1. What is Cheah's response to the idea that "literature seems to have little pertinence in our
era of economic globalization"? Why does he think that it does (26)?
Cheah argues that cosmopolitanism is defined as an activity wherein the reader must participate, and use his imagination to construct meaning. Cheah states, “World literature is an important aspect of cosmopolitanism because it is a type of world-making activity that enables us to imagine a world” (26). Thus, in spite of economic globalization, literature, to Cheah, retains its significance because it transcends national boundaries.
2. What reasons does he give to explain his belief that literature is a "world making activity" (27)? Cheah offers three reasons in explaining his belief. First, he avers that literature forces one to transcend their limits, and not identity with particulars. Secondly, he posits that one must “imagine a universal community that includes all existing human beings” (27). Lastly, he states that one must “subordinate” their egos to a more holistic perspective.
3. Explain the "two different senses of world" (29) that Cheah takes from Goethe and why does he argue that "they are significant for us today" (30)? Cheah states that Goethe distinguishes between the world that is “pleasing to the masses”, and a world that is a “higher intellectual community that opens up a new universal horizon” (29). He argues that they are significant for us today because they help us transcend limiting spiritual and nationalistic boundaries.
4. How does Cheah's concept of "world" lead him to critique Damrosch's (30)? Cheah’s concept of world leads him to differentiate between world, and globe. Furthermore, if literature is to be meaningful, one must not make them mistake of conflating the two terms, world and globe, as Damrosch does (30). Cheah is at odds with Damrosch’s conflation of these two terms. To Cheah, “world” implies much more than globe. For Cheah, the term implies the world of the imagination – not just the globe of spatial representation, and certainly means more than “a map of the globe” (30).
5. What is his critique of Goethe (31)? Cheah critiques Goethe’s lack of critique of capitalism, and Goethe’s tolerance of national and cultural differences as “repressive” (31). Moreover, Cheah states: “Hence, some nationswill benefit from world literary relations because they have accumulated more literary worth” (31). Thus, Cheah points out Goethe’s “Eurocentric” self-interest as preventing a more equal exchange of “world literary intercourse” (31).
Works Cited
Cheah, Pheng. “What is a world? On world literature as world-making activity.” From
Daedalus 137.3 (2008): 26-38.
