The World Novel, Distant Suffering and Humanitarian Sensibility after 1989

With the impact of globalisation, the idea of literature as a world system of production, distribution and consumption has gained considerable currency. This project identifies a key conjuncture of forces since 1989 that have given rise to a new World Novel in English. These are: global violence, instant world communication through digital technology and a new humanitarian sensibility. This project will: i) theorize the momentous transformations undergone by the novel form in our information age, ii) offer a radically new perspective on the traditional relationship between the novel and the humanitarian imagination, iii) contribute to emerging world literature scholarship on the 'human' and 'distant suffering'.