Short fiction as world literature

Abstract

Amândio Reis introduces a Special Issue of Short Fiction in Theory and Practice devoted to the theme of ‘Short Fiction as World Literature’. After discussing the short story’s generic vocation as an object of world literary studies, he considers the absence of critical discussions that recognize and engage with the short story as such, and not simply as a handier and lighter instrument than the novel. Following the footsteps of still rare but important contributions to address this lack, he comments on the ways in which each article participates in the collective challenge to problematize notions of the local and global, identity and otherness, in the short story. He introduces the reader to the contents of the issue by locating it at the intersection of short fiction studies and current pathways of world literature, including translation, multilingualism, migration and exchanges across literary periods and cultures.