This volume takes the view that globalization is not a recent phenomenon, but instead an enduring process, marked by four periods of accelerated change. The Early Modern period in European historiography is linked to our present experience of globalization by way of the diverse global trends that took place during the Age of Modernity. The literatures of the world provide a visceral understanding of what can only be understood from the perspectives of multiple logics namely, the life of our planet and its inhabitants. The wisdom of literature cannot be replaced by any other kind of knowledge: it is life's wisdom about life.

Ottmar Ette, Universität Potsdam.