Pay for Performance in the NFL Essay Example

Pay for Performance in the NFL Paper Statistics Project Pay for Performance in the NFL Introduction Pay for performance is a common theme throughout almost all organizations. Merit increases, performance bonuses for executives, and commissions for real estate salespeople are common examples of this concept. Even teachers’ pay in some states is linked to performance of their students. According to the Washington Post, the state of Florida instituted a policy that individual teacher’s raises and performance starting in 2007 will be tied directly to student’s scores on standardized tests. This pay for performance concept has generally been accepted by the new Obama administration and may make its way into more common usage across the United States. In corporate America, examples of pay for performance are quite common, especially for top executives. Most year end bonuses are based on individuals meeting certain criteria established by the board of directors. These bonuses can be quite substantial. According to the Proxy Statement for Meredith Corporation, the total executive bonuses for the year 2007 exceeded $2. 5 million dollars. While pay for performance seems a reasonable concept in general, it is not without its critics. In education, there are a number of critics that question the fairness of the standardized test score results as a measure of teacher performance. They worry about teaching towards the exam at the expense of the overall education of the student. The criticism from Congress and much of the population of the United States over the bonuses paid to AIG executives questions how performance is actually measured. This paper will attempt to partially address the issue of pay for performance in professional sport, specifically in the National Football League. We will write a custom essay sample on Pay for Performance in the NFL specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Pay for Performance in the NFL specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Pay for Performance in the NFL specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Many different positions in football are difficult to obtain good performance measures. Offensive lineman, special teams players especially do not have good measures of individual performance that are tracked. This analysis will focuses on two groups of NFL players, quarterbacks and running backs where individual performance measures are readily available. Analytical Technique A correlation study will be done on a variety of performance measures and the salaries of both NFL quarterbacks and running backs to see which of the individual performance measures are most closely related to the individuals salaries. The assumption will be that the current salary is based on last year’s performance. In addition to the correlation study, a multiple regression model with the best performance measures will be used to explain the relationship between the measures and salaries. This could be potentially used as a basis of predicting next year’s salary for those players that are in contract discussions or are entering the market as free agents. The data for the study will be obtained from two primary sources, ESPN. com which tracks player performance measures for a number of years, and USATODAY. com for player salaries. Professional football players are compensated in a number of ways, base salary, signing bonus, and other bonuses. This study will be using base salary as the pay in the pay for performance analysis. Performance measures for quarterbacks will include: completion percentage, total passing yardage, touchdown completions, interceptions, and finally QB rating. Performance measures for running backs will include: total yards, yards per game, touchdowns, and fumbles lost. While other measures are collected it is felt that these are the most appropriate performance measures to use for both categories of NFL players. A sample of 22 NFL quarterbacks from the 2007 season was selected while a sample of 13 NFL running backs from 2007 was used. RESULTS NFL quarterbacks: Pearson’s correlation coefficients for all variables in the study were run and are presented in the table below: |   |PCT |YDS |TD |INT |RAT |Salary | |PCT |1 | | | | | | |YDS |0. 