WHAT IS WORLD LITERATURE?

1. WHAT IS WORLD LITERATURE?

2. First, A Quotation: • “The bourgeoisie has, through its exploitation of the world market, given a cosmopolitan character to production and consumption in every country…. In place of the old wants, satisfied by the production of the country, we find new wants, requiring for their satisfaction the products of distant lands and climes. In place of the old local and national seclusion and self-sufficiency, we have intercourse in every direction, universal inter-dependence of nations. And as in material, so also in intellectual production. The intellectual creations of individual nations become common property. National one-sidedness and narrow-mindedness become more and more impossible, and from the numerous national and local literatures, there arises a world literature.”1 • ***What does this mean? 1Marx & Engels, The Communist Manifesto, 1848.

3. A Definition of World Literature: • According to David Damrosch, World Literature are “literary works that circulate beyond their culture of origin…in it’s most expansive sense, world literature could include any work that has reached beyond it’s home base.”1 This means that world literature is a broad network of literature that interacts in the spaces between cultures, and must be read outside its cultural context. • World literature is NOT a travelogue; that is, it is not a survey of different peoples and the ways that the live. We certainly should not approach it with the mindset of, “look how different these people are from us.” • World Literature is about stepping out of our neighborhoods, regions, cultures, and ethnicities and placing ourselves in the larger context of humanity. 1Damrosch, David (2003). What is World Literature?

4. What we bring in as readers • It is just as important to understand where we come from as it is to understand the culture that an author comes from. We read World Literature out of its context, and cannot understand or appreciate it in the same way as someone from the same culture. By understanding our own culture, we can gain deeper meaning from an author from a foreign culture. • Because of this, the meaning of World Literature changes when it’s taken from its original context; this is why Darmosch places World Literature in unique place between cultures. • Ultimately, we read World Literature to establish common ground, rather than to show differences between “us and them.” Authors of World Literature strive to create new ideas that aren’t limited by national or cultural boundaries.

5. Consider funeral rites. What is the purpose of funeral ceremony? What should a funeral ceremony look and sound like? What would you consider to be an “inappropriate” ceremony? Why is our participation in funeral ceremonies so important? • As you consider the question, keep EVERYONE in mind, from the deceased, to loved ones, to casual acquaintances, to the funeral director, to the grave-diggers.