Desynonymizing (World) Theory and Poetics

Abstract: This article enquires into the notion of world poetics constructed by Wang Ning in the lead article of this symposium. By examining the relationship between the discourses of world literature and literary theory, and between theory and poetics in the context of Western, Middle Eastern, and Chinese cultural production, I argue that poetics and theory should be desynonymized. The notions of theory and poetics in these cultural zones were shaped and functioned differently. My analysis of these differences involves a conceptual toolkit that goes beyond the current assumptions of Western theory.