The Modern Language Association of America awarded its seventh annual Scaglione Prize for Comparative Literary Studies to Bernbaum Professor of Literature Dorrit Cohn last week.

The $1,000 prize honors Cohn's most recent book of comparative literary theory, The Distinction of Fiction.

Cohn's work was praised for "challeng[ing] current arguments that eradicate the distinction between fiction and nonfiction," in the selection committee's statement. "Her arguments, rich and encompassing, are presented with elegance and concision."

Cohn said the book began as a series of essays written for various periodicals.

"One was on Freud's case histories, one was on Proust, and I decided that they all fit together. I added some chapters to the essays that I published, and it seems to be considered a real book. I am very pleased about the award, of course," she said.

Cohn will receive her prize and a certificate during the association's annual convention, held in Chicago in late December.

--Daniela J. Lamas