Serrano calls for a reassessment of the practice of World Literature with six case studies taken from the Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Korean and Latin American traditions. Although in recent years the field has adopted more inclusive and wide-ranging criteria for college-level anthologies of World Literature, and has seen the collection and publication of critical readers, book-length introductions, and even a history, the theoretical predisposition of most of its practitioners paradoxically has led to a shrinking of its horizons and a narrowing of its vision. Reexamining World Literature asks scholars to look beyond the current dominant definition of World Literature (works in English with broad reach or works in other languages with significant circulation in English translation) in order to engage with a range of complex texts that elude the field's assumptions. World Literature need not be a we-are-the-world of shared values, but instead should ask readers to question what those values are.

This book argues that the tension between Arabic poetry and the Qur'an dating back to the seventh century, when the Qur'an was first recited, is a primary generator of meaning in the Arabic Literary Tradition. Four case studies illustrate how this tension is a creative force. What, for example is the relationship between the Qur'an, poetry and other genres of Arabic Literature? How are the figures of the prophet and the poet linked in the life and work of 10th-century al-Mutanabbi? How do the Qur'an and Arabic poetry depend on each other for their interpretation? How do reading practices associated with the Qur'an and Arabic Poetry inform attempts to understand the inscriptions of the Alhambra?

Richard Serrano begins his provocative new work Against the Postcolonial with the bold statement that "Francophone studies is mostly a mirage, while postcolonial studies is mostly a delusion." He argues that many attempts to use postcoloniality to account for francophone writers tell us more about the critics' assumptions than about the writers' works. Furthermore, he asserts that postcolonial studies, with its antecedents as an Anglophone Indian project that emerged in response to the weakening British Raj, is but one sort of narrative of colonialism into which writers of French expression do not neatly fit. In an insightful exploration of the work of five writers from lands formerly or currently ruled by France-Algeria, Cambodia, Guiana, Madagascar, and Mali-Serrano demonstrates the rewards of research that engages in textual analysis within its historical and literary context. He deftly argues against the relevance of a homogenizing critical practice; considering these writers "postcolonial," he claims, is to misunderstand their aesthetic strategies for survival in the face of French colonialism and modernism. Scholars of Francophone literature, postcolonial studies, and world literature will relish Serrano's lively invitation to debate and masterful analysis of five brilliant artists.

Richard Serrano begins his provocative new work Against the Postcolonial with the bold statement that OFrancophone studies is mostly a mirage, while postcolonial studies is mostly a delusion.O He argues that many attempts to use postcoloniality to account for francophone writers tell us more about the criticsO assumptions than about the writersO works. Furthermore, he asserts that postcolonial studies, with its antecedents as an Anglophone Indian project that emerged in response to the weakening British Raj, is but one sort of narrative of colonialism into which writers of French expression do not neatly fit. In an insightful exploration of the work of five writers from lands formerly or currently ruled by France_Algeria, Cambodia, Guiana, Madagascar, and Mali_Serrano demonstrates the rewards of research that engages in textual analysis within its historical and literary context. He deftly argues against the relevance of a homogenizing critical practice; considering these writers Opostcolonial,O he claims, is to misunderstand their aesthetic strategies for survival in the face of French colonialism and modernism. Scholars of Francophone literature, postcolonial studies, and world literature will relish SerranoOs lively invitation to debate and masterful analysis of five brilliant artists.