Journal of World Literature
Editors-in-Chief:
,
,
,
, and
David Damrosch
David Damrosch
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Theo D'haen
Theo D'haen
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Francesca Orsini
Francesca Orsini
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Galin Tihanov
Galin Tihanov
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Longxi Zhang
Longxi Zhang
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2025 Impact Factor: 0,2
5 Year Impact Factor: 0,5
The Journal of World Literature (JWL) aspires to bring together scholars interested in developing the concept of World Literature, and to provide the most suitable environment for contributions from all the world’s literary traditions. It creates a forum for re-visiting global literary heritages, discovering valuable works that have been undeservedly ignored, and introducing aspects of the transnational global dissemination of literature, with translation as a focus. The journal welcomes submissions that can concurrently imagine any literary tradition, in any language, moving beyond national frames to simultaneously discuss and develop the cosmopolitan threads of a variety of literary traditions. It also welcomes contributions from scholars of different research backgrounds working collaboratively as well as from group research projects interested in showcasing their findings, in order to meet the challenge of a wider and deeper discussion of literature’s networks.
The editorial board of the JWL warmly welcomes submissions for open-call issues.
Peer Review Policy: All articles published in Journal of World Literature undergo a double-anonymous external peer review process. This includes articles published in special issues.
Our editorial team is scouting for the most exciting themes for you. This is what you may be looking forward to:
Forthcoming issues
2025
10:3 | Constructing the Other: Narrative Empathy
10:4 | (Balzan-IWL) Multilingualism
2026
11:1 | The Face in World Literature
11:2 | Human Rights & World Literature
11:3 | (Balzan-IWL) Literature and Environmental Crisis
11:4 | Open issue
2027
12:1 | Sociological Approaches to the Transnational Circulation of Literature
12:2 | Supernatural Historicities
12:3 | (Balzan-IWL) World Literature beyond the Anglosphere
12:4 | Open issue
2028
13:1 | Literary Worldliness [tentative; awaiting final proposal]
13:2 | Against Presentism
13:3 | (Balzan-IWL) Premodernities
13:4 | Open issue
Note that each year we publish a full issue of individual articles. Be welcome to submit.
5 Year Impact Factor: 0,5
The Journal of World Literature (JWL) aspires to bring together scholars interested in developing the concept of World Literature, and to provide the most suitable environment for contributions from all the world’s literary traditions. It creates a forum for re-visiting global literary heritages, discovering valuable works that have been undeservedly ignored, and introducing aspects of the transnational global dissemination of literature, with translation as a focus. The journal welcomes submissions that can concurrently imagine any literary tradition, in any language, moving beyond national frames to simultaneously discuss and develop the cosmopolitan threads of a variety of literary traditions. It also welcomes contributions from scholars of different research backgrounds working collaboratively as well as from group research projects interested in showcasing their findings, in order to meet the challenge of a wider and deeper discussion of literature’s networks.
The editorial board of the JWL warmly welcomes submissions for open-call issues.
Peer Review Policy: All articles published in Journal of World Literature undergo a double-anonymous external peer review process. This includes articles published in special issues.
Our editorial team is scouting for the most exciting themes for you. This is what you may be looking forward to:
Forthcoming issues
2025
10:3 | Constructing the Other: Narrative Empathy
10:4 | (Balzan-IWL) Multilingualism
2026
11:1 | The Face in World Literature
11:2 | Human Rights & World Literature
11:3 | (Balzan-IWL) Literature and Environmental Crisis
11:4 | Open issue
2027
12:1 | Sociological Approaches to the Transnational Circulation of Literature
12:2 | Supernatural Historicities
12:3 | (Balzan-IWL) World Literature beyond the Anglosphere
12:4 | Open issue
2028
13:1 | Literary Worldliness [tentative; awaiting final proposal]
13:2 | Against Presentism
13:3 | (Balzan-IWL) Premodernities
13:4 | Open issue
Note that each year we publish a full issue of individual articles. Be welcome to submit.
