Mission Statement of the Institute as presented in the Foundation Charter
The Institute of World Literature of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (IWL SAS) conducts primary research of phenomena and processes in world literature in these key areas: developmental tendencies of modern literary movements, theoretical and methodological problems of the general literary process, the history of literary translation in Slovakia, as well as theoretical and methodological issues of translation, the theory and history of culture, interdisciplinary research of large cultural periods and of the European contexts of Slovak arts and culture. Results are applied in the areas of literary history, theory and criticism, theory and history of translation and also in pedagogical practice at universities. The Institute provides expert advice to university departments, cultural institutions and state departments on the questions of literature and culture. The Institute offers PhD 1 Salary budget originating outside the regular budgetary resources of the organization, e.g. from the project funding. 2 Includes Goods and Services and PhD fellowships 2 studies within the framework of general academic regulations. The Institute publishes its research results in periodic and non-periodic publications. The mission statement was specified in internal documents (cf. Statute of the Institute valid from 23 July to 26 September 2018, Organizational Rules of the Institute dated 20 August 2021) as follows: The Institute of World Literature of the Slovak Academy of Sciences conducts basic research of literature in various languages of the world, mutual relations of these literatures, relations of literature to other arts, research on functions of literature in society and culture, as well as relations of Slovak literary culture to other literary cultures. The Institute accommodates research activities in the field of theory and history of literature, theory and history of literary translation and theory and practice of cultural transfers by means of literature.