43677 |1 | | | | | |TD |0. 230412 |0. 843951 |1 | | | | |INT |-0. 31751 |0. 475031 |0. 247018 |1 | | | |RAT |0. 639073 |0. 45897 |0. 703364 |-0. 41675 |1 | | |2008 Salary |0. 211532 |0. 562896 |0. 428047 |0. 276031 |0. 265671 |1 | As can be seen in the above table the strongest correlation exists between salary and total yards passing (0. 562896) and the number of touchdowns (0. 428047). The other variables have very weak relationships between themselves and salary and will be excluded from further analysis. It seems that only total passing yards is an important variable in understanding the relationship between quarterback’s salary and on field performance. A second part of the study is to use a regression model to predict the next periods salary for free agents and other players whose contracts are up for negotiation. It could be a valuable tool in beginning negotiations between the player and team owner. Since only two variables had anything more than a very weak relationship with salary, two regressions will be run. The first is a simple linear regression with yards passing as the independent variable and the second is a multiple regression with number of touchdowns included. The regression analysis is presented below: Simple linear regression using yards: |Regression Statistics | | | | |Multiple R |0. 62896387 | | | | |R Square |0. 316852343 | | | | |Observations |22 | | | | | | | | | | |   |Coefficients |Standard Error |t Stat |P-value | |Intercept |-1267325. 07 |1976273. 783 |-0. 64127 |0. 528628 | |YDS |1839. 467659 |603. 9569583 |3. 045693 |0. 006383 | Multiple regression using yards and touchdowns: |Regression Statistics | | | | |Multiple R |0. 569677436 | | | | |R Square |0. 24532381 | | | | |Observations |22 | | | | | | | | | | |   |Coefficients |Standard Error |t Stat |P-value | |In tercept |-1596606. 7 |2137031. 816 |-0. 747114146 |0. 464141 | |YDS |2290. 32518 |1148. 639878 |1. 993690591 |0. 060741 | |TD |-50963. 9896 |109649. 6343 |0. 464789417 |0. 647365 | The multiple regression will be excluded from use because the sign of the coefficient is negative, implying that the more touchdowns thrown the lower the salary. This is not logical. The most likely cause is that relationship between total yards passing and touchdowns is stronger than the correlation between touchdowns and salary. This could cause the regression coefficient for touchdowns to be unreliable. The regression equation provides only marginal explanatory power, based on the R square this equation using total yards only explains 31. 68% of salary for an NFL quarterback leaving over 68% of salary unexplained. It usefulness as a tool in negotiation would seem to be very limited. NFL running backs: Pearson’s correlation coefficients for all variables in the study were run and are presented in the table below    |YDS |AVG |TD |FUM |Salary | |YDS |1 | | | | | |AVG |0. 196119 |1 | | | | |TD |0. 382323 |0. 466749 |1 | | | |FUM |0. 017765 |0. 069592 |-0. 31995 |1 | | |Salary |0. 571773 |0. 260196 |0. 38083 |-0. 05109 |1 | Only the total yards gained seem to have anything but a weak relationship with salary. The number of touchdowns being somewhat explanatory of salary and will be used in the multiple regression. Since only two variables had anything more than a very weak relationship with salary, two regressions will be run. The first is a simple linear regression with yards rushing as the independent variable and the second is a multiple regression with number of touchdowns included as well. The regression analysis is presented below: Simple linear regression using yards: Regression Statistics | | | | |Multiple R |0. 57177269 | | | | |R Square |0. 326924009 | | | | | | | | | | |   |Coefficients |Standard Error |t Stat |P-value | |Intercept |-1273523. 69 |1812128. 448 |-0. 702777759 |0. 496798 | |YDS |3659. 184626 |1583. 057254 |2. 311467016 |0. 041192 | Multiple regression using yards and touchdowns: |Regression Statistics | | | | |Multiple R |0. 598119739 | | | | |R Square |0. 57747222 | | | | |Ob servations |13 | | | | | | | | | | |   |Coefficients |Standard Error |t Stat |P-value | |Intercept |-1191870. 48 |1860286. 025 |-0. 64069 |0. 536128 | |YDS |3194. 299878 |1755. 207634 |1. 819899 |0. 098793 | |TD |64585. 6109 |93229. 10033 |0. 692765 |0. 