In all the cultures thus far discussed translation played a major role. An entry on the subject of translation attempts a cross cultural overview of the results of efforts at translation around the world. Similar entries for comedy and tragedy for instance try to look comparative at global literatures even at a few examples of the oral literatures of Agrica and Pacific Oceania. A student or a general reader can find here then a reasonably comprehensive view of a and introduction to important writers works literary terms and literary trends around the world for a period of more than 200 years. The principle for the exclusion of certain literatures on the other hand has been stasis. Where few or no new literary developments characterize a literature form 1500 to 1700 as was the case say in Russia and the Byzanine Greek world no entries appear.