The Modern Language Association of America, often referred to as the Modern Language Association (MLA), is widely considered the principal

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) is a group that usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in ...

in the United States for scholars of

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

. The MLA aims to "strengthen the study and teaching of language and literature".About the MLA"
''mla.org'', Modern Language Association, 9 July 2008, Web, 25 April 2009. The organization includes over 20,000 members in 100 countries, primarily academic scholars,

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

s, and

graduate student Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have ...

s who study or teach language and literature, including English, other modern languages, and

comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

."Modern Language Association of America"
in "ACLS Member Learned Societies" (Directory),

American Council of Learned Societies The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a private, nonprofit federation of 75 scholarly organizations in the humanities and related social sciences founded in 1919. It is best known for its fellowship competitions which provide a ra ...

(ACLS), 2011, Web, 31 January 2011. Although founded in the United States, with offices in New York City, the MLA's membership, concerns, reputation, and influence are international in scope.

History

The MLA was founded in 1883, as a discussion and advocacy group for the study of literature and

modern language A modern language is any human language that is currently in use as a native language. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead clas ...

s (that is, all but

classical language According to the definition by George L. Hart, a classical language is any language with an independent literary tradition and a large body of ancient written literature. Classical languages are usually extinct languages. Those that are still ...

s, such as ancient

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

). According to its profile featured by the

(ACLS), "The Modern Language Association is formed for educational, scientific, literary, and social objects and purposes, and more specifically for the promotion of the academic and scientific study of English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and other so-called modern languages and literatures."

Officers and governance

The officers of the MLA are elected by its members. The 2019–2020 president was Simon Gikandi, the first vice-president was

Judith Butler Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American feminist philosopher and gender studies scholar whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In ...

and the second vice-president was Barbara Fuchs. The 2020–2021 president is Judith Butler. The MLA is governed by an Executive Council, elected periodically by its members, according to the ''MLA Constitution''. The Executive Director is Paula Krebs.

Activities

The MLA publishes several

academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...

s, including ''Publications of the Modern Language Association of America'', one of the most prestigious journals in literary studies, and ''Profession'', which is now published online on ''MLA Commons'' and discusses professional issues faced by teachers of language and literature. The association also publishes the ''

MLA Handbook ''MLA Handbook'' (9th ed., 2021), formerly ''MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers'' (1977–2009), establishes a system for documenting sources in scholarly writing. It is published by the Modern Language Association, which is based in t ...

'', a guide that is geared toward high school and undergraduate students and has sold more than 6,500,000 copies. The MLA produces the online database, ''MLA International Bibliography'', the standard bibliography in language and literature. Since 1884 the MLA has held a national, four-day convention. For many years it was held the last week in December. Beginning in 2011, the convention dates moved to the first Thursday following 2 January. Approximately eight to twelve thousand members attend, depending on the location, which alternates among major cities in various regions of the United States. The MLA Annual Convention is the largest and most important of the year for scholars of languages and literature. Language departments of many universities and colleges interview candidates for teaching positions at the convention, although hiring occurs all year long. The organization's ''Job Information List'' (''JIL'') is available online. In addition to its job-placement activities, the convention features about 800 sessions, including presentations of papers and panel discussions on diverse topics (special sessions, forums, poetry readings, film presentations, interdisciplinary studies involving art and music, governance meetings) and social events hosted by English and language departments and allied or affiliated organizations. There are also extensive book exhibits in one of the main hotel or convention center exhibition areas. In November 2016, the association launched ''Humanities Commons'', an open-access, crossdisciplinary hub for anyone interested in humanities research and scholarship. Other not-for-profit organizations involved in this project include

College Art Association The College Art Association of America (CAA) is the principal organization in the United States for professionals in the visual arts, from students to art historians to emeritus faculty. Founded in 1911, it "promotes these arts and their understan ...

; Association for Jewish Studies; and the

Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

. The MLA's Web site features the MLA Language Map, which presents overviews and detailed data from the United States 2000 Census about the locations and numbers of speakers of thirty languages and seven groups of less commonly spoken languages in the United States and Canada. The association has highlighted issues such as race, gender and class in its professional deliberations. In ''

The New Criterion ''The New Criterion'' is a New York–based monthly literary magazine and journal of artistic and cultural criticism, edited by Roger Kimball (editor and publisher) and James Panero (executive editor). It has sections for criticism of poetry ...