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Print Only€664.00$776.00
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Online only€564.00$659.00
-
To place an order, please contact customerservices@brill.com
-
Online only€188.00$218.00
-
Print Only€201.00$233.00
-
To place an order, please contact customerservices@brill.com
- External Indexers:
A Sociological Approach to World Literature
Author:
Congolese Literary Imaginaries of the PRC
Author:
In lieu of World Literature
Editors-in-Chief
David Damrosch, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA
Theo D’haen, University of Leuven, Belgium
Francesca Orsini, SOAS University of London, UK
Galin Tihanov, Queen Mary University of London, UK
Zhang Longxi, Human Normal University, Changsha, China and Yenching Academy of Peking University, China
Managing Editors
Michael O'Krent, University of Basel, Switzerland
Alice Xiang, King's College London, UK
Mehmet Yıldız, Bilkent University, Türkiye
Editorial Board
Michael Allan, University of Oregon, Oregon, USA
Omid Azadibougar, Iran
Helena Buescu, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Jérôme David, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Wiebke Denecke, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts, USA
César Domínguez, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Amal Eqeiq, Williams College, Massachusetts, USA
Esmaeil Haddadian-Moghaddam, Independent Scholar, Belgium
Satoru Hashimoto, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, USA
May Hawas, University of Cambridge, UK
Stefan Helgesson, Stockholm University, Sweden
Kader Konuk, Duisburg-Essen University, Germany
Haiyan Lee, Stanford University, California, USA
Pieter Vermeulen, University of Leuven, Belgium
Amy Motlagh, University of California, Davis, USA
Laetitia Nanquette, University of New South Wales, Australia
Marta Pacheco Pinto, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Jale Parla, Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey
Ronit Ricci, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Mads Rosendahl Thomsen, Aarhus University, Denmark
Franca Sinopoli, University of Rome I, La Sapienza, Italy
Bhavya Tiwari, University of Houston, Texas, USA
Adam Talib, The American University in Cairo, Egypt
Karen Thornber, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA
Delia Ungureanu, University of Bucharest, Romania
Amirhossein Vafa, Shiraz University, Iran
International Advisory Board
Elleke Boehmer, University of Oxford, UK
Hélène Buzelin, University of Montréal, Canada
Andrew Chesterman, University of Helsinki, Finland
Ferial Ghazoul, American University in Cairo, Egypt
Assaad Khairallah, American University in Beirut, Lebanon
Sheldon Pollock, Columbia University, NY, USA
Bruce Robbins, Columbia University, NY, USA
Haun Saussy, University of Chicago, Illinois, USA
Ken Seigneurie, Simon Fraser University, Canada
David Damrosch, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA
Theo D’haen, University of Leuven, Belgium
Francesca Orsini, SOAS University of London, UK
Galin Tihanov, Queen Mary University of London, UK
Zhang Longxi, Human Normal University, Changsha, China and Yenching Academy of Peking University, China
Managing Editors
Michael O'Krent, University of Basel, Switzerland
Alice Xiang, King's College London, UK
Mehmet Yıldız, Bilkent University, Türkiye
Editorial Board
Michael Allan, University of Oregon, Oregon, USA
Omid Azadibougar, Iran
Helena Buescu, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Jérôme David, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Wiebke Denecke, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts, USA
César Domínguez, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Amal Eqeiq, Williams College, Massachusetts, USA
Esmaeil Haddadian-Moghaddam, Independent Scholar, Belgium
Satoru Hashimoto, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, USA
May Hawas, University of Cambridge, UK
Stefan Helgesson, Stockholm University, Sweden
Kader Konuk, Duisburg-Essen University, Germany
Haiyan Lee, Stanford University, California, USA
Pieter Vermeulen, University of Leuven, Belgium
Amy Motlagh, University of California, Davis, USA
Laetitia Nanquette, University of New South Wales, Australia
Marta Pacheco Pinto, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Jale Parla, Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey
Ronit Ricci, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Mads Rosendahl Thomsen, Aarhus University, Denmark
Franca Sinopoli, University of Rome I, La Sapienza, Italy
Bhavya Tiwari, University of Houston, Texas, USA
Adam Talib, The American University in Cairo, Egypt
Karen Thornber, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA
Delia Ungureanu, University of Bucharest, Romania
Amirhossein Vafa, Shiraz University, Iran
International Advisory Board
Elleke Boehmer, University of Oxford, UK
Hélène Buzelin, University of Montréal, Canada
Andrew Chesterman, University of Helsinki, Finland
Ferial Ghazoul, American University in Cairo, Egypt
Assaad Khairallah, American University in Beirut, Lebanon
Sheldon Pollock, Columbia University, NY, USA
Bruce Robbins, Columbia University, NY, USA
Haun Saussy, University of Chicago, Illinois, USA
Ken Seigneurie, Simon Fraser University, Canada
ERIH PLUS
Scopus
Web of Science
ANVUR - Riviste Index
MLA International Bibliography (Modern Language Association)
Scopus
Web of Science
ANVUR - Riviste Index
MLA International Bibliography (Modern Language Association)
Online submission: Articles for publication in Journal of World Literature can be submitted online through Editorial Manager via which they will be peer-reviewed, please click here.
