Comparative Literature and the Quest for Global Literary Theory

This article reflects on the intellectual aspirations and current challenges faced by the discipline of Comparative Literature. The challenge identified comes from the global margins and the necessity of integrating the plurality of non-colonial legacies in the syncretic vision of global literary st...

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Main Author: Ewa A. Łukaszyk
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centre for Comparative Studies 2024-12-01
Series:Compendium
Subjects:
Online Access:https://compendium.letras.ulisboa.pt/index.php/compendium/article/view/126
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author Ewa A. Łukaszyk
author_facet Ewa A. Łukaszyk
author_sort Ewa A. Łukaszyk
collection DOAJ
description This article reflects on the intellectual aspirations and current challenges faced by the discipline of Comparative Literature. The challenge identified comes from the global margins and the necessity of integrating the plurality of non-colonial legacies in the syncretic vision of global literary studies. The case study presented in the article, the literature of Guinea-Bissau, is considered not in the usual inter-literary context of Lusophone universe, but in its regional, West African cultural history, rich in tribal legacies and Islamic influences. The regional focus permits to emphasize the plurality of local languages, legacies of oral literature associated with them, as well as non-European literacy. The focus proposed permits us to see the literature of Guinea-Bissau not as an emergent phenomenon, but as a conclusion of long-lasting cultural processes reaching, with the postcolonial writing, their stage of exhaustion rather than auroral moments.
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institution Kabale University
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publisher Centre for Comparative Studies
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spelling doaj-art-9f87f051e4eb4b8bac8ee8b84f554ccd2024-12-29T22:56:19ZengCentre for Comparative StudiesCompendium2975-80252024-12-01610.51427/com.jcs.2024.6.3Comparative Literature and the Quest for Global Literary TheoryEwa A. Łukaszyk0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9969-0459Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, PortugalThis article reflects on the intellectual aspirations and current challenges faced by the discipline of Comparative Literature. The challenge identified comes from the global margins and the necessity of integrating the plurality of non-colonial legacies in the syncretic vision of global literary studies. The case study presented in the article, the literature of Guinea-Bissau, is considered not in the usual inter-literary context of Lusophone universe, but in its regional, West African cultural history, rich in tribal legacies and Islamic influences. The regional focus permits to emphasize the plurality of local languages, legacies of oral literature associated with them, as well as non-European literacy. The focus proposed permits us to see the literature of Guinea-Bissau not as an emergent phenomenon, but as a conclusion of long-lasting cultural processes reaching, with the postcolonial writing, their stage of exhaustion rather than auroral moments.https://compendium.letras.ulisboa.pt/index.php/compendium/article/view/126literature of Guinea-Bissaunon-colonial legaciesoral literatureemergent literacytranslatability
spellingShingle Ewa A. Łukaszyk
Comparative Literature and the Quest for Global Literary Theory
Compendium
literature of Guinea-Bissau
non-colonial legacies
oral literature
emergent literacy
translatability
title Comparative Literature and the Quest for Global Literary Theory
title_full Comparative Literature and the Quest for Global Literary Theory
title_fullStr Comparative Literature and the Quest for Global Literary Theory
title_full_unstemmed Comparative Literature and the Quest for Global Literary Theory
title_short Comparative Literature and the Quest for Global Literary Theory
title_sort comparative literature and the quest for global literary theory
topic literature of Guinea-Bissau
non-colonial legacies
oral literature
emergent literacy
translatability
url https://compendium.letras.ulisboa.pt/index.php/compendium/article/view/126
work_keys_str_mv AT ewaałukaszyk comparativeliteratureandthequestforgloballiterarytheory