Introduction to Modern World Literature

John Pizer

pizerj@lsu.edu

"National literature means little now, the age of Weltliteratur has begun; and everyone should further its course."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Cover for German original of Rafik Schami's Damascus Nights

What does "World Literature" mean in the age of globalization?

Subject: World Literature

Topic: Understanding the concept: what does "World Literature" mean today and what did it mean in the past? How can we use the concept "world literature" to understand the literature of the world? After an initial engagement with the concept, we will begin our reading of the literary works in the anthology. Our final reading will be a complete novel: Schami's Damascus Nights.

Skills: Writing, critical thinking, collaboration, word processing

Level: Introductory college level

Time: Three hours per week

Goals: The students will be able to

think on a metatheoretical level
think about literature critically, using a key critical paradigm
think historically, interpreting literature in a historical context

Objectives:

engage in a hermeneutic dialogue with literary texts
write clear, concise essays, using secondary literature as a resource

Instructional Materials: Internet, textbook, packet of photocopied materials, one complete novel.

Background Information:

Prior to looking at web sites and prior to instructor input, consider what you understand by the term "world literature." What comes to mind when you hear the term "world literature"?

                    1. The best works ever written? ( "great works")
                    2. What has been handed down as worth reading by tradition? ("canonic literature")
                    3. Literature which deals with the world at large, not focused on one nation or culture? ("transnational literature")
                    4. Literature NOT written in English?
                    5. Literature which is popular throughout the world?
                    6. Literature with timeless and universal appeal?
                    7. Literature ADDRESSED to the world at large?
                    8. Other possibilities?

Also consider what you think should be the guidelines for the inclusion of world literature in a course such as this:

                    1. Tradition?
                    2. Present-day relevance?
                    3. Entertainment value?
                    4. Morally instructive?

Evaluation:

1. Electronic Presentations

Students work in groups
Students select a text from our anthology but not covered in the class
Different tasks for the group members include: selecting web images to underscore culturally specific aspects of the text, deciding how to integrate the world literature paradigm into the presentation, doing library research to help gain cultural background into the text selected

2. Quizzes: The focus here will be on interpretation

Students are able to bring background historical discussions into their interpretations
Students are able to show their awareness of how the historical (time of creation) and contemporary (time of interpretation) contexts are diverse
Background knowledge on the cultural elements informing the work will be addressed.

3. Two papers on two of the works included in the textbook but not covered in class.

Students are able to cogently summarize these works
Students are able to defend their views on why these works should/should not be categorized as "world literature."
Students are able to write concisely, with correct spelling and grammar

4. Final Exam:

Students are able to synthesize the two skills developed in the papers and quizzes: the ability to interpret historically and with hermeneutical awareness, and the ability to write with an awareness of the world literature paradigm. Here, too, students should present arguments on the validity of works as "world literature."

World Literature Links: