"world"; linguistics; postcolonialism; re-semanticisation; world literature
Abstract :
[en] There appears to be no consensus as yet on the meaning of the term "world" in "world literature". Over the last few years, "world" has indeed been the object of a multitude of responses and readings, which markedly vary according to researchers' academic backgrounds and theoretical vantage points. How then is the "world" of "world literature" to be apprehended? Combining linguistics-informed and close-reading methods, the present
essay seeks to shed light on a notional issue that has especially divided world and postcolonial literary scholars in recent times. More precisely, it will be argued that "world" in the phrase "world literature" has begun to undergo a linguistic process of re-semanticisation, whereby this lexical item has come to encode, and be imbued with, values central to the
postcolonial agenda ― thus providing the postcolonial cause with fresh impetus in the twenty-first century.
Research Center/Unit :
CEREP - Centre d'Enseignement et de Recherche en Études Postcoloniales - ULiège
Disciplines :
Literature Languages & linguistics
Author, co-author :
Gerday, Laura ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de langues modernes : linguistique, littérature et traduction > Langue et linguistique anglaises modernes
Language :
English
Title :
Rewording the World or Reworlding the Word? Some Postcolonial Perspectives on the "World" of World Literature
Publication date :
2022
Journal title :
Interventions: the International Journal of Postcolonial Studies
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