The collective literature of a country embodies a more personal distillation of human thoughts and dreams of a people. When read from a chronological and historical perspective, literature provides a glimpse to the soul and aspirations of a nation and her people, at any given time.

This insight, about a nation and her people -- as glimpsed from the collective literature of a nation -- complements those inferred by historians from the evolution of events in a given country. When fully developed, the emphasis of the World Literature section will be the works of poets and writers from other non-English speaking countries, as well as women and ethnic minorities, who are not as well well-represented* in introductory literature courses.

More extensive listings of American and English poetry are presented American Verse and English Poetry sections, as well as a more comprehensive English literature section to be created in the future.

To understand better what we hope to achieve in and why we are developing the World Literature page, please read the following sections:

• * The need to know and understand other cultures
• * Major Sections of the World Literature Webpage We shall include a "What's New" section in the future, to alert you of new sections added.
• * Potential value of online literature resources
• * Online literature and less-developed countries (LDCs)
• * Immediate goals of the World Literature webpage
• * Contents, Copyright Issues and Navigating the Page

We hope that our efforts and the dreams that we wish to accomplish in the World Literature page will inspire others to help us develop new sections for specific countries.

The universal language of art provides glimpses to the higher aspirations and goals of peoples around the world. In this troubled times, art can become an instrument of peace, based on its ability to accentuate the shared aspirations even among divergent cultures. In this troubled times, art can become an instrument of peace, based on its ability to accentuate the shared aspirations even among divergent cultures.

When we begin to understand the art of other peoples and cultures, we may realize that their dreams and yearnings are no different from our own. This revelation may prod us to appreciate our common bonds as human beings. We may even shed unfounded fears of other peoples -- created mostly by our lack of understanding of other cultures. What is art? Here, a work of art is defined as a creation that endeavors to seek the beauty or reality of the world we live in. An individual whose work can provoke our minds and inspire us to appreciate "the good, noble, beautiful and true" is an artist.

A work of art therefore is defined not only by the conception of the artist but also by the perception of the audience of the creation. In this interplay, the artist must be guided exclusively by the inner urge to create and share a vision; while the audience is motivated mainly by the eternal search for "the good, noble, beautiful and true".

In this interplay, it is quite possible that the original intent of the artist may not jive with the perception and reception of the audience. It is even the case that an individual will have evolving perception of a single work of art, depending on the time, space and stage in life.

"Art" therefore is subjective; and the debate about "good and bad art" is irrelevant. Both the artist and the audience must resist the temptation to be guided by the whims of critics and other institutional arbiters of art.