Abstract: The concept of world literature, formally put forward and interpreted by Goethe in 1827, has undergone, during the past 190 years or more, a zigzag experience. As American scholar Moretti puts, this concept should not be limited within the domain of literature, but rather, it should be “larger”. That is, it should stimulate scholars to carry out discussion and even debate on this topic. Actually, world literature as an issue-driven concept has put forward disputable issues such as, literary canon formation and reformation, literary historiography, and the standard for evaluating world literature. World literature studies could also be used as a method playing an irreplaceable function in our literary studies. As Chinese scholars of comparative and world literature studies, we should re-examine the established mapping of world literature from a Chinese perspective and, in an effort to bring in Chinese elements, offer our proposal for the remapping of world literature.

Key words: world literature, literary history, literary canon, issue-driven, Chinese literature