Understanding Of World Literature Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Understanding Of World Literature. Answer: World literature in its most simple sense is the sum total of all kinds of literature that prevails in the world in various cultures and countries. The exchange of literary knowledge between the countries and the appreciation of the same is the essence of world literature. However to define the world literature in a particular way of expression is almost impossible as the characteristic features are extremely varied and the extent of the literary works are limitless. Important is Goethes remark National literature is now a rather unmeaning term; the epoch of world literature is at hand, and everyone must strive to hasten its approach in understanding the purview of the literature in an international arena and how globalization in literature is paving way for further exchange of literary culture. Marx on the other hand in 1847 stated National one-sidedness and narrow-mindedness become more and more impossible, and from the numerous national and local literatures there arises a world literature which may in a way be termed as the Marxists definition of world literature (Prawer, 2014). Fritz Stritch has endeavored in explaining world literature as traffic in ideas between peoples, a literary market to which the nations bring their intellectual treasures for exchange. All these potential descriptions have however not served the purpose of producing an all pervasive and comprehensive definition of world literature. Tartuffe is a play composed by Moliere in 1664. This can be successfully termed as a world literature because the term Tartuffe itself started to be used in the meaning hypocrite in English language (Molire, 2015). Antigone on the other hand was composed long ago in around 440 BC. This work cannot be truly be described as world literature as it mainly centers around the legends and myths of Thebes. However various themes included in the literature goes with todays various issues like civil disobedience, legal institutions, and family bonds. The Stranger by Albert Camus on the other hand perfectly represents the features of world literature, because the title character Meursault is described as "a citizen of France domiciled inNorth Africa, a man of theMediterranean, anhomme du midiyet one who hardly partakes of the traditional Mediterranean culture (Camus, 1993), what can be a better example of world literature which makes the reader go through so many cultures and ideas through one character. Leo Tolstoy completed the work Hadji Murat in his last days. This work eloquently depicts a classic east vs. west theme while depicting the struggle between Russia which was dominantly Christian and Chechnya which was dominantly Muslim. This work sincerely reflects the essence of the term world literature. The main difference between world literature and global literature lies in the fact that global literature is composed keeping in mind the world audience hence the themes are those to which the world readers can connect, on the other hand world literature was not composed keeping in mind the global nature of the readers, but the quality of the work and its themes made the world appreciate it. In conclusion it can be said that though there was and there are endeavors in defining the term world literature but it has not been possible yet. The extent of literature is so vast throughout the world that such possibilities are probably not to be materialized any time soon. Reference: Camus, A. (1993). The Stranger. 1942.Trans. Matthew Ward. New York: Knopf. Molire, J. B. P. (2015).Tartuffe. Oberon Books. Prawer, S. S. (2014).Karl Marx and world literature. Verso Books.