How to Read World Literature

Description

Cover; Title; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Chapter 1: What Is "Literature"?; The World of the Text; The Author's Role; Modes of Reading; What Is a Novel?; Chapter 2: Reading across Time; From Orature to Literature; The Human and the Divine; Underworld Dreams; Gathering Rosebuds; Chapter 3: Reading across Cultures; Classical Drama: Greece and India; Tragic Flaw or Fate?; Character and Plot; Scenes from Middle-class Life; From Oedipus to Elesin; Chapter 4: Reading in Translation; Imitation, Paraphrase, and Metaphrase; Comparing Translations; How Foreign Should a Translation Be?;How to Read World Literature addresses the unique challenges faced by a reader confronting foreign literature. Accessible and enlightening, Damrosch offers readers the tools to navigate works as varied as Homer, Sophocles, Kalidasa, Du Fu, Dante, Murasaki, Moliere, Kafka, Soyinka, and Walcott. Offers a unique set of "modes of entry" for readers encountering foreign literatureProvides readers with the tools to think creatively and systematically about key issues such as reading across time and cultures, reading translated works, and emerging global perspectivesCovers a wide variety of genres, f. Cover Title Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: What Is "Literature"? The World of the Text The Author's Role Modes of Reading What Is a Novel? Chapter 2: Reading across Time From Orature to Literature The Human and the Divine Underworld Dreams Gathering Rosebuds Chapter 3: Reading across Cultures Classical Drama: Greece and India Tragic Flaw or Fate? Character and Plot Scenes from Middle-class Life From Oedipus to Elesin Chapter 4: Reading in Translation Imitation, Paraphrase, and Metaphrase Comparing Translations How Foreign Should a Translation Be? How Do Spartans Speak?Chapter 5: Going Abroad Strangers in a Strange Land Brave New Worlds Imperial Fictions Looking Homeward Chapter 6: Going Global The Glocal and the Delocalized The Binational and the Multinational Epilogue: Going Farther Bibliography Index.