Interconnected landscapes merging into a vibrant scene, representing the concept of Worlding Literature

Beyond Cultural Tolerance: How 'Worlding Literature' Can Help Us Understand Each Other

Samir D’Costa monogram
Samir D’Costa in Culture & Society October 2026 • 4 min read.

"Explore how literature transcends cultural boundaries, fostering deeper connections in an interconnected world."


In our rapidly globalizing world, the call for understanding different cultures has never been louder. But how do we move beyond mere tolerance to genuine understanding and empathy? Traditional approaches often fall short, reducing cultures to easily digestible stereotypes or focusing solely on surface-level interactions. A new perspective called "worlding literature" offers a powerful lens through which to explore intercultural relations and foster deeper connections.

Worlding literature challenges the conventional view of cultures as separate entities that simply need to be tolerated. Instead, it proposes a more dynamic and interconnected approach, emphasizing the fundamental relationships that exist prior to and beyond established cultural boundaries. It encourages us to see the world as a space where different modes of human and non-human existence coexist and influence each other in complex ways.

This article will explore the concept of worlding literature, drawing upon the work of scholar Pheng Cheah and inspired by the Indonesian novel 'Man Tiger.' We'll delve into how this approach can help us move beyond limited notions of tolerance, bridge cultural divides, and cultivate a more inclusive and interconnected understanding of the human experience.

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Current Statistics & Impact

Research on intercultural understanding remains fragmented, with no single model fully capturing how it develops across contexts. The Intercultural Dialogue Index (ICDI) now measures intercultural relations across 51 countries, providing a quantitative framework for comparative analysis. Intercultural dialogue and competence extend the construct of intercultural understanding by incorporating communicative interactions and purposeful action such as problem-solving and developing personal bonds. Substantial research and numerous theories exist, yet the field lacks a nuanced, unified theory of development.

Standard Approach, Accepted Methods & Their Limitations

Current approaches treat intercultural understanding as a vital competency for effective interaction in a globalized world, emphasizing its importance in education and workforce contexts. However, the "worlding" method challenges standard frameworks by showing how local writing interacts with global experience, reshaping cross-cultural dialogue boundaries. Chinese literature's growing global presence exemplifies how peripheral literatures complicate Eurocentric models of world literature circulation.

Historical Perspective, Milestones, Foundational Discoveries

The emergence of 'world literature' as an academic field intensified in the 1990s post-Berlin Wall, reflecting geopolitical contexts of post-Cold War globalization. Critics have long highlighted risks of Eurocentrism and oversimplified cultural representation in world literature frameworks. Foundational scholarship by Said, Hayot, and Cheah established concepts of worldliness, literary worlds, and worlding as theoretical pillars. Postcolonial literatures from Asia and Africa, exemplified by works like Kurniawan's Man Tiger, demonstrate worlding's radical destabilization of human sovereignty.

The Limitations of Traditional Cultural Tolerance

Interconnected landscapes merging into a vibrant scene, representing the concept of Worlding Literature

Traditional approaches to intercultural understanding often emphasize tolerance, respect, and mutual understanding. While these values are essential, they can sometimes reinforce existing power structures and fail to address deeper inequalities. Tolerance, in particular, can be a problematic concept. It often implies that we are simply putting up with something we find different or strange, rather than genuinely valuing and embracing it.

In a globalized marketplace, cultural diversity can be easily commodified, turning cultural differences into consumable goods. This tokenization of culture can be a form of "repressive tolerance," where genuine understanding is sacrificed for the sake of superficial harmony. Furthermore, these models often originate from a Western perspective, potentially marginalizing the views and experiences of other cultures.

  • Oversimplification of cultures to stereotypes for easy understanding.
  • Reinforcement of existing power imbalances where one culture is seen as the 'norm' and others are 'different'.
  • Commodification of cultural practices for tourism or entertainment, stripping them of deeper meaning.
  • Inadequate addressing of historical injustices and ongoing inequalities.
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Latest Research and Reviews

Recent scholarship continues to explore the evolving relationship between globalization studies and literary analysis, though comprehensive syntheses remain emergent. The field appears to be moving toward pluralized frameworks of 'world literatures' rather than singular models. Ongoing debates address methodological tensions between literary world-systems analysis, translation studies, and cultural nationalism research.