JWL does not accept AI-generated submissions (both written articles and bibliography). If you have used AI to check/improve your writing, you must disclose it in line with Brill's policy about authorship and disclosure in your first footnote.
Download Author Instructions (PDF).
Review Essays should be between 3,500–5,000 words in length and have a comparative focus on at least two relevant monographs or edited volumes, published within the last five years. You can submit your proposal to the Managing Editors.
Publishers are not welcome to send review copies to the journal.
Proposals for Special Issues should follow this template.
For remaining questions please contact the Managing Editors: Michael O'Krent and Mehmet Yıldız.
JWL does not accept AI-generated submissions (both written articles and bibliography). If you have used AI to check/improve your writing, you must disclose it in line with Brill's policy about authorship and disclosure in your first footnote.
Download Author Instructions (PDF).
Review Essays should be between 3,500–5,000 words in length and have a comparative focus on at least two relevant monographs or edited volumes, published within the last five years. You can submit your proposal to the Managing Editors.
Publishers are not welcome to send review copies to the journal.
Proposals for Special Issues should follow this template.
For remaining questions please contact the Managing Editors: Michael O'Krent and Mehmet Yıldız.
"The differences between JWL and a typical comparative literature journal lie in the number and variety of literatures that a given volume considers, in the expectation that readers want to learn something about languages and cultures about which they have little prior knowledge, and in the authors’ commitments to framing their arguments in ways that promise to advance world literary study." - John Burt Foster, Jr., George Mason University, in: Recherche Littéraire, Vol. 33 2017 pp. 249-254
Everyone interested in literature and literary studies, literary criticism, world literature, comparative literature, translation, fiction, poetry
Journal of World Literature
Editors-in-Chief:
,
,
,
, and
David Damrosch
David Damrosch
Search for other papers by David Damrosch in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by David Damrosch in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Theo D'haen
Theo D'haen
Search for other papers by Theo D'haen in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Theo D'haen in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Francesca Orsini
Francesca Orsini
Search for other papers by Francesca Orsini in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Francesca Orsini in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Galin Tihanov
Galin Tihanov
Search for other papers by Galin Tihanov in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Galin Tihanov in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Longxi Zhang
Longxi Zhang
Search for other papers by Longxi Zhang in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Longxi Zhang in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
2025 Impact Factor: 0,2
5 Year Impact Factor: 0,5
The Journal of World Literature (JWL) aspires to bring together scholars interested in developing the concept of World Literature, and to provide the most suitable environment for contributions from all the world’s literary traditions. It creates a forum for re-visiting global literary heritages, discovering valuable works that have been undeservedly ignored, and introducing aspects of the transnational global dissemination of literature, with translation as a focus. The journal welcomes submissions that can concurrently imagine any literary tradition, in any language, moving beyond national frames to simultaneously discuss and develop the cosmopolitan threads of a variety of literary traditions. It also welcomes contributions from scholars of different research backgrounds working collaboratively as well as from group research projects interested in showcasing their findings, in order to meet the challenge of a wider and deeper discussion of literature’s networks.
