World literature refers to literature from all over the world, including American literature, European literature, Latin American literature, Asian literature, African literature, Arabic literature and so on. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe introduced the concept of Weltliteratur in 1827 to describe the growing availability of texts from other nations. The History of literature begins with the history of writing, in Bronze Age Mesopotamia, although the oldest literary texts that have come down to us date to a full millennium after the invention of writing, to the late 3rd millennium BC. The earliest literary author known by name is Enheduanna... Indian literature is generally acknowledged, but not wholly established, as the oldest in the world. ... Literature in Sanskrit, one of Indias two oldest languages, and the basis of several modern languages in India. ... Tamil literature is literature in the Tamil language which most prominently includes the contributions of the Tamil country (or Tamizhagam) history, a large part of which constitutes the modern state of Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well as some parts of Karnataka and Andra pradesh. ... // [edit] Classical texts Main article: Chinese classic texts China has a wealth of classical literature, both poetry and prose, dating from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BCE) and including the Classics attributed to Confucius. ... At the moment this page contains a list of links. ... Latin literature, the body of written works in the Latin language, remains an enduring legacy of the culture of ancient Rome. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... Persian literature (in Persian: ‎) spans two and a half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. ... According to the mediæval poet Jean Bodel, the Matter of Rome was the literary cycle made up of Greek and Roman mythology, together with episodes from the history of classical antiquity, focusing on military heroes like Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. ... The Matter of France, also known as the Carolingian cycle is a body of legendary history that springs from the Old French medieval literature of the chansons de geste. ... The Arthurian legend or the Matter of Britain is a name given collectively to the legends that concern the Celtic and legendary history of the British Isles, especially those focused on King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. ... Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (encompassing the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. ... Arabic literature is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by speakers of the Arabic language. ... See also: Pre 13th century in literature, other events of the 13th century, 14th century in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 13th century in literature, other events of the 14th century, 15th century in literature, list of years in literature. ... Renaissance literature is European literature, after the Dark Ages over an extended period, usually considered to be initiated by Petrarch at the beginning of the Italian Renaissance, and sometimes taken to continue to the English Renaissance and into the seventeenth century. ... See also: 14th century in literature, other events of the 15th century, 16th century in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 15th century in literature, other events of the 16th century, 17th century in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 16th century in literature, other events of the 17th century, 1700 in literature, list of years in literature. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... Modernism is a term which covers a variety of political, cultural and artistic movements rooted in the changes in Western society at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. ... Structuralism is an approach in academic disciplines that explores the relationships between fundamental elements of some kind, upon which some higher mental, linguistic, social, cultural etc. ... This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... Post-structuralism is a body of work that followed in the wake of structuralism, and sought to understand the Western world as a network of structures, as in structuralism, but in which such structures are ordered primarily by local, shifting differences (as in deconstruction) rather than grand binary oppositions and... Andy Warhols iconic Marilyn Monroe // Postmodernism is an idea that has been extremely controversial and difficult to define among scholars, intellectuals, and historians, as it connotes to many the hotly debated idea that the modern historical period has passed. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Hypertext fiction is a genre of electronic literature, characterized by the use of hypertext which provides a new context for non-linearity in literature and reader interaction. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... This page indexes the individual year in literature pages. ... Jorge Luis Borges Argentine literature is placed among the most important in Spanish language, with world-famous writers such as José Hernández, Jorge Luis Borges, Manuel Puig, Julio Cortázar and Ernesto Sábato. ... Canadian literature may be divided into two parts, based on their separate roots: one stems from the culture and literature from France; the other from Britain. ... Mexican literature plays an important role in Mexican culture. ... This topic is considered to be an essential subject on Wikipedia. ... Australian literature in English began soon after the establishment of the country by Europeans. ... New Zealand claims as its own many writers, even those immigrants born overseas or those emigrants who have gone into exile. ... Pakistani literature, that is, the literature of Pakistan, as a distinct literature came into being when Pakistan gained its nationhooood as a sovereign state in 1947. ... Tamil literature is literature in the Tamil language which most prominently includes the contributions of the Tamil country (or Tamizhagam) history, a large part of which constitutes the modern state of Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well as some parts of Karnataka and Andra pradesh. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Urdu literature has a long and colorful history that is inextricably tied to the development of that very language, Urdu, in which it is written. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Indian English Literature. ... It has been suggested that History of Bengali literature be merged into this article or section. ... Literature in Marathi. ... Literature written in Malayalam language. ... Japanese literature spans a period of almost two millennia. ... Vietnamese literature is literature, both oral and written, created by Vietnamese-speaking people. ... Moroccan Folktales by Jilali El Koudia Moroccan literature is a literature written in (Moroccan) Arabic, Berber or French, and of course particularly by people of Morocco, but also of Al-Andalus. ... South Africa has a diverse literary history. ... Swahili literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the Swahili language particularly by Swahili people of the East African coast and the neighbouring islands. ... // The origin of Asian theatre can be traced to over 3500 years ago, beginning with early forms of Indian and Chinese theatre. ... This article is on science fiction literature. ... The history of ideas is a field of research in history and in related fields dealing with the expression, preservation, and change of human ideas over time. ... Intellectual history means either: the history of intellectuals, or: the history of the people who create, discuss, write about and in other ways propagate ideas. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Latin American literature refers to the literature of Latin America. ... Asian literature is the literature produced in Asia. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Arabic literature is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by speakers of the Arabic language. ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. ... Naval Battle of Navarino by Carneray 1827 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

More narrowly, world literature was long defined in the United States as an established canon of European masterpieces, but an emerging global perspective has challenged both this European focus and the very category of "the masterpiece", though today the term "world literature" is still used to denote the supposedly very best in literature, the so-called Western canon. In order to understand the concept of world literature, it can be useful to explore the concepts of world cinema and world music. The Western canon is a canon of books and art (and specifically one with very loose boundaries) that has allegedly been highly influential in shaping Western culture. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Eurocentrism is the practice, conscious or otherwise, of placing emphasis on European (and, generally, Western) concerns, culture and values at the expense of those of other cultures. ... Greatness is a concept that is heavily dependent on a persons perspective and biases. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Western canon is a canon of books and art (and specifically one with very loose boundaries) that has allegedly been highly influential in shaping Western culture. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... World music is, most generally, all the music in the world [1]. More specifically, the term is currently used to classify the many genres of non-western music which were previously described as folk music or ethnic music. Succinctly, it can be described as local music from out there [2...

Further reading

• The Norton Anthology of World Literature, 6 vols., second edition, 2001-2003.
• Jerome Rothenberg & Pierre Joris (editors), Poems for the Millenium: a Global Anthology of Modern & Postmodern Poetry, Berkeley: University of California Press, two vols., 1995, 1998.

See also

• Classic book
• Comparative literature
• Literature by country
• List of world folk-epics
• History of literature
• Print culture
• Translation

Note: This is a stub article. ... Comparative literature, colloquially abbreviated comp. ... This is a list of literature, categorized by by country, language, or cultural group. ... World folk-epics are those epics which are not just literary masterpieces but also an integral part of the weltanschauung of a people. ... A stone tablet containing part of the Epic of Gilgamesh The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry which attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/hearer/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques used in the communication... Print culture embodies all forms of printed text and communication. ... Look up translate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

External links

• World literature at the Open Directory Project