How the global novel became a thing and how writers adapt to the new international rules of the game

What is it about?

The global novel is one of the central stakes in the US-centered international literary field, a field that openly celebrates marginality, authenticity, and ethical bearing while still rewarding works targeted to an Anglophone, educated audience with an omnivorous aesthetic disposition. This essay reconstructs the genesis and the history of the contemporary literary field, tracing the geopolitical, social, and institutional changes that resulted in the current system of beliefs. The second part focuses on two celebrated global novelists, Elena Ferrante and Roberto Bolaño, studying the affinities in their work that reflect their similar position vis-à-vis the United States: they both disallow the centrality of the US and the legitimacy of academic institutions, make use of genre fiction, and craft their narratives around the figure of an authentic, marginal friend. These strategies prove to be particularly effective in responding to the contradictory constraints of the literary field.

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Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Often the debate around the global novel (and world literature in general) pivots around arguments either in favor or against it--either stressing its pedagogical importance or lamenting its uniformity. This work is part of a scholarly attempt to understand what the global novel is in historical and sociological terms.