In the still-burgeoning field of writings that seek to (re)define and (re)direct our readings of world literature, Pheng Cheah has contributed an eloquent volume that stands out in the crowd and belongs on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the field. What Is a World? aims at nothing less than a redirection of our current expansive and largely materialist approach to world literature, epithets that could characterize everything from David Damrosch's emphasis on circulation through Pascale Casanova's struggle for prestige in the republic of letters, to Franco Moretti's model of “form as force.” While Johann Wolfgang von Goethe remains a touchstone in discussions of world literature, his largely hermeneutical and ethical formulations of Weltliteratur have limited impact on the current discourse—nor could they, really, given that they are scattered and at times contradict one another. Instead, Karl Marx's association of world literature with capitalism's relentless breaking down of cultural singularities...

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