Literature and global responsibility: Narratives, questions, and challenges

Abstract This introductory essay offers a theoretical framework for discussing the relationship between contemporary literature and global responsibility. After surveying recent conceptualisations of collective responsibility, the introduction presents the definition of global responsibility that frames the Special Issue. ‘Global’ is understood here in the double sense of worldwide and comprehensive: it draws attention to our global relations of interdependence and to the complex networks of actions and inactions that create the conditions of possibility for structural violence and injustice. Literature is a powerful tool for thinking about the challenges and questions that characterise our interconnected world, as well as for developing a sense of responsibility that transcends national and cultural boundaries. Having reflected on the ethico‐political role and potential of literature, this introduction summarises the articles that constitute this Special Issue. While the five essays that follow cannot possibly address all the problems that affect our globalised world, they offer a set of concepts, narrative explorations, and hermeneutical readings that help us to reassess critically our compromised positions, thus creating the pre‐conditions for transformative interventions.