World Literatures (non-European Languages) / Cultural Studies and Media Studies

Virtual Only: All presentations will be delivered via Zoom regardless of whether the presenters are in-person.

Arunav Das (University of South Carolina)

“The era of world literature is at hand, and everyone must contribute to accelerating it,” Goethe said to Eckermann on the afternoon of 1827, and the idea of world literature (Weltliteratur) was born.

Literature has become increasingly global in recent decades, influenced by social, political, cultural, and linguistic trends that transcend national boundaries. Consequently, contemporary texts are challenging to view as products of any single national literature. Through the rise of the ‘world market’ (Weltmarkt), national literatures are circulated globally through English translation in the literary marketplace. This domination of power mechanism through international exchange threatened the existence of many regional and local languages worldwide. As literary and cinematic productions increasingly circulate across national, linguistic, and cultural boundaries, they both influence and are influenced by the evolving dynamics of globalization.

At the core, this panel aims to investigate how writers, translators, scholars, and filmmakers from the Global South, diasporic communities, or conflict zones negotiate transnational identities, postcolonial legacies, (post-)pandemic realities, cultural hybridity, and global circuits of meaning and production through diverse literary forms to depict marginalized voices and foster transnational dialogue. How do they employ language, form, and genre to critique globalization's homogenizing effects? And how can creative practice itself be a space for cultural resistance or cosmopolitan imagination?

This session invites proposals from scholars, educators, critics, and creative professionals—including writers, poets, and filmmakers—who envision literature and film as part of a global dialogue across various fields such as World Literature, Comparative Literature, Postcolonial Studies, Film Studies, Cultural Studies, and Translation Studies, among others.

We encourage submissions from underrepresented regions or in less commonly taught languages to explore the ethics, aesthetics, and politics of world literature in the age of cultural globalization.

Please submit a 250–300-word abstract/proposal, a brief academic and/or creative bio, and any A/V requests by September 30, 2025, via the NeMLA abstract submission portal.

For general guidelines, membership, and registration: https://www.nemla.org/convention.html

Deadline for registration: December 9, 2025

Session Chair:

Arunav Das

Department of English Language and Literature

The University of South Carolina, Columbia

E-mail: arunav@email.sc.edu

This session invites proposals from scholars, educators, critics, and creative professionals—including writers, poets, and filmmakers—who envision literature and film as part of a global dialogue across various fields such as World Literature, Comparative Literature, Postcolonial Studies, Film Studies, Cultural Studies, and Translation Studies, among others.