1616 (May 2019)
Of Majors and Minors: Reflections on Kuwaiti Literature in English
Abstract
Discussions of the dichotomy between «minor» and «major» literatures date back to the endeavors of T. S. Eliot, in his capacity as a New Critic, to theorize on the «value» of the literary text. Later discussions of minor versus major literatures, notably by Deleuze and Guattari (1975), have been more concerned with questions of linguistic choice, (de-)territoriality, individuality versus collectivity, and politics in the broad sense of the term. Reflecting on what is labelled as «Kuwaiti literature in English» rendered a number of challenges related to nationality, authorship and origin, to categorize Kuwaiti literature in English as minor literature. By so doing, discussions of the input of Kuwaiti literati in English such as Nada Faris and Mai AlNakib table issues like reception, literary merit, tradition, and canonicity.
