At the beginning of this term, my ideas about world literature were broad and inconclusive. I thought that world literature was simply defined by involving other countries and other languages in the classical canons of Comparative Literature. I did not have the vocabulary to articulate my ideas about concepts such as translingualism, transnationalism, colonialism, etc.. By the middle of the term, World Literature had shaped into something more defined, conclusive, and separated from other forms of study and other theories. The scope of nations that made up world literature had evolved to include many other areas, cultures, and populations. Despite my knowledge and emphasis at the beginning of the term that World Literature was not just confined to western canons of text, the first texts and cultures to come to mind at the mention of World Literature was still mostly western. So as the term went on, not only did my ideas about World Literature become more inclusive, the defined lines that I thought I was building in the first few weeks were beginning to be broken down. I was realizing that world Literature was not something that can necessarily be pinpointed to an exact canon, nor should it be. World Literature is so overpowered in many ways by the same white, westernized, and theoretical views which lack enough context to really be considered a part of the genre. It was important to find ways in which to broaden the scope of World Literature while still maintaining a definition that was supportive of the theories which circulate in the field. The importance of socio-political context, historical context, geographic context, and cultural context all started to come together to formulate a new idea of World literature. This being said, however, another aspect that I learned was the value of change for the field and for my understanding. Having a very set idea of what World Literature is only works to make the study stagnant when it should be much more dynamic as a genre.

 

There were multiple texts that I thought of at the beginning as being fundamental to World Literature, however, this was still a very western perspective based on my education and exposure thus far. Throughout the term, the most important texts that developed my ideas about world literature are The Arab of The Future which made me think outside of just text-based literature and to include other genres of writing, “Persepolis” which again made me expand my understanding of the term literature to include film and also to think about international cultural exchange as being a complicating factor to World Literature. Finally, Borderlands made me realize and understand that even within our own country, World Literature is a necessary element to understand the complexities of a globalized world.

 

In conclusion, if I have learned anything, it is that there is an endless range of complex integrations, identities, histories, and languages that define World Literature and so my exploration in search of understanding is infinite. The most important question that World Literature raises for me is why one text and not another? What contexts are valued higher than others and why?