World Literature

Admit it. When you hear the term *world literature*, you automatically start to think about Greek tragedies and The Odyssey and a bunch of other works traditionally written by European authors who died a long, long time ago, don't you? I know I did.

At least I did until I took a World Literature course this semester.

Don't get me wrong. Most World Literature courses still focus on those same old *tried and true* works that really only focus on Europe and North America, while largely ignoring Asia, Australia, Africa, South America, and so many other places. They ignore anything that does not fit into the traditionally held canon of works. And that is really a very dated and limited view of things.

This course that I took really challenged that view, and has successfully convinced me that there is a lot more out there that should be studied, but is more often than not overlooked. I really think that it will aid me in my own teaching as well, to not be stuck in that rut of studying only those works that were traditionally seen as world literature.

This semester, none of the works we studied would have fit into the usual sphere. They were all written in the last half-century. We studied pieces from Turkey, Vietnam, Nigeria, and Chile. Each novel we read had a focus on thoughts and ideas that challenged not only our own beliefs, but also those of their own cultures and countries. As such, many of these works have been banned or seriously challenged in their native lands.

I truly hope that the rest of the literary community will begin to take a look at world literature and how narrow the traditional view is. It is only through challenging those beliefs that any changes can be made.