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This paper is to re-think the goals of literary studies at the hedge of the 21th century, questioning the idea of literature itself. Literature, as it is defined in Europe, is an ethnocentric notion, related to the theory of nation-state from the 19th century. National literatures are also the major frame for comparative studies. So literature and literary studies must change and focus on contemporary challenges: globalization and new media. Nowadays, literary studies and teaching can not anymore be so tightly linked with nation or democratic state building. Teaching has to offer a wider range of cultural marks for young people. From now on, the major goals of researchers might be a theoretical analyze of the process of representation by language itself (very similar for all human sciences) and an analyze of literature as a aesthetic activity (very similar in all types of societies).