Abstract: The four-volume set of Literature: A World History is the result of a project of long-term international collaboration and the first ever historical survey of the world’s literatures beyond the biases of Eurocentrism, for it is written by scholars from different countries and regions with different cultural backgrounds. The project started at an international conference held in Stockholm in 2004 and the four volumes were published by the reputable press, Wiley Blackwell, in 2022 after almost two decades of repeated discussions of basic concepts, ideas, and the preparation of the manuscript. The author had participated in the conceptualization and the actual writing of LAWH from the beginning to the end, and at this time when the Chinese translation of LAWH will soon be published, he will talk about the features, significance and values of this history of the world’s literatures based on his personal experience.

Key words: history of the world’s literatures;, Eurocentrism, periodization and macro-regions, the “hegemony” of English, world literature as discovery

摘要： 四卷本《文学的世界史》（Literature: A World History）是一个长期国际合作计划的成果,是第一部摆脱欧洲中心主义偏见,由来自不同国家和地区、不同文化传统的学者撰写的世界的文学史。这部文学史的构想始于2004年在斯德哥尔摩举行的一次国际会议,学者们用将近20年时间反复讨论基本概念,撰写书稿,2022年终于由知名的威立·布莱克维尔出版社印行。笔者自始至终参与了这个计划和写作的全过程,值此书中译本即将出版之际,以其亲身经验来谈论这部文学之世界史的特点、意义和价值。

关键词: 文学的世界史, 欧洲中心主义, 空间和时间的划分, 英语的“霸权”问题, 作为发现的世界文学