504227 | The multiple regression will be used since it is marginally better in explanatory power than the simple regression model The regression equation provides only marginal explanatory power, based on the R square this equation using total yards only explains 35. 77% of salary for an NFL quarterback leaving over 64% of salary unexplained. It usefulness as a tool in negotiation would seem to be very limited. Conclusion While there seems to be a relationship between player salaries and total yardage for both quarterbacks and running backs, the relationship is not very strong. The use of individual statistics does not seem to explain the greatest proportion of player salaries. It does not seem as if trying to use individual performance measures provides much important information on the value of the player to the team as measured by salary. This could be due to a number of issues. Possibly base salary is not the appropriate measure for player compensation. Maybe the owners look at improvement in individual performance measures over time or the average of the performance measures over time. We also need to consider that qualitative factors play a role in player salaries. It could be the so called â€Å"star power† of the player as an entertainment value. Or maybe the owners do not look at the individual statistics but rather the ability of the player to improve overall team performance. Is the owner actually looking at numbers put up by the player or is the owner estimating how many more games can we win by having this player? Sample Data Quarteracks |NAME |PCT |YDS |TD |INT |RAT |salary | |Tom Brady QB, NWE |68. 9 |4806 |50 |8 |117. | |Tomlinson RB, SDG |1474 |4. 7 |15 |0 |$5,750,000 | | Peterson RB, MIN |1341 |5. 6 |12 |4 |$2,821,320 | |Willie Parker RB, PIT |1316 |4. 1 |2 |4 |$2,900,000 | |Jamal Lewis RB, CLE |1304 |4. 4 |9 |4 |$1,400,000 | |E. James RB, ARI |1222 |3. 8 |7 |4 |$5,000,000 | |Fred Taylor RB, JAC |1202 |5. 4 |5 |2 |$4,000,000 | |Thomas Jones RB, NYJ |1119 |3. |1 |2 |$2,000,000 | |M. Lynch RB, BUF |1115 |4 |7 |1 |$2,635,770 | |Frank Gore RB, SFO |1102 |4. 2 |5 |3 |$2,562,000 | |E. Graham RB, TAM |898 |4 |10 |0 |$1,500,000 | |D. Foster RB, CAR |876 |3. 5 |3 |5 |$1,903,120 | |C. Taylor RB, MIN |844 |5. 4 |7 |5 |$3,000,000 | |L. Maroney RB, NWE |835 |4. 5 |6 |0 |$1,571,720 |

Shift in Architecture essays

Shift in Architecture essays What made the shift, from the modern machine culture of Corbusier to the new brutalism order of Team 10. Every phase of architecture has to have an anti-phase, where its ideals are opposed. The young architects who grew up with old masters ideals soon became disenchanted with his visions. It can be harsh because a singular vision of utopia can never be achieved. The birth of Team-X is due to these reasons. CIAM, Congres Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne was started in 1928 as a declaration, signed by 24 architects in Europe. Its agenda emphasizes building rather than architecture as the elementary activity of man intimately linked with evolution and the development of human life. It was primary dominated by the idea of individualism at the first three meetings with topics that focused on the ideal, efficient spaces for individuals and the minimum living standards. At the 4th CIAM in 1933, the ideals of Corbusier took over. His visions of the utopian, modernist Machine City thus spread its influence throughout Europe. City planning became the main focal point of the meetings. This in fact would shape social orders throughout the continents. And during his reign as the main idealist of CIAM, it became the custom of architectural students to flock to CIAM, to re-establish contact with the international Modern Movement, to sit at the feet of its great masters and to acquire those non-parochial standards of architectural values. This consequently lead to the birth of Team 10, the younger generation of architects who were involved with CIAM. They wrote We of the younger generation received a shock at the Aix in seeing how far the wonder of the ville radieuse had faded from CIAM. The members of Team 10, Bakema, Candilis, Gutmann, Howell, van Eyck, Voelcker and the Smithsons were tied together by their ideals of reform the old visions of the original members of CIAM, and also th ...

