The Comparative Studies and Research Center on Creative Arts at the ENS de Lyon is an interdepartmental and interdisciplinary research center for the study of literature across national and linguistic lines, and for the investigation of the relations between the arts.
Its area of study encompasses literature, cinema, drama and theater, music, visual arts and the history of the arts at large since the beginning of the 19th century. The aim is to study the evolution of the plurality and diversity of differing cultural media and traditions, focusing on the encounters between various traditions and creative media, and on processes that are active in various discursive contexts and in non-discursive media.
The issue of translation is at the heart of the definition of its objects of study and of its investigative methodologies. The evidence of linguistic diversity has led CERCC to focus on the notion of "translational events" in a multidimensional and globalized world.
Comparative studies at the ENS Lyon occupy a strategic position to interact with developing studies of non-verbal media. In recent years, the CERCC has focused on the interpretation of signifying processes as they operate discursively, and singularly in works that question new contemporary definitions of creative activities. The CERCC firmly believes in the necessity to engage in research and creation simultaneously ; it considers the creative arts as forms of intellectual research and academic research at its best as a creative and practical activity.
Research implies constant reflection, reevaluation and redefinition of its objects and procedures, the backbone of CERCC consists of research on theories, methods and practice.
The CERCC not only promotes projects that are internal to the ENS Lyon, but also encourages exchanges with local and international universities or research organizations, both professional and cultural. CERCC is engaged in various events, national and international literature and poetry series at the ENS Lyon, music and drama festivals, exhibitions, master classes, conferences and symposia.