Ever since the term “world literature” was coined, it has been an intriguing yet contested topic for scholars. In this era of heightened globalisation, the circulation and consumption of literary works have accelerated due to increased human mobility and rapid technological advancement, which keeps changing the landscape of world literature. This new development further complicates the discussion of literary translation and interpretation, the tension between the local and the global, and the persistence and resistance of cultural power imbalances in the “world republic of letters”.
This course introduces students to the concept and practice of world literature. It seeks to understand world literature not as a collection of national literary canons created in different linguistic and cultural locations, but as a field of knowledge about literature as a cross-cultural and translingual system of production and circulation. We will study literary works that circulate globally as world literature and read a selection of seminal statements on world literature in order to learn about its historical formation, its methodology and scope, and its politics and limitations.
- Possible definitions of world literature
- World literature and circulation
- World literature and translation
- World literature and globalisation
- World literature and cross-cultural reception
1. Trace the historical development of world literature as a field of inquiry and identify its major debates
2. Deploy major frameworks to approach transnational and global literary phenomenon
3. Analyse literary texts across various regions, eras, and genres in a comparative way
4. Produce critical arguments that synthesise literary analysis with theoretical concepts
2 hours a week. Course meetings will be a combination of lectures, group discussions, and group work.
Assessment (100% coursework):
• Two short essays (15% for Essay 1, 25% for Essay 2)
• Term paper (40%)
• Class Participation (20%)
- Damrosch, D. (Ed.). 2014. World Literature in Theory. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
- Ganguly, D. (Ed.) 2021. The Cambridge History of World Literature (Volume I and II). Cambridge University Press.
Supplementary readings will be made available on Moodle.