World Literature and International American Studies: Convergence, Divergence, and Contest
World Literature and International American Studies: Convergence, Divergence, and Contest

Summary/Abstract: This paper considers the relation between the institutional formations of World Literature and International American Studies. It compares and contrasts the association between World Literature and Comparative Literature to that between International American Studies and the American Studies movement emerging out of the United States. It goes on to argue that World Literature is anchored to a universalist teleology, one linked historically to an idealist intellectual genealogy. By contrast, International American Studies involves a more materialist, multidirectional emphasis that differentiates it from the US appropriation of globalization to further its own strategic interests.

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