World literature was long defined in North America 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." The first book to look broadly at the contemporary scope and purposes of world l[...]

A critical study of the ancient Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh describes its composition around 1200 B.C., its loss in 600 B.C. during the destruction of the library of King Ashurbanipal, its rediscovery and deciphering in the nineteenth century, and the fast-paced story itself of a great Middle Easte[...]

World Literature in Theory provides a definitive exploration of the pressing questions facing those studying world literature today.[...]

This is an exciting, and unsettling, time to be teaching world literature, writes David Damrosch. Because the range of works taught in world literature courses has expanded enormously, both historically and geographically, the task of selection--and of teacher preparation--has grown more challenging[...]