“The Politics of ‘World Literature’ and Comparative Literature” Public Lecture by Dr. Azfar Hussain

On July 26, 2023, the Department of English and Humanities (DEH) at ULAB hosted a public lecture by Dr. Azfar Hussain, Summer Distinguished Professor at DEH, ULAB, and the Director of the Graduate Program in Social Innovation at Grand Valley State University, Michigan. The lecture, titled “The Politics of ‘World Literature’ and Comparative Literature,” focused on two distinct areas of literature and people's perceptions of the multifaceted aspects of literature.

Following the introduction, Dr. Azfar Hussain commenced the lecture by dividing his discussion into two parts. The first part was about the politics of ‘world literature’ and its origin. He started with two epigraphs that inspired him to understand the politics of the world and comparative literature, one by Bharatchandra Ray and the other by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. He mentioned that, in Western philosophy, there is a practice of creating connections in various literatures around the world, and questioned the medium upon which the connections are established.

He discussed how Europeans are at the forefront of creating these connections by referencing the German poet and playwright, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and his perception of literary works beyond Europe through a Eurocentric lens. One of the significant aspects of the lecture was the mention of a letter written by Goethe to his student, Johann Peter Eckermann, where the term “World Literature” was mentioned, leading to the Westernization of the world’s literature, from where the norm became to compare literature all around the world with that of the Europeans.

Furthermore, to help understand the world of comparative literature, Dr. Hussain gave an example of Rabindranath Tagore, using him to show that there is an entire world of literary works outside the voices of Europe. He argued that although “world literature” is often compared to European literature, the comparison should rather be done amongst literary works outside of Europe, like Asian or African literature. The speaker also added that comparative literature can be seen as an interdisciplinary discourse where other works are seen or substituted, and that colonialism and Eurocentrism play a huge role in creating the discipline of comparative literature. In his lecture, Dr. Hussain also mentioned Kazi Nazrul Islam who claimed that Europe should be respected but not solely relied upon.

To conclude his public lecture, Dr. Hussain provided the insight that, even though the “Politics of ‘World Literature’ and Comparative Literature” has thus far been Eurocentric, the literature students of the new generation can help bring change in this aspect in the field of “World Literature” and Comparative Literature by synthesizing their native literature with the literature of the rest of the world, especially with African and Asian literature, rather than only the literature of the west.

The lecture ended with a question and answer session.

At the event, Professor Imran Rahman, Vice-Chancellor, ULAB, gave the welcome speech while Special Advisor to the ULAB Board of Trustees, Professor Shamsad Mortuza introduced the speaker. The event was attended by a large and varied audience amongst whom were Professor Kaiser Haq, Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities, ULAB, and Professor Claire Chambers from the University of York, UK, along with ULAB faculty members, students, and alumni, as well as distinguished scholars from different universities, artists, and practitioners of different disciplines. The event was moderated by Ms. Arifa Ghani Rahman, Head, Department of English and Humanities, ULAB.

The event was livecast from Faceboook and the recording of the lecture is available on the DEH YouTube Channel.

Report by Khondoker Noor Mohammad (202013030)