Abstract: David Damrosch is Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Comparative Literature, Chair of the Department of Comparative Literature and Director of the Institute for World Literature, Harvard University. His research fields include theory and methods of comparative literature and world literary studies, Bible and ancient Near Eastern literatures, modern European and global Anglophone literatures. He has written widely on world literature and comparative literature. Along with his numerous articles, his books include What Is World Literature? (2003), How to Read World Literature (2009) and Comparing the Literatures: Literary Studies for a Global Age (2020). His theory of circulation has a far-reaching influence on world literary studies. He is interviewed by Chen Lizhen on the issues of world literature, Chinese literature and the recent discussions of global literature in the intellectual community of China. In this interview, Professor Damrosch defends his idea of world literature and comments on the current critical inclinations of replacing “world literature” with “global literature” or “planetary literature”. Professor Damrosch reiterates his stress on world literature. By paying more attention to the way in which world literature comes into a given national market, he tries to modify his earlier proposition of taking world literature as a mode of circulation and reading as well as a process in the global market.

Key words: Damrosch, Chinese literature, world literature, planetary literature, global literature