Description
Book SynopsisThe new edition of this highly popular guide, How to Read World Literature, addresses the unique challenges and joys faced when approaching the literature of other cultures and eras. Fully revised to address important developments in World Literature, and generously expanded with new material, this second edition covers a wide variety of genres from lyric and epic poetry to drama and prose fiction and discusses how each form has been used in different eras and cultures. An ideal introduction for those new to the study of World Literature, as well as beginners to ancient and foreign literature, this book offers a variety of modes of entry to reading these texts. The author, a leading authority in the field, draws on years of teaching experience to provide readers with ways of thinking creatively and systematically about key issues, such as reading across time and cultures, reading works in translation, emerging global perspectives, postcolonialism, orality and literacy, and
Table of Contents
Preface to the Second Edition ix
Introduction 1
1 What Is “Literature”? 9
2 Reading across Time 31
3 Reading across Cultures 57
4 Reading in Translation 83
5 Brave New Worlds 107
6 Writing Empire 135
7 Global Writing 157
Epilogue: Going Farther 181
Bibliography 187
Index 197
