Abstract: In the age of telecommunication, literature and literary studies are landed in an unprecedented crisis. Faced with the onslaught of technology and decline of literary studies, Ranjan Ghosh and J. Hillis Miller, two active thinkers in the present-day Anglo-American literary circles, have recently coauthored Thinking Literature Across Continents and proposed thought-provoking ideas on the teaching and study of literature as well as valid strategies to cope with the crisis in humanities. A detailed critical introduction of the book will offer valuable insights for Chinese literary circles to reflect on the nature, function, value, and future of literature.

Key words: J. Hillis Miller, Ranjan Ghosh, literary education, literary theory