Forget English!

A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year The idea of world literature has garnered much attention recently as a discipline that promises to move humanistic study beyond postcolonial theory and antiquated paradigms of national literary traditions. In Forget English! Aamir Mufti scrutinizes the claims made on behalf of world literature by its advocates. The notion of a borderless, egalitarian global literature has obvious appeal, he notes, but behind it lurks the continuing dominance of English as a literary language and a cultural system of international reach. Muftis historical perspective and insightful analyses of Indias anglophone novel generate constant echoes with the realities of anglophone writings in other cultures. Eva Shan Chou, Times Higher Education Muftis book is in one sense a quarrel with Salman Rushdies overly enthusiastic celebration of English-language postcolonial South Asian literature, but more important, the book extends, qualifies, and enriches Edward Saids work on Orientalism, demonstrating that despite its promise, world literature does not eliminate the dominant role of the Anglophone book market in shaping South Asian literatureMuftis book is both accessible and theoretically informed. K. Tllyan, Choice