How to Read World Literature addresses the unique challenges faced by a reader confronting foreign literature, such as reading across time and cultures, reading translated works, and the emerging global perspective. A variety of genres are covered, from lyric and epic poetry to drama and prose fiction, with discussions of how these forms have been used in different eras and cultures, and examples from authors and texts as varied as Homer, Sophocles, Kalidasa, Du Fu, Dante, Murasaki, Molière, Kafka, Soyinka, and Walcott.