Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: This article reflects on the genealogy of what the author terms Occidentocentrism: the resilient belief that Western literatures are qualified and entitled to furnish a natural observation platform, a vantage point from which to spectate and judge the literatures of other cultural zones whose formation proceeded, for some not inconsiderable time, along a different path and following rather different assumptions. The framework posited by the classificatory interpretation of literature along the axes of language, genre, and period has been casting a long shadow over how we assign value to literature; these questions of axiology can only be properly addressed if we remain alert to the changing regimes of relevance that bestow significance on literature today.
Source: Journal of World Literature
Author: Galin Tihanov
Institution: Queen Mary University of London
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4406990577