World Literature Theory: Crosscurrents, Perspectives, Resonances

Wang Anyi (thanks to WanderMonkey)

The world’s disparate traditions have developed very distinct kinds of literature, even very different ideas as to what should be called “literature” at all. This anthology uses a variety of means to showcase what is most distinctive and also what is commonly shared among the world’s literatures. Throughout this anthology we employ three kinds of grouping…

--David Damrosch, Preface to The Longman Anthology of World Literature

Grouping terms by Damrosch et. al., 2004

Crosscurrents	Highlights overarching issues or developments many cultures have faced, e.g. creation myths (or World War II)
Perspectives	Provides cultural context for a cluster of major works, e.g. death and immortality in the ancient Near East (or childhood experiences of transgression)
Resonances	Links works across big reaches of time and/or space, e.g. Odyssey and responses by Kafka, Walcott, Seferis (or Song of Everlasting Sorrow by Wang Anyi (Shanghai, 1995), “Song of Everlasting Sorrow” by Bai Juyi (Chang’an, 800s))