ABSTRACT
We are living at a time when it is ever more difficult to determine the boundaries of a national literature. What do Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, and Dickens have in common with English writing in the United States, Canada, Australia-New Zealand, India, and South Africa? Should American literature include within its purview the writings of Native Americans, Hispanics, and other ethnic groups? Is Franz Kafka a marginal figure in German literature, or does he represent its very core? The multicultural experience of the Jewish people may cast a new light on these vexing issues.
