Global Literary Studies: An Institutionalized Field?

Abstract: This article examines the emergence of global literary studies as a developing field in response to growing academic interest in transnational literary circulation, cultural transfer, and interdisciplinary, decolonial methodologies. It proposes a conceptual framework based on five key notions — space, scale, time, connectivity, and agency — to guide research across literature, translation, and film. By tracing the historical trajectories of related terms and traditions such as world literature, cultural transfer, and transnational history, the article critiques Eurocentric and binary models and advocates for more inclusive, plural, and dynamic understandings of literary systems. Emphasizing the relevance of interdisciplinary approaches, digital humanities, and data-driven methods, it also calls for institutional decentralization to foreground global and non-Western perspectives.