Prophet Mohammed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Prophet Mohammed - Essay Example Many are the times that the grandfather was escorted by Mohammed on official duties in the temple. The lonely life of a Sheppard that Mohammed led to the nurturing of the skills required in leading the life of a prophet. In addition, the environment in his early life provided him with the skill set fit to lead and guide people. The reason as to why Mohammed took on prophecy is a blur but at the time, the town of Mecca was filled with many nomadic. These tribes were rivals with each other and they had their own gods and beliefs. This religious diversity at the time was the root of all enmity. At forty years old, Mohammed aspired to become a reformer and hence assumed leadership of a secret society. This organizations goal was to ensure unity in terms of religion and politics among the Arabs. He had come to the realization that with unity comes power. After seeking insight from the Jews and Christians, Mohammed determined that one supreme God was key to achieving his goal of unity amon g the Arabs. After conviction of his call to prophesy, this secret society with its own rules whereby they prayed to one supreme God grew exponentially and is otherwise known as Islam (Margoliouth 86). Mohammed as a prophet had a lot of accomplishments in his time. Hence, he is perceived as one of the greatest people in the Muslim community. He is the founder of the Islamic religion. At a time when there were numerous religious groups each having their own gods among the Arabic people, Mohammed was able to unite the Arabs by forming a secret society. This secret society later became publicized and became the Islamic community. Islam spread out exponentially throughout Mecca whereby they spread the ideology of worshipping and praying to one supreme God. Islam has become a way of life in our society among the Muslim community. It has lead to the peaceful coexistence of people due. This is because Islam gives an individual a sense of inner peace, which results to one having peace of mi nd. The Islamic religion preaches the need to have peaceful relation people of different ethnicities and religious backgrounds. This, as a result, promotes world peace. Islam is also seen to promote peace between an individual and his creator. This paves way for having a blessed life free from sin. Islamic religion is also important because it advocates for submission to God’s will. Submitting to God’s will translate to submitting to God, which is the reason to the founding of the Islamic religion. The Islamic religion and culture supports the union in marriage between Muslims in the society. It is God’s will that man and woman join together in the bond of marriage; the Islamic religion is seen to fulfill this will of God by supporting marriage. It also provides guidance to married couples, which promote long lasting relationships. Above all traits, Islam has promoted unity among people. This unity has come to realization as a result of Islam spreading the messa ge of peace throughout. This has paid off owing to the fact that Islam has spread widely to all corners of the world. Hence, Muslims have been able to coexist peacefully with other religious groups promoting world peace (murata and Chittick 125). Mohammed had become the leader of a vast community; Islam looked up to him for guidance. With Islam becoming a religion that spread vastly throughout the world, there arose the need to create a distinguished place whereby the Islamic

Reading Journal 2 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reading Journal 2 - Coursework Example Also, Jean Le Rond Dalembert, who together with Denis Diderot developed the encyclopaedia that was a compilation of works on trade and mechanical arts (75). Another author who contributed significantly is Mary Wollstonecraft, who advocated the womens positions (85), and Adam Smiths wealth of nations (87) among other works provided to the education. Europe started interacting with the rest of the worlds as early as in the seventeenth century especially with the discovery and settlement in the New World. They had knowledge in ship and gun making which gave them a higher advantage (394). France development was based on mercantilism that required the government to maximize on trade by monopolizing trade with its colonies (395). Europe benefited from slavery and its colonies (399). In the mid eighteenth century, it faced international rivalry; the European nations involved in wars that further split to the colonies (404). Europe suffered seven years of war (1756-1763) that ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. The treaty left Britain in an economic crisis, and their efforts to get funding from America were frustrated by the American Revolution, which ultimately resulted to declaration of American Independence. This period was characterised by a desire for change. Leaders in the enlightenment believed that a man could comprehend the process of nature and manipulate them to their advantage. The ideas of Isaac Newton and John Locke were the forerunners of this knowledge (416). There was development of the print culture, the volume of printed material increased including books, journals and newspapers among others (417). The scholars who were mainly university professors helped expand the print culture (419). They were critical about most religious institutions arguing it hindered pursuit of rational life (420). Publication of the encyclopaedia also contributed to the understanding (423). They also applied their