Counter Arguments and Failures

Critics argue that 'worlding' as intercultural reading beyond the Western horizon (Lawall) risks replicating the very power imbalances it seeks to dismantle. The concept faces challenges in operationalizing Said's worldliness, Hayot's literary worlds, and Cheah's worlding into coherent methodology. Limitations include persistent Eurocentrism in canon formation, translation bottlenecks that distort dissemination, and market-driven selection that privileges certain literatures over others. Systematic reviews confirm these structural critiques remain unresolved.

Comparative Analysis

Comparative literature promotes intercultural understanding by analyzing shared practices and ideologies across cultures, with literature serving as a vital medium for grasping cultural nuances and social movements. The 'worlding' approach reframes this by positioning intercultural reading as engagement with worlds construed beyond the Western horizon. Scholars like Cao attempt to redefine comparative literature's basic principles in response to world literature and postcolonial theory challenges. The field increasingly integrates interart studies and comparative cultural studies into its analytical framework.

Ultimately, traditional approaches to cultural tolerance can fall short because they focus on the surface level of cultural expression without delving into the underlying relationships and power dynamics that shape our world. This is where worlding literature offers a new and insightful approach.

Looking Ahead: Worlding Our Interactions

Worlding literature provides a powerful framework for moving beyond tolerance and engaging in more meaningful intercultural connections. By recognizing the underlying interconnectedness of all beings, embracing vulnerability, and listening to diverse narratives, we can cultivate a more inclusive and equitable world. As we navigate an increasingly complex global landscape, let us embrace the principles of worlding to build bridges, foster understanding, and create a future where all voices are heard and valued.

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Synthesis & Expert Commentary

Said's concept of worldliness emphasizes the socio-historical circumstantiality of the literary text as a linguistic product mediating between utterance and understanding. This framework positions literature not as autonomous aesthetic object but as situated practice embedded in material conditions of production and reception. Worldliness thus provides a theoretical bridge between textual analysis and the political-economy of global literary circulation.

Future Outlook & Next Frontiers

Scholars argue we are entering an era of 'world literatures' (plural), marking the end of the singular 'world literature' epoch. This shift acknowledges diversity and interconnectedness of global literary traditions while confronting persistent challenges in cross-cultural exchange. Future research must address how digital platforms, shifting translation economies, and decolonial pedagogies reshape the field's methodological and institutional foundations.

Broader Context & Systemic Challenges

Systemic reviews reveal interculturalism and intercultural dialogue as interconnected but distinct articulations requiring separate analytical treatment. The internationalization of tertiary education drives demand for intercultural competence frameworks, yet existing pathways remain insufficient. Intercultural dialogue and competence extend intercultural understanding by incorporating communicative interactions and purposeful action, suggesting educational models must move beyond awareness toward collaborative problem-solving across difference.

The Human Element & Real-World Impact

While theoretical frameworks advance, the lived experience of cross-cultural literary engagement remains underexplored in empirical research. Readers' encounters with 'worlded' texts likely produce affective and cognitive shifts that current assessment tools cannot capture. The gap between institutional discourse on intercultural understanding and everyday reading practices suggests a need for qualitative, longitudinal studies of actual audiences.

How Man Tiger compares with later readings of worlding

Cheah’s article challenges the way world literature had become banalized in literary studies, while its reading of Man Tiger treats relations between people and tiger spirits as part of Indonesian social life.[1]

Later scholars draw out different stakes in the novel: one reads Margio’s violence as both defending his mother and rejecting upper-class values; another warns that celebrating coexistence can overlook the pressures of modernization.[2]

Later discussion also distinguishes Cheah’s text-centered account of worlding from approaches focused on how literature circulates, and argues that language’s histories shape the publics it can form.[3]

Other later critics place Kurniawan’s work in magical realism and decolonizing literature, while noting that Indonesian readers may recognize meanings grounded in local folklore and storytelling traditions.[4]

Cheah's theoretical reading of Man Tiger

PopulationThe novel Man Tiger (2015)[1]
Times cited20[1]

Rather than treating the world as a neutral stage where cultures meet, Cheah frames it as something formed through habitation and relations among human and non-human beings. Man Tiger makes that framing tangible by placing tiger spirits within the relations that structure society.[1]

On this account, literature can participate in worldly affairs because the conditions of living together precede and shape relations among individual and collective subjects. The article therefore offers a theoretical way to connect literary form with social and political life, not evidence that reading itself changes readers’ attitudes.[1]

Questions for readers and future analysis

  • How might an account of worlding distinguish the novel’s imaginative relations from the social and political forces that also shape literary exchange?[1]
  • How do language histories and translation affect which publics can encounter the worlds a text makes?[3]
  • When readers from different social and cultural settings encounter Man Tiger, which meanings do they share, and which depend on local knowledge?[4] [5]
Worlding
The process through which a world is formed, rather than a world understood as a spatial container.[1]
Habitation
A fundamental way of dwelling with others that precedes relations among subjects and objects in space.[1]

Questions about the novel's spirits and social world

Does Cheah present worlding as a finished method?

