In the course of the 20th century 'English Literature' has developed into 'Literatures in English' as a global reality which has had an enormous impact on the academic discipline of English literary criticism over the past few decades. This paradigmatic change has not only led to the opening up of many new areas of study but also to heated critical controversies about terminology, approaches, concepts, and values especially in what is usually called Postcolonial Studies, which are in full swing. This volume attempts a review of the present situation, with the specific aim of identifying and assessing the creative potential of the whole globalized area of English literature and literary studies. A great variety of aspects of this theme are studied in this volume. Voices from many parts of the world and different speaking positions engage in a dialogue that is concerned with advancing both literary theory and critical practice.

The present volume is the result of an International Conference held under the auspices of CISLE-Centre for the International Study of Literatures in English at the University of Innsbruck. It contains the contributions from thirty-eight scholars around the world who deal with general issues like literay criticism vs. cultural studies, intermediality, and the potential of a comparative approach or reception studies but more centrally with diverse aspects of postcolonial discourse and its future, or with more specific concepts like ethnic identity and hybridity, interculturality and cultural difference as well as national images and stereotypes, the ethics of reading, or history, memory and life writing, to name only the most discussed topical subject areas covered in this book. In these discussions the literatures in English produced around the world are explored. Among the contributors we find distingushed scholars/writers like Joan Anim-Addo (Caribbean/England), Dennis Haskell (Australia), Edwin Thumboo (Singapore), and Andrew Parkin (Canada/Hongkong), or leading scholars in their fields like Rüdiger Ahrens OBE, Hermann Real, and Jürgen Schläger (Germany), David Carter (Australia), Munira Mutran (Brazil), Stella Borg-Barthet (Malta), John Thieme (England), or Satendra Nandan (Fiji)

The book is subdivided into three sections: Section I contains papers that deal with general theoretical and comparative aspects of literary studies, Section II is devoted to the study of general aspects of Postcolonial literary theory and practice, and Section III contains papers which are subdivided by the different regions dealt with in them: Europe (GB including African British Lit., Ireland, Malta), the Caribbean, Canada (including ethnic literatures), Africa, Asia (India, Singapore, South East Asia, Philippines), Australia (with particular emphasis on Aboriginal literature and art) and New Zealand.

The editors exemplify the internationality of this volume. Wolfgang Zach, Past Vice-President of EACLAS and IASIL, is Director of CISLE and Professor of Literature at the University of Innsbruck (Austria): Michael Kenneally, Past President of IASIL and CAIS, is Director of the Centre for Irish Canadian Studies and Professor at Concordia University Montreal (Canada).