Mark Mathabane’s Kaffir Boy Essay Example for Free

Mark Mathabane’s Kaffir Boy Essay Racial Discrimination, has already been a long term phenomenon, in existent in almost all societies in different eras and civilization. The idea of discrimination is inevitable. Considering that such discrimination creates social structure as regards what is expected of everybody in a society and what is due to them. However, sometimes this social structure is abused, beyond its limit. People who belong to a higher status quo would definitely do whatever it takes to keep it. To illustrate, colonizers who had way better technology, combat powers and knowledge as compared to areas being colonized, would come to these new conquests are superiors. They would then take the locals as slaves and ravish on the wealth that they have to offer. In their own place, these locals become discriminated and unwanted. In return, locals would do whatever it takes to associate themselves with the colonizers, by looking like them, being friends with them, working for them, or marrying people of their kind. And it always seems that it is the right thing to do. When the British came to South Africa, this is exactly what happened. Mark Mathabane’s Kaffir Boy, tells a real story of a man who chose to fight a different battle to combat discrimination and inequality. While most of his relatives act as freedom fighters, he came to America to educate himself and to excel in a sport he loves. His success has given so much inspiration. His story as depicted in his book will take us with him as he reveals the horrors of his past. Mark Mathabane lived in a country, wherein racial divide, for most of its early years seemed to be the only thing that defines them. South Africa, a country nestled in the continent of Africa, was once invaded by white colonizers too. And they have proven that they came there to stay. In a country such as South Africa, a nation so unique as compared to other nations in the African continent. South Africa can be considered as diverse in a special way, because it is the only African country that has Caucasians as locals. Originally dominated by black Americans, South Africa is now a melting pot of two cultures. Analysis It had never occurred to me that though the two were different as night and day, as separate as east and -west, they had everything to do with each other; that one could not be without the other (94) This statement from Johannes best explains the struggles of Mathabane. In summary it explains how the two dominant races in South Africa has tried to isolate each group against each other, by means of creating physical division such as creating boundaries and naming certain places as black or white territory. Whites are in a way regarded more superior because they are more literate as well. The government also used formal means to strengthen the divide by creating laws such as prohibiting mix marriages, and creating policies in the education system that seems to favor a specific race. Overall, it was almost the generally accepted norm, to- categorize, discriminate. Kaffir Boy, is a tale about Mark Mathabane’s life growing up in South Africa, just outside of Johannesburg. Mark Mathabane lives in the town of Alexandra during industrial colonialism period with his parents, five sisters and a brother. He talks about how he experienced brutality and starvation from the Peri Urban, an Apartheid police group in South Africa. Growing up very poor, he dreamt of having a better life for him and his family. He often questioned the prejudices happening around him and has decided to take the course of his destiny in his own hands. As a young boy, he struggled with his identity. He wonders which religion he should practice, which country or class he should belong. There is so much craving for autonomy that at a young age he began resenting his parents religious and tribal heritage and eventually decided to leave Africa. Believing that religion, specifically Christianity was used wrongfully by different groups and races, he eventually rejected it. He believes that government used it to claim that God had given whites the divine right to rule over blacks; the black churches misused it by demanding money from Africans who were already destitute; and black churches further misused it by resigning themselves to the idea that this was their lot in life, Gods will for black men and women (36). Mathabane also recalled how apartheid made use of tribalism as form of torture against Africans. He believes that his father, allowed himself to be controlled by superstitions, Relatively mature for his age, he reiterates his independence by doing what he pleases with his life. For Mathabane, the Christian God is bias in favor of the whites and is oblivious to the Africans pain. Although he recognizes its legitimacy as sign of respect for her mothers faith, he still rejects it the way he rejects tribalism and African superstition. For him, submitting to any specific belief or religion is synonymous with compromising his free will. In page 208 of the book he further on states African superstition and tribal culture were not for him. His scorn for his father lay in the fact that his father clung to values which had outlived their usefulness, values which discriminated against him while he attempted to function within the white mans world (208). â€Å"What Mathabane did accept, though it took some trial and error, was his mothers understanding that education would lead him to a better