Toward a "World-Literature" in French

In a manifesto published in Le Monde in 2007, forty-four writers - among them Tahar Ben Jelloun, Maryse Condé, Edouard Glissant, and J.M.G. Le Clézio - declared the death of francophone literature and the birth of "world literature in French. " Last month, at an international conference ("Littérature-monde: New Wave or New Hype?") held at Florida State University, several of the original signatories - Azouz Begag, Michel Le Bris, Alain Mabanckou, Anna Moï, Jean Rouaud, and Abdourahman Waberi - continued the debate.