'', a

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

and politically

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

magazine,

Roger Kimball Roger Kimball (born 1953) is an American art critic and Conservatism, conservative social commentator. He is the editor and publisher of ''The New Criterion'' and the publisher of Encounter Books. Kimball first gained notice in the early 1990s w ...

and

Hilton Kramer Hilton Kramer (March 25, 1928 – March 27, 2012) was an American art critic and essayist. Biography Early life Kramer was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts into a Jewish immigrant family, and was educated at Syracuse University, receiving a b ...

argued that this was part of a "rampant politicization of literary study that the MLA has aggressively supported" in American colleges and universities, including elevating popular culture to a position of parity with great works of literature as subjects for classroom study, and other "radical" postures.

Proposed academic boycott of Israel

On January 7, 2017, the MLA rejected a proposed boycott of Israeli academic institutions in a 113–79 vote during its annual meeting in Philadelphia. Activists within the association had since 2014 pushed for such a boycott because they believed Israel was guilty of human rights violations and should be subjected to a boycott similarly to how South Africa was boycotted by the

Anti-Apartheid Movement The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-white population who were oppressed by the policies ...

. The inspiration for the boycott came from the

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's ...

(BDS) movement which is a global movement that calls for comprehensive boycotts of Israel. The activists calling themselves ''MLA Members for Justice in Palestine'' presented a resolution in December 2016 calling for a boycott. The call to boycott received support from scholars such as

and novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen, but also opposition from scholars such as Cary Nelson and historian Kenneth Waltzer as well as a group calling itself ''MLA Members for Scholars Rights.'' A group of Israeli scholars sent videotaped messages stating Israeli universities are multicultural and calling the BDS campaign one of harassment and slander. On the other side of the debate, another group of Israeli scholars came out in support of the boycott, arguing that "the Israel-led campaign against the boycott of Israeli academic institutions rallies around the claim that if adapted it will hurt progressive Israeli scholars. Campaigners use this tactic to divert attention from the plight of the entire Palestinian population living under Israel's elaborate system of colonial repression and injustice to a manufactured victimization of Israeli academics. This is a manipulative inversion of victimhood." In a strongly worded letter, the pro-Israeli Brandeis Center threatened to sue MLA if the resolution was adopted. In the letter addressed to the association's President

Kwame Anthony Appiah Kwame Akroma-Ampim Kusi Anthony Appiah ( ; born 8 May 1954) is an English-American philosopher and writer who has written about political philosophy, ethics, the philosophy of language and mind, and African intellectual history. Appiah is Prof ...

and Executive Director Rosemary G. Feal, the center claimed that the resolution was ''

ultra vires ('beyond the powers') is a Latin phrase used in law to describe an act that requires legal authority but is done without it. Its opposite, an act done under proper authority, is ('within the powers'). Acts that are may equivalently be termed ...

''. That is, that it would take the association in a direction that went beyond its original mission. Supporters of the boycott argued that it was not ''ultra vires'' because the Association had in the past been engaged in human rights issues. At the 2025 annual meeting in New Orleans, the MLA executive council blocked a member vote on a resolution endorsing BDS and acknowledging Palestinian genocide accusation and scholasticide, prompting protest and campaign for members to lapse membership in the organization. The executive council released a statement in advance stating that while they are "appalled by the continued attack on Gaza," a BDS resolution would present "legal and fiduciary" challenges.

Regional associations

There are several regional associations that are independent of the primary MLA, and which host smaller conventions at other times of the year: * Midwest Modern Language Association * Northeast Modern Language Association * Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association * Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association * South Atlantic Modern Language Association * South Central Modern Language Association

Affiliated and allied societies

Association of Departments of English The Association of Departments of English (ADE) is an American professional organization under the auspices of the Modern Language Association. The ADE was founded by Warner Rice (then English chair at the University of Michigan), with the coopera ...

*Association of Departments of Foreign Languages * Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship * The International Federation for Modern Languages and Literatures (FILLM)

References

External links

* *
Publications of the Modern Language Association of America
', 1884–1922, full text online via

HathiTrust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries. Its holdings include content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digit ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Modern Languages Association Organizations established in 1883 1883 establishments in the United States Learned societies of the United States Bibliographic database providers Member organizations of the American Council of Learned Societies Literary criticism organizations