The Rebirth of Comparative Literature in Anglocalization

Anand Patil examines in his paper, "The Rebirth of Comparative Literature in Anglocalization," the debates on effects of "globalization" on literary studies and "cultures" in India. The focus of his comparative scrutiny follows the debate about the "death" of comparative literature. Patil re-imagines the rebirth of interdisciplinarity, a basic tenet of the discipline of comparative literature and a characteristic of globalization. He has coined the term "Anglocalization" to analyze the complexity of the effects of globalization in the multilingual and multicultural situation of the subcontinent. The term is used to describe a tripartite process: Anglicization by global English, economic liberation, and privatization and localization. These characteristics exhibit the next phase of increased acculturation on the post-colonial subcontinent. Society, as well as humanities scholarship, are divided in two zones: the special economic zones of the privileged few and the rest of India with increasing population of the poor. As a result, generic hybridism exhibits crucial transformations in a formerly static society unevenly modernized on the colonial background. The fear of the death of languages and cultures reigns supreme. This has created an opportunity to revive comparative literature with a firm faith in Indian philosophy of reincarnation and more tolerant interdisciplinarity. Anand Patil, "The Rebirth of Comparative Literature in Anglocalization" page 2 of 9 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 9.2 (2007):