life. Learning English, he decided, was the crucial key to unlocking the doors of the white world (193). The books that white people read led to the power they had over black people (254). Mathabane eventually decided that literacy was a necessary element in the liberation struggle. How can the illiterate function, he wondered, in a world ruled by signs (201) Books had taught him about places where he could be free to think and feel the way I want, instead of the way apartheid wants (254). He then realizes that he needs to make important decisions in order to make his dreams come true. Thinking that South Africa has nothing much to offer, at least for a poor black African boy like him, he decided to try his luck with American Universities. As he begins to plot his future, his tennis abilities begin to progress faster and better. Being an avid fan of Arthur Ashe, he takes his wins and losses as if his own. The achievements of his â€Å"idol† encourages him to do better every single day. From black state competitions, he started joining the more prestigious white state competitions. His participation in white state competitions led to his banning from joining black state competitions. At this point, he feels as if his progress in his craft takes him away from the things he loved the most. Luckily, Mark later on leaves for the United States as a university scholar, through the help of a famous American tennis player and other white donors. Conclusion Deep within me,I knew that I could never really leave South Africa or Alexandra. I was Alexandra, I was South Africa (348). This goes to show that despite of all the successes, the author looks back in his roots. At first, his move out of Africa was just his way of â€Å"escaping† the endless circle of failed dreams and lack of opportunities. But his absence in his country makes him reaffirm his identity, and gives him the opportunity, to finally appreciate what his past has to offer for his present and for his future. This book tells a very dark story filled with pain, sadness and loneliness on most of its chapters, but it also provides a strong foundation for the readers to further understand the plight of the narrator. The journey he took was not only of hope, but rather, a journey of rediscovery. How can the illiterate function, he wondered, in a world ruled by signs (201)? The books had taught him and transported him to places where he could be free to think and feel the way I want, instead of the way apartheid wants (254). Why burn the only thing that taught one to believe in the future, to fight for ones right to live in freedom and dignity? (285). Here reaffirms his conclusion as we experiences Soweto riots, which was triggered by resentment over the governments ruling that African education system be taught it Afrikaans instead of English. Upon witnessing the library burn down he inquired for enlightenment from one of his peers, who mentioned that the burning is for the destruction of all the traces of white oppression in the Bantu Education system. The struggles in his youth, leads him to think that literacy is the key to success. by learning English, he will be given better opportunities, the same as the whites. According to the author, literacy has given the whites so much edge and power over the black Africans. Having an education will somehow even out the playing field. Literacy for Mathabane is so important, that for him this will eventually lead them to be liberated from all their struggles. In the end, we really have no control over our government, over the people around us, and over norms and traditions we grew up with. But we do have full control over our perspective, our feelings and destiny. And this is precisely what Mathabane did. He took charge of his own future. This book inspires me to examine the choices I have made as a young person, at the same time, it makes me wonder whether the previous steps I have taken in life will take me closer to my aspirations or take me farther. But then, it makes me think deeper not just about my ambitions, but what I really want to contribute to my society in the end. This book serves as a wake up call. In a society wherein we are given so much opportunity, it seems as if we are left with no excuses not to excel. Reference: Mark Mathabane, 1998, Kaffir Boy, Simon Schuster Adult Publishing Group

The Death Penalty :: essays papers

The Death Penalty "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." This is another way for someone to say they are supportive of the death penalty. The death penalty, to me, is revenge. It kills innocent people every year. Many of the families of victims do not want the criminals to be put to death. The death penalty costs more than a life sentence in jail. It is also racists. "Since 1976, there have been five hundred twenty-three executions in the United States, twenty-three in 1999 alone. There was only eleven before 1984. Then the number rose to twenty-one that year. The number of execution stayed around twenty then dropped to eleven in 1988. Then it steadily rose from there to seventy-four executions in 1997. That was the highest since 1976."