The textbook, based on literary analysis, presents the main directions of foreign literature of the second half of the twentieth century. These are: existentialism (J.-P. Sartre, A. Camus, T. Wilder); Japanese literature (Kawabata Yasunari, Kobo Abe, etc.); realism (J.D. Selinger); “new” novel (N. Sarraute, Alain Robbe-Grillet); postmodernism (J. Bruns); Latin American literature (G. Marquez, J. Borges); antidrama, theater of paradox (E. Ionesco, S. Beckett); synthetism (T. Williams, T. Stoppard); hyperliterature (M. Pavic, P. Corneille). Here is an analysis of the work of the talented poet of the twentieth century. Paul Celan, whose name is still little known to the Russian reader. The publication is intended for philology students. It will be of interest to everyone who wishes to get acquainted with new phenomena in foreign literature of the second half of the twentieth century. 4th edition, stereotypