BRILL’S NEW JOURNAL OF WORLD LITERATURE
Free Download of the Entire Issue
FREE DOWNLOAD OF THE ENTIRE ISSUE OF THIS EXCITING NEW JOURNAL

All individuals are eligible for free access to the Journal of World Literature until December 31, 2017.

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Once upon a time, Americans lived in a narrow world. We knew who the “classic” authors were: Melville, Hawthorne and Twain; in the 20th century, Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Faulkner. In the Sixties, everyone spoke of Mailer, Updike and Roth.

Since then—and especially in the last fifteen years—our world has expanded almost beyond recognition. What is going on out there in the wild world of literature?

Brill’s Journal of World Literature seeks to document the spread and reception of literary works that circulate “beyond their culture of origin.” The development of a world literature—closely related to the processes of globalization and networked identity—has generated a discourse that goes beyond the nation state.

The “amalgamated identity” of certain authors allows for an aesthetic expression that builds upon a “moderated strangeness”—coming from men and women who are “neither completely estranged or completely at home in the world.”

The idea of a literary “canon” became controversial. Yet Longxi Zhang explains that the Chinese term jing has an equivalent meaning, referring to the “best and most important books” in a particular cultural tradition.

Zhang presents an optimistic view of world literature, suggesting that the task of literary scholars everywhere should be to “introduce and present the canonical works they know best to the world beyond their culture of origin.”

Please dig into your free copy of the “Journal of World Literature” to begin exploring this exciting field.