The Future of Comparative and World Literature

When Johann Wolfgang von Goethe coined the term ‘world literature’ (Weltliteratur) in 1831, he made it clear that this epoch had begun in his time and, like every epoch, would come to an end. This article is about the end of that epoch and the future of comparative literature in an era after the end of world literature. It is easy to see that we are now living in the era of world literatures. In a world in which, at first sight, literature counts for less and less, it must emphasize its unique selling point: it is the only form of human discourse that has actively expanded the realm of knowledge over several millennia. Only comparative literature, which draws on the most diverse literatures of the world, is able to bring this uniqueness into focus and highlight its social relevance.