Abstract: In the current international circles of comparative literature and literary theory, the issue of world literature has become a heatedly discussed topic. This is certainly related to the huge influence of globalization on culture and literature. Contemporary Western scholars are usually inspired by Goethe s conjecture on world literature viewing it as a process of literary production, circulation and translation (Damrosch). Although they recognize the contributions made by Marx and Engels to the formation of world literature as a theoretic concept in their co-authored Communist Manifesto, they seldom, following this line, explore the irreplaceable contribution of Marxism to the study of world literature. As a matter of fact, Marx, Engels and Lenin have all made many insightful comments on such classical writers in the history of world literature like Dante, Shakespeare, Goethe, Schiller, Balzac and Tolstoy and their literary achievements. These ideas are certainly foundational in Marxist thought on world literature studies. And their random thoughts have been interpreted and developed by the later Eastern and Western Marxist theorists. 1
Frontiers of Literary Theory Although Western Marxist scholars also pay considerable attention to the phenomenon of world literature, they are usually restricted to the contributions made by Western Marxist theorists to the notion of world literature, while neglecting other two important parts: the contributions made by both the Soviet Russian Marxists and Chinese Marxists. The present article, after a general survey of the Western Marxist study of world literature, also deals with the contributions made by these two groups of scholars. It also predicts the future orientation of Marxist world literature studies. Key words: Marxism; world literature; West; Soviet Union; China 2
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