boundaries; and in extra-mural locations. Internal auditing continues to cling, barnacle- like, to the inner workings of traditional, bureaucratic structures, and it has little to offer the emerging assurance demands on or beyond institutional boundaries. The reform challenge arises from internal auditing’s prevailing tendency toward a rigid, algorithmic, checklist mindset that suppresses practitioners’ creativity and critical thinking. This trend is increasingly narrowing internal auditing’s intellectual and moral horizons. Under the pressures of these challenges, internal auditing is struggling to fulfil its primary purpose of serving the public interest. O’Regan’s powerful book focuses on: The redistribution of social trust from traditional, hierarchical institutions to diffuse, horizontally distributed networks The perennial validity of the classical virtues as the humane foundation of professional activity The role of creative expertise in promoting professional wisdom The Closing of the Auditor’s Mind? is a philosophical audit of a profession on the threshold of crisis. The book presupposes no prior knowledge of philosophy, nor indeed of auditing. Philosophical technicalities are contained in an Appendix, leaving the main text jargon-free. O’Regan provides original and striking perspectives on the malaise of modern internal auditing, and he proposes radical remedies. This captivating and well-informed book is a must-read for all who are concerned with our collective socio-economic and political well-being.
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1040209971
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 190
Book Description
In The Closing of the Auditor’s Mind?, author David J. O’Regan describes internal auditing as an important "binding agent" of social cohesion, for the accountability of individuals and organizations and also at aggregated levels of social trust. However, O’Regan also reveals that internal auditing faces two severe challenges – an external challenge of adaptation and an internal challenge of fundamental reform. The adaptation challenge arises from ongoing, paradigmatic shifts in accountability and social trust. The command- and- control, vertical hierarchies of traditional bureaucracies are being replaced in importance by networked, flattened patterns of accountability. The most challenging assurance demands of the modern era are increasingly located in three institutional domains – in the inner workings of organizations; in intermediary spaces at organizational boundaries; and in extra-mural locations. Internal auditing continues to cling, barnacle- like, to the inner workings of traditional, bureaucratic structures, and it has little to offer the emerging assurance demands on or beyond institutional boundaries. The reform challenge arises from internal auditing’s prevailing tendency toward a rigid, algorithmic, checklist mindset that suppresses practitioners’ creativity and critical thinking. This trend is increasingly narrowing internal auditing’s intellectual and moral horizons. Under the pressures of these challenges, internal auditing is struggling to fulfil its primary purpose of serving the public interest. O’Regan’s powerful book focuses on: The redistribution of social trust from traditional, hierarchical institutions to diffuse, horizontally distributed networks The perennial validity of the classical virtues as the humane foundation of professional activity The role of creative expertise in promoting professional wisdom The Closing of the Auditor’s Mind? is a philosophical audit of a profession on the threshold of crisis. The book presupposes no prior knowledge of philosophy, nor indeed of auditing. Philosophical technicalities are contained in an Appendix, leaving the main text jargon-free. O’Regan provides original and striking perspectives on the malaise of modern internal auditing, and he proposes radical remedies. This captivating and well-informed book is a must-read for all who are concerned with our collective socio-economic and political well-being.
A Comparative History of Literatures in the Iberian Peninsula
Author: Fernando Cabo Aseguinolaza
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027234574
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 767
Book Description
"A Comparative History of Literatures in the Iberian Peninsula" is the second comparative history of a new subseries with a regional focus, published by the Coordinating Committee of the International Comparative Literature Association. As its predecessor for East-Central Europe, this two-volume history distances itself from traditional histories built around periods and movements, and explores, from a comparative viewpoint, a space considered to be a powerful symbol of inter-literary relations. Both the geographical pertinence and its symbolic condition are obviously discussed, when not even contested.Written by an international team of researchers who are specialists in the field, this history is the first attempt at applying a comparative approach to the plurilingual and multicultural literatures in the Iberian Peninsula. The aim of comprehensiveness is abandoned in favor of a diverse and extensive array of key issues for a comparative agenda."A Comparative History of Literatures in the Iberian Peninsula" undermines the primacy claimed for national and linguistic boundaries, and provides a geo-cultural account of literary inter-systems which cannot otherwise be explained.
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027234574
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 767
Book Description
"A Comparative History of Literatures in the Iberian Peninsula" is the second comparative history of a new subseries with a regional focus, published by the Coordinating Committee of the International Comparative Literature Association. As its predecessor for East-Central Europe, this two-volume history distances itself from traditional histories built around periods and movements, and explores, from a comparative viewpoint, a space considered to be a powerful symbol of inter-literary relations. Both the geographical pertinence and its symbolic condition are obviously discussed, when not even contested.Written by an international team of researchers who are specialists in the field, this history is the first attempt at applying a comparative approach to the plurilingual and multicultural literatures in the Iberian Peninsula. The aim of comprehensiveness is abandoned in favor of a diverse and extensive array of key issues for a comparative agenda."A Comparative History of Literatures in the Iberian Peninsula" undermines the primacy claimed for national and linguistic boundaries, and provides a geo-cultural account of literary inter-systems which cannot otherwise be explained.