(Death Penalty Information Center, P.1) There are many different methods of execution used by the government. The most common is lethal injection used by thirty-four states. Electrocution is another method, which is used by ten states. The gas chamber is used in five states. There are still two states today that use hanging as a method of execution. And two other states use a firing squad. The death penalty is also extremely racist. There have been significantly more executions of minorities than white Americans. Capital punishment also goes against the Constitution of the United States. Amendments eight and fourteen state that no cruel and unusual punishment can be inflicted, and no state can deprive any person of life liberty or property. The death penalty clearly takes these privileges away from American citizens. "More than 2000 people are on death row today. Virtually all are poor, a significant number are mentally retarded or other wise mentally disabled. More than forty percent are African American and disproportionate numbers are Native American, Latino, and Asian." (American Civil Liberties Union) It does not seem fair that only these people are dying. The Constitution states that everyone should be given a fair trial. These statistics do not prove to me that these people had a fair trial. Everybody makes mistakes. If a jury makes a mistake and a person is falsely accused of murder when they find out they messed up they want to take the

Literary History and the Concept of Literature Essay

Literary history and the concept of literature I From the 1970s onwards, much has been said about the writing of history and literary history that has cast doubt on its intellectual credibility. For example, Hayden White’s Metahistory (1973) included an influential analysis of the metaphorical foundations of 19th century history writing. In 1979, Jean-Francois Lyotard criticized grand narratives in La Condition postmoderne (The Postmodern Condition), and in 1992 David Perkins presented a whole array of sceptical epistemological and methodological arguments directed against literary history in Is Literary History Possible?. The questioning of literary history has not however resulted in the abandonment of large-scale literary-historical projects, rather it has inspired attempts to base such ventures on better designs and better foundations. Not least, many new ideas about the field have been put forward in connection with the preparation of two major works of literary history sponsored by the ICLA. It is also natural to point to two theoretical publications from 2002: the collection of essays, Rethinking Literary History, edited by Linda Hutcheon and Mario J. Valdes, and Marcel Cornis-Pope and John Neubauer’s brief presentation of the ideas behind a history of literary cultures in East-Central Europe. [ii] The Swedish project â€Å"Literature and Literary History in Global Contexts†, which was started in 1998 and will terminate in 2004, focuses specifically on some theoretical problems associated with the writing of literary history. We who participate come, mostly, from various fields within oriental studies or from comparative literature. Since the project is sponsored by the Swedish Research Council we all work, or once worked, at various Swedish universities. One of the special features of the project is the interest devoted to world histories of literature, a genre where the general problems of literary history become especially visible and acute. (I shall return to this perhaps unfamiliar genre in a moment. ) Three important cruces in connection with world histories of literature have been singled out for special discussion within the project: (i) the understanding of the notion of literature, (ii) the understanding of genres, and (iii) the understanding of interactions between literary cultures. These three sets of issues will be made the subject of four volumes of literary-historical studies and theoretical reflections, and these volumes will represent the main concrete outcome of the project. In this paper, I shall concentrate on the first of the questions, about the notion of literature. I shall say a few words about the concept of literature itself, point out some of the difficulties that it occasions in a world history of literature, and conclude with a brief discussion of how such problems may be approached and dealt with. II In a sense, of course, there are very many concepts of literature: if every nuance is taken into account, it may well be the case that each person has their own. Yet if, conversely, one looks at the situation very broadly, one can say that there is an everyday concept of literature in Western culture which is widely shared. That concept came into being in the course of the 18th century. Before that, no exact counterpart to our present concept of literature existed either in Western culture or elsewhere, and the distinction between imaginative literature and non-fiction was not of primary importance in the classification of texts. Wilt Idema and Lloyd Haft have given a concise and clarifying account of how earlier cultures thought about texts and their basic divisions. As long as no more than a few written works are in circulation in a given society, all texts are more or less equally important and valuable. If there is a dramatic increase in the number of writings, with a corresponding differentiation in their content and character, the texts are likely to be subdivided into the categories of â€Å"high† literature, professional literature, and popular literature. â€Å"Literature† (or high literature) is then the term for texts which are felt to be of general educational value and which are, accordingly, regarded as part of the necessary intellectual baggage of every cultured person†¦. Works which contain useful knowledge but remain limited to one specific area, such as medicine or military science, are classified as professional literature. Works intended only