Margaret R. Higonnet A Challenge to Global Literary History: The Case of World War I https://doi.org/10.1515/arcadia-2018-0024 Abstract: This essay begins by investigating the possibility of a global literary history through the lens of periodization and its challenges for comparatists, starting from World War I. Second, by examining neglected texts from the periph- ery, it seeks to ‘provincialize’ the Eurocentric focus of our histories of war literature. To address the complex temporality of this epoch, we must accommo- date the multicultural contexts from which these works emerge, as well as the long-term recovery of texts. Belatedness reflects the reemergence of memories from trauma, the discovery of manuscripts, the paucity of translations, and the long silencing of marginalized voices from the periphery. In turn, shifts in critical values and the translation of materials permit us to enlarge and reconstitute a globalized archive, as a few examples demonstrate. Great War texts by Huidobro, Svarnakumari, and Diallo as well as oral laments offer fruitful perspectives from the periphery on that epochal experience. Keywords: World War I, periodization, Vicente Huidobro, Svarnakumari Devi, Bakary Diallo, orality “Until lions tell their own history, history will always glorify the hunters.” African Proverb This essay first sets the problem of how to write a world literary history in the context of comparative periodization. Its goal is to provincialize (to borrow the term of Dipesh Chakrabarty) or reverse the Eurocentric focus of our literary histories, by focusing on a particular moment whose temporal fuzziness and global extension demand conceptual rethinking, and then by testing that rethink- ing against examples from the ‘periphery,’ or from far-flung locations involved in a common event. When we ask what tools or context might foster a more global perspective on literary history, an event such as World War I can support a comparative perspective on the issues at stake. In turn, this essay tests concepts Corresponding author: Margaret R. Higonnet, 32 Avon St, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA, email: margaret.higonnet@uconn.edu Arcadia 2018; 53(2): 221–238 Brought to you by | Université de Strasbourg Authenticated Download Date | 11/12/18 2:28 PM