Syllabus 2026-27

Seminar Schedule 2026

Week 1: Debates on World Literature. David Damrosch, “Introduction: Link opens in a new windowWorld Literature in Theory and Practice”; Franco Moretti, “Conjectures on World Literature” and “More ConjecturesLink opens in a new window”; Emily Apter, “Against World LiteratureLink opens in a new window”; Sarah Brouillette, “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", “The Secret of Primitive AccumulationLink opens in a new window” 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.

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.

Week 4: Peripheral Aesthetics. Clarice Lispector, The Hour of the Star (1977) (B. Moser translation; recommended Link opens in a new window for purchase); Rita Terezinha Schmidt, “Crossing BordersLink opens in a new window: Clarice Lispector and the Scene of Transnational Feminist Criticism”, 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); Warwick 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 Vladislavić, Portrait with Keys (2006) [recommended for purchaseLink opens in a new window].

Week 7: Scales of World-Literature. Michael Niblett, "World-Economy, World-Ecology, World LiteratureLink opens in a new window"; Sharae Deckard, “Social Reproduction, Struggle and the Ecology of ‘Women’s Work’ in World-LiteratureLink opens in a new window” (2024); Neel Ahuja, “Intimate Atmospheres: Queer Theory in a Time of ExtinctionsLink opens in a new window”; Graeme Macdonald, “The Resources of FictionLink opens in a new window”.

Week 8: World Literature and World-Ecology. Amitav Ghosh, The Nutmeg's Curse (2021) [recommended for purchaseLink opens in a new window].

Week 9: Oceans of World-Literature: Richard Powers, Playground (2024) [recommended for purchaseLink opens in a new window].

Week 10: The “Literature” 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”; Epeli Hau'ofa, "The Glorious Pacific WayLink opens in a new window", from Tales of the Tikongs.