Reading World Literature: Theory, History, Practice - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0292717644 ISBN 13: 9780292717640

Publisher: University of Texas Press, 2010

Synopsis

As teachers and readers expand the canon of world literature to include writers whose voices traditionally have been silenced by the dominant culture, fundamental questions arise. What do we mean by "world"? What constitutes "literature"? Who should decide?

Reading World Literature is a cumulative study of the concept and evolving practices of "world literature." Sarah Lawall opens the book with a substantial introduction to the overall topic. Twelve original essays by distinguished specialists run the gamut from close readings of specific texts to problems of translation theory and reader response. The sequence of essays develops from re-examinations of traditional canonical pieces through explorations of less familiar works to discussions of reading itself as a "literacy" dependent on worldview.

Reading World Literature will open challenging new vistas for a wide audience in the humanities, from traditionalists to avant-garde specialists in literary theory, cultural studies, and area studies.

About this title

About the Author

Sarah Lawall is a professor of comparative literature at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Review

"... provocative and useful... Virtually all of the essayists remind the reader in different ways of the socio-political factors that influence what we teach and how we teach it; each author seems to be in full command of the material that he or she presents or interprets, and the essays are for the most part persuasive and clearly presented." Nancy A. Walker, professor of English, Vanderbilt University

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0292717644
• ISBN 13: 9780292717640
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 380
• Editor: Lawall Sarah