Theories of the Global, Global Literature, and American Literature in a Globalizing Age

Ulfried ReichardtAmerikanistik, Universität Mannheim Theories of the Global, Global Literature, and American Literature in a Globalizing Age Abstract: The paper discusses theories of the global and approaches to the concept of the world, presents definitions of literature in a globalizing age, and examines proposals how to approach world literature in literary scholarship, including ones that regard world literature as a system and ones that focus on individual texts. Finally, the essay argues that in our digitally restructured knowledge world, contemporary novels reflecting on the transformations of media and of knowledge formation have to be considered as versions of world literature as well. Keywords: World Literature, globalization and literature, theories of the global, concepts of the “world,” digitalization