The editorial board of the JWL warmly welcomes submissions for open-call issues.
Peer Review Policy: All articles published in Journal of World Literature undergo a double-anonymous external peer review process. This includes articles published in special issues.
Our editorial team is scouting for the most exciting themes for you. This is what you may be looking forward to:
Forthcoming issues
2025
10:3 | Constructing the Other: Narrative Empathy
10:4 | (Balzan-IWL) Multilingualism
2026
11:1 | The Face in World Literature
11:2 | Human Rights & World Literature
11:3 | (Balzan-IWL) Literature and Environmental Crisis
11:4 | Open issue
2027
12:1 | Sociological Approaches to the Transnational Circulation of Literature
12:2 | Supernatural Historicities
12:3 | (Balzan-IWL) World Literature beyond the Anglosphere
12:4 | Open issue
2028
13:1 | Literary Worldliness [tentative; awaiting final proposal]
13:2 | Against Presentism
13:3 | (Balzan-IWL) Premodernities
13:4 | Open issue
Note that each year we publish a full issue of individual articles. Be welcome to submit.
5 Year Impact Factor: 0,5
The Journal of World Literature (JWL) aspires to bring together scholars interested in developing the concept of World Literature, and to provide the most suitable environment for contributions from all the world’s literary traditions. It creates a forum for re-visiting global literary heritages, discovering valuable works that have been undeservedly ignored, and introducing aspects of the transnational global dissemination of literature, with translation as a focus. The journal welcomes submissions that can concurrently imagine any literary tradition, in any language, moving beyond national frames to simultaneously discuss and develop the cosmopolitan threads of a variety of literary traditions. It also welcomes contributions from scholars of different research backgrounds working collaboratively as well as from group research projects interested in showcasing their findings, in order to meet the challenge of a wider and deeper discussion of literature’s networks.
The editorial board of the JWL warmly welcomes submissions for open-call issues.
Peer Review Policy: All articles published in Journal of World Literature undergo a double-anonymous external peer review process. This includes articles published in special issues.
Our editorial team is scouting for the most exciting themes for you. This is what you may be looking forward to:
Forthcoming issues
2025
10:3 | Constructing the Other: Narrative Empathy
10:4 | (Balzan-IWL) Multilingualism
2026
11:1 | The Face in World Literature
11:2 | Human Rights & World Literature
11:3 | (Balzan-IWL) Literature and Environmental Crisis
11:4 | Open issue
2027
12:1 | Sociological Approaches to the Transnational Circulation of Literature
12:2 | Supernatural Historicities
12:3 | (Balzan-IWL) World Literature beyond the Anglosphere
12:4 | Open issue
2028
13:1 | Literary Worldliness [tentative; awaiting final proposal]
13:2 | Against Presentism
13:3 | (Balzan-IWL) Premodernities
13:4 | Open issue
Note that each year we publish a full issue of individual articles. Be welcome to submit.
-
Print + Online€704.00$821.00
-
Print Only€664.00$776.00
-
Online only€564.00$659.00
-
To place an order, please contact customerservices@brill.com
-
Online only€188.00$218.00
-
Print Only€201.00$233.00
-
To place an order, please contact customerservices@brill.com
- External Indexers:
Transliteration, Medium, and Renaissance in Late Babylonian Culture
Author:
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The International Literary Circulation of World Latin American Women Authors, the Cases of Ariana Harwicz and Samanta Schweblin
Keeping African Language Literatures Local
Author:
Formal Devices, Emotions, and Their Translatability
Author:
Harlem Renaissance, World Literature, Fascist Imagery?
Author:
Introduction
From Charles Dickens to Alexis Wright
Author:
Human Rights, Citizenship and Class in Kamila Shamsie’s Home Fire and Best of Friends
Author:
Narrating Violence and Redress in the Postcolonial Civil War Novel
Author:
Interview with Antjie Krog