‘The Present’ refers to the literature after the 1970s. This is the age of rapid globalization and mass migration. Industrial disasters, the threat of war, the shift from Cold War with its nuclear threats to collapsing communism mark the geopolitics of the age. The rapid expansion of telecommunications technologies and the exploration of space also shift war threats onto another level. The militarization of space increases rapidly with surveillance satellites orbiting the earth. The 1970s and after is characterized by literature that is influenced by numerous liberation movements – the sexual, feminist and Third World – as well as altered demographics and social structures. Race debates have continued all over the world, especially in the wake of large-scale migration (both forced and voluntary). Previously ‘unacceptable’ writings by homosexuals, Blacks or Asians are now a significant component of ‘English’ literature and reflects changing attitudes to gay sexuality, sickness and racial identity. Writers have been more explicit in describing the body, and women writers in particular have broken the taboos on female sexuality and desire (the work of Jeanette Winterson is an excellent example).

The present age is marked also by an increasing consciousness of the economic inequalities in the world, and writers have also functioned as social commentators in many cases. The rise of prestigious literary awards has also altered the status of literature, where the influence of mass media and advertising is increasingly visible.