Syllabus 2026-27
Seminar Schedule 2026
Week 1: Debates on World Literature. David Damrosch, 鈥�Introduction: Link opens in a new windowWorld Literature in Theory and Practice鈥�; Franco Moretti, 鈥�Conjectures on World Literature鈥� and 鈥淢ore ConjecturesLink opens in a new window鈥�; Emily Apter, 鈥�Against World LiteratureLink opens in a new window鈥�; Sarah Brouillette, 鈥�Wither Production?Link opens in a new window".
Week 2: Materialist Methods of Global Reading. Karl Marx, "The Fetishism of the Commodity and its SecretLink opens in a new window", 鈥�The Secret of Primitive AccumulationLink opens in a new window鈥� and "The Genesis of the Industrial CapitalistLink opens in a new window" from Capital Vol. 1 (Ben Fowkes, Transl. Penguin, ISBN: 978-0140445688); Raymond Williams, selections Link opens in a new windowfrom The Country and the City; Lisa Lowe, "A Fetishism of Colonial CommoditiesLink opens in a new window", from The Intimacies of Four Continents.
Suggested further reading: Stephen Shapiro, How to Read Marx's Capital (Pluto Press, 2008)
Week 3: Theory from the South. Antonio Candido, "Literature and UnderdevelopmentLink opens in a new window", in The Latin American Cultural Studies Reader; Roberto Schwarz, "Misplaced IdeasLink opens in a new window" and "Brazilian Culture, Nationalism by EliminationLink opens in a new window" in Misplaced Ideas: Essays on Brazilian Culture; Neil Larsen, "Roberto Schwarz: A Quiet (Brazilian) Revolution in Critical TheoryLink opens in a new window", from Determinations: Essays on Theory, Narrative and Nation in the Americas.
Suggested further reading: Thomas Waller, 'Roberto Schwarz and World Literature: An IntroductionLink opens in a new window'; Ericka Beckman, 'Latin American Literature and Dependency Theory TodayLink opens in a new window'
Week 4: Peripheral Aesthetics. Clarice Lispector, The Hour of the Star (1977) (B. Moser translation; for purchase); Rita Terezinha Schmidt, 鈥�Crossing BordersLink opens in a new window: Clarice Lispector and the Scene of Transnational Feminist Criticism鈥�, Brazilian Literature as World Literature, Ed. Eduardo F. Coutinho, 2018.
Week 5: The "World" in World-Literature. Immanuel Wallerstein, selectionsLink opens in a new window from World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction (2004); 糖心TV Research Collective, selectionsLink opens in a new window from Combined and Uneven Development: Towards a New Theory of World-Literature.
Week 6: The City of World Literature. Ivan Vladislavi膰, Portrait with Keys (2006) [].
Week 7: Scales of World-Literature. Michael Niblett, "World-Economy, World-Ecology, World LiteratureLink opens in a new window"; Sharae Deckard, 鈥�Social Reproduction, Struggle and the Ecology of 鈥榃omen鈥檚 Work鈥� in World-LiteratureLink opens in a new window鈥� (2024); Neel Ahuja, 鈥�Intimate Atmospheres: Queer Theory in a Time of ExtinctionsLink opens in a new window鈥�; Graeme Macdonald, 鈥�The Resources of FictionLink opens in a new window鈥�.
Week 8: World Literature and World-Ecology. Amitav Ghosh, The Nutmeg's Curse (2021) [].
Week 9: Oceans of World-Literature: Richard Powers, Playground (2024) [].
Week 10: The 鈥淟iterature鈥� in World-Literature: Aamir Mufti, "PrologueLink opens in a new window: The Universal Library of World Literature"; Joseph Slaughter, "World Literature as PropertyLink opens in a new window鈥�; Epeli Hau'ofa, "The Glorious Pacific WayLink opens in a new window", from Tales of the Tikongs.