Global Matters: The Transnational Turn in Literary Studies

246 Pages·2010·13.28 MB·English

by  Paul Jay

GLOBAL MATTERS

P
J
GLOBAL MATTERS
The Transnational Turn in Literary Studies
CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS
1T HACA AND LONDON
3ti075'"{
Copyright © 2010 by Cornell University
Ail rights reservecl. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts
thereof, must not be reproducecl in any form without permission in writing
from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage
House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 2010 by Cornell University Press
First prinring, Cornell Paperbacks, 2010
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jay, Paul, 1946-
Global matters : the transnational turn in literary studies / Paul Jay.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8014-4900-0 (cloth: alk. paper) - ISBN 978-0-8014-7607-5 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Commonwealth fiction (English)-History ancl criticism. 2. Literature, Comparative-Commonwealth
(English) ancl English. 3. Literature, Comparative-English ancl Commonwealth (English). 4. Literature,
Comparative-Commonwealth (English) and American. 5. Literature, Comparative-American and
Commonwealth (English). 6. Transnationalism in literature. 7. Globalization in literature. 8. Multi
culturalism in literature. 9. Literature and globalization. I. Title.
PR9084J39 2010
809-dc22 2010005687
Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers
and materials to the full est extenr possible in the publishing of its books. Such
materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers that
are recycled, totally chlorine-free, or partly composed of nonwoocl fibers. For
further information, visit our website at www.comellpress.cornell.edu.
Cloth printing 10 9 7 6 4
Paperback printing 10 9 7 6 4
For my parents, Lester and Midge Jay

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
IX
Introduction: The Transnational Turn in Literary Studies
Part One: Globalization and the Study of Literature
1. Difference, Multiculturalism, and the Globalizing of
Literary Studies 15
2. What Is Globalization? 33
3. Economies, Cultures, and the Poli tics of Globalization 53
4. Border Studies: Remapping the Locations of Literary Study 73
Part Two: Globalization in Contemporary Literature
5. Post-Postcolonial W riting in the Age of Globalization:
The Gad ofS mall Things, Red Earth and Pouring Rain,
Math Smoke 95
Contents
VIlI
6. Globalization and Nationalism in Kiran Desai's
The Inheritance of Loss 118
7. The Cultural Poli tics of Development in Zakes Mda's
The Heart ofRedness 137
8. Multiculturalism and Identity in Zadie Smith's White Teeth 154
9. Transnational Masculinities in Junot Dîaz's
The BriefWandrous Life afOscar Waa 176
Conclusion 195
Notes 201
Works Cited 215
Index 225
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Global Matters: The Transnational Turn in Litera/y Studies had its genesis in a
paper on border studies and globalization 1 gave at the Modern Language As
sociation convention in San Francisco in 1998 that crystallized in an essay on
globalization and the future of literary studies that appeared in PMLA in 2001
and then evolved during the next few years in lectures at Pennsylvania State
University, Lewis University, Texas Tech University, and in conference papers
delivered in Rome, Honolulu, Washington DC, New Orleans, Milwaukee, and
elsewhere. 1 want to thank the many people who attended those lectures for their
keen attention, probing questions, and constructive feedback. My book would
not have taken intelligent shape without those lively discussions.
Of course books like this are not just the product of solitary research and writ
ing. More often th an not, they evolve in the classroom, out of the give-and-take
we have with our students. 1 have been blessed to teach at an institution, Loyola
University Chicago, that not only values scholarship but understands and fa
cilitates the cruciallink between original research and successful undergraduate
and graduate teaching. The material in this book has grown out of free-wheeling
discussions 1 have had with my students in courses about the impact of globaliza
tion on lite rature and its study at a variety of levels. 1 owe a debt of gratitude to