No. The article presents it as a starting point for exploring literature’s participation in worldly affairs.[1]

Sources

  1. Worlding Literature: Living with Tiger Spirits (Project MUSE, 2017)
  2. Plural Ecologies of Tigers in Indonesian Literature (2022)
  3. Afterword World literature in the making (2022)
  4. The Rewriting of Mythology (Remythology) and Decolonization in Eka Kurniawan’s Man Tiger (2020)
  5. so03.tci-thaijo.org (so03.tci-thaijo.org)

About this Article -

Written with AI assistance from published research, and reviewed by the Mystum team. See our About page for more information.

This article is based on research published under:

DOI-LINK: 10.1353/dia.2017.0008, Alternate LINK

Title: Worlding Literature: Living With Tiger Spirits

Subject: Literature and Literary Theory

Journal: diacritics

Publisher: Project Muse

Authors: Pheng Cheah

Published: 2017-01-01

Everything You Need To Know

1

What is 'worlding literature' and how does it differ from traditional cultural tolerance?

'Worlding literature' offers a dynamic perspective on intercultural relations, moving beyond the limitations of traditional cultural tolerance. Unlike traditional approaches that often emphasize tolerance, which can sometimes reinforce existing power structures and fall short of genuine understanding, 'worlding literature' proposes an interconnected approach. It challenges the view of cultures as separate entities and emphasizes the fundamental relationships that exist prior to and beyond established cultural boundaries. This perspective encourages us to see the world as a space where diverse modes of existence coexist and influence each other in complex ways.

2

Why is 'tolerance' considered a problematic concept in the context of intercultural understanding?

Tolerance, within traditional approaches, can be problematic because it often implies merely putting up with something perceived as different or strange, rather than genuinely valuing and embracing it. It can also reinforce power imbalances where one culture is seen as the 'norm' and others are viewed as 'different'. The limitations of tolerance stem from focusing on the surface level of cultural expression without delving into the underlying relationships and power dynamics. This can lead to the oversimplification of cultures into stereotypes and the commodification of cultural practices, where genuine understanding is sacrificed for superficial harmony.

3

How does 'worlding literature' help in bridging cultural divides?

'Worlding literature' provides a powerful framework for moving beyond tolerance and engaging in more meaningful intercultural connections by recognizing the underlying interconnectedness of all beings. This approach encourages embracing vulnerability and listening to diverse narratives. By recognizing the fundamental relationships that exist prior to and beyond established cultural boundaries, it fosters a more inclusive and equitable understanding. This helps in building bridges across cultures.

4

Can you provide examples of how traditional approaches to intercultural understanding fall short?

Traditional approaches often fall short in several ways. One is oversimplification of cultures into stereotypes for easy understanding. Another is the reinforcement of existing power imbalances, where one culture is seen as the 'norm' and others are considered 'different'. The commodification of cultural practices, such as tourism or entertainment, strips them of deeper meaning. Traditional approaches also often inadequately address historical injustices and ongoing inequalities, focusing on surface-level interactions rather than the underlying relationships that shape the world. These limitations highlight the need for a more dynamic and interconnected approach, such as that offered by 'worlding literature'.

5

What are the potential implications of adopting a 'worlding literature' approach in a globalized world?

Adopting a 'worlding literature' approach has several important implications in a globalized world. It fosters a deeper understanding of diverse cultures by recognizing the interconnectedness of all beings and embracing vulnerability. This helps build bridges and cultivate a more inclusive and equitable world, where all voices are heard and valued. By moving beyond tolerance, which can be superficial and reinforce power dynamics, 'worlding literature' promotes genuine intercultural understanding and empathy. This approach challenges us to see the world as a space where different modes of human and non-human existence coexist and influence each other in complex ways, leading to more meaningful connections.

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