Beyond English: World Literature and India

Beyond English: World Literature and India challenges the commodified and standardized monolingual globe by exploring the idea of the world and world-making in South Asia. It argues that Indic words for world offer a nuanced understanding of world literature that is antithetical to a commodified and standardized monolingual globe. Through a comparative study of Rabindranath Tagores works, Hindi shadowism poets, and Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillais Chemmeen (1956) and Arundhati Roys The God of Small Things (1997), it emphasizes the centrality of "literature" (Sahitya) and encourages a worldliness receptive to the poetics of a world in its original language and translation.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 208 pages
Publication date: 29 June 2023
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Honorable Mention,Harry Levin Prize,2022 (American Comparative Literature Association)

Beyond English: World Literature and India is a groundbreaking work that challenges the conventional understanding of world literature in the context of circulation and global capital. Through a deep exploration of the concept of the world and world-making in South Asia, author Tiwari offers a nuanced perspective on world literature that opposes the commodification and standardization of a monolingual world.

Tiwari's study is a comparative exploration of the concept of "world literature" (visva sahitya) in the works of Rabindranath Tagore, the longing for a new world expressed in the lyrics of Hindi shadowism (chhayavaad) poets, and the world-making depicted in Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillais' Chemmeen (1956) and Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things (1997). By emphasizing the centrality of "literature" (sahitya) through a close reading of texts, Tiwari redirects world literature toward comparative literature and comparative literature toward a worldliness that is receptive to the poetics of a world in its original language and in translation.

This innovative approach to world literature offers a fresh perspective on the global literary landscape, challenging the boundaries between different cultures and languages. It demonstrates the importance of recognizing the diversity of world literature and the value of exploring its connections and differences. Tiwari's work is a significant contribution to the field of comparative literature and will undoubtedly inspire further research and discussion.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501386879