Richard Serrano

Richard Serrano is a Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, within the School of Arts and Sciences. He holds a B.A. in English from Stanford University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on cross-cultural literary studies, encompassing modern French poetry, Maghrebi literature, Arabic poetry traditions, and East Asian poetic forms. He has authored influential works such as Reexamining World Literature (2020) and Neither a Borrower (2017), exploring themes of global modernity and intercultural poetics.

His current research project examines the impact of Japanese and French colonialism on modernity in Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Serrano has taught over two dozen courses across undergraduate and graduate levels, including Islam and the Text in Francophone Literature and Introduction to Francophone Poetry. He actively engages with interdisciplinary programs such as the Center for African Studies and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. His publications span journals like Comparative Literature and SubStance, addressing topics ranging from Mallarmé's intertextuality to postcolonial Francophone narratives.

With a career spanning decades, Serrano's academic contributions bridge multiple cultural and linguistic traditions, emphasizing comparative methodologies and global literary analysis. His courses reflect his commitment to exploring transnational literary phenomena and postcolonial discourses.