to amuse, and which have (or are considered to have) no educational value, fall outside the scope of â€Å"literature†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. We may call these more or less despised writings â€Å"trivial literature†. In the kind of intellectual culture described in this quotation, the fundamental distinction among texts is the one between culturally important texts and culturally less significant ones. In most such cultures – classical antiquity, classical Chinese culture, classical Sanskrit culture, and so forth – the class of culturally important texts would comprise most of what we call poetry, history writing, and philosophy, and normally also other kinds of texts – some administrative texts, some texts concerning magic, some letters, et cetera. Oral vernacular texts, or relatively unadorned fictional narratives, what we call fictional prose, would normally form part of popular or trivial literature. For complex social, economic, and cultural reasons, this way of classifying texts came to undergo great though gradual transformations in Western Europe from the late 17th to the early 19th centuries. One of the very many crucial factors behind the process must have been the growing importance of a new, more rigorous conception of empirical truth, associated with the natural sciences. High literature, in the special sense described by Idema and Haft, had always aspired to truth in the sense of great human significance. As the distinction between empirical truth and empirical non-truth became more rigid and more significant – and as many other, more or less related developments were taking place – new groupings began to emerge in the textual universe. Poetry became dissociated from scientific writings, and successively also from history, philosophy, oratory, and letters. On the other hand, fictional prose, especially in the guise of the increasingly appreciated novel, came to be regarded as one of the genres of poetry. With this, our modern notion of literature had effectively taken shape, and the term â€Å"literature† (whose main meaning in the 17th and 18th centuries had been something like â€Å"education† or â€Å"culture†) successively developed into today’s normal designation of the concept. [v] III The late 18th and early 19th centuries saw the beginning of the writing of literary history – of the history of national European literatures, of the history of European literature as a whole and, at least from the 1830s onwards, of the world history of literature. World histories of literature thus comprise a genre which has existed for around 170 years. Among its modern instances are such impressive works as the German twenty-five volume Neues Handbuch der Literaturwissenschaft (New Handbook of Literary Studies), published between 1972 and 2002, and the Russian Istorija vsemirnoj literatury v devjati tomach (History of World Literature in Nine Volumes) from 1983-94. [vii] However in the English-speaking world the genre is more or less extinct, and its very existence appears to be overlooked in the contemporary international discussion about the globalization of literary studies. These debates are primarily inspired by the widespread interest in colonial and postcolonial studies and place the last few centuries at the centre of attention, while the traditional world histories of literature are, in principle, universal in scope, and are meant to cover all times and cultures. In many respects, it seems a good idea to have a world history of literature to fall back on. Such works can relate the various literary cultures of the world to one another and put them into perspective. Thus they may create a much needed overview, much as a map of the world helps us to comprehend certain fundamental geographical realities. To some extent, works like the Neues Handbuch der Literaturwissenschaft and the Istorija vsemirnoj literatury do just that, and of course they also contain a wealth of information and intelligent discussion. Yet, despite their often remarkable qualities, world histories of literature are typically profoundly problematic for a number of reasons. Two major problems have their roots in the very concept of literature. First, the concept is, in itself, an everyday notion. If employed without additional explications or stipulations, it is too imprecise and inconsistent to form the basis of a reasonable classification. Second, the concept of literature is a relatively recent Western invention. Its application to other times and cultures will easily lead to anachronistic and ethnocentric distortions. On the whole, world histories of literature are content to sweep such problems under the carpet. They typically prefer to rely on the everyday notion of literature and to include the resulting contradictions in the bargain. For instance, the concept of literature is traditionally used in such a manner that the criteria for a work to be classified as literature vary depending on the time and the culture one is speaking of. Modern literature is most often seen as consisting of just fictional prose, poetry, and drama. When there is talk of older periods, the concept of literature is however used very inclusively. [ix] For example, ancient Roman philosophy, history, and oratory are not excluded as being non-fiction; instead, such writers as Lucrece, Caesar, and Cicero are considered part of the European literary heritage. The same duality appears in the treatment of other literary cultures. Thus, for instance, the sacred Vedic texts (circa 1200 – circa 500 B. C.).