The Periodic Table of Literature

Abstract This article reflects on the genealogy of what the author terms Occidentocentrism: the resilient belief that Western literatures are qualified and entitled to furnish a natural observation platform, a vantage point from which to spectate and judge the literatures of other cultural zones whose formation proceeded, for some not inconsiderable time, along a different path and following rather different assumptions. The framework posited by the classificatory interpretation of literature along the axes of language, genre, and period has been casting a long shadow over how we assign value to literature; these questions of axiology can only be properly addressed if we remain alert to the changing regimes of relevance that bestow significance on literature today.