Glob/blob/symbiont. From Comparative Literature to an Organic Vision of World Literature

Abstract

The article examines the evolution of literary studies from the disciplinary framework of Comparative Literature to that of World Literature. The author reflects on the globalizing notion of World Literature, often treated as a synonym for the literary “white noise” circulating in translation. Stripped of distinguishing features, this featureless literature appears to digest and overflow everything – much like alien organisms in science-fiction films and novels. For this reason, the author’s attention shifts from major to ultraminor literatures and from a postcolonial to a transcolonial approach. Whereas the postcolonial school of literary criticism foregrounded power differentials and emphasized subaltern subjects suffering symbolic oppression, transcolonial studies focus instead on horizontal networks of solidarity, coexistence, and co-creation. Minor in power and scope though they may be, transcolonial literatures can rely on such networks of solidarity and on synergistic effects, fostering a positive, authentic, and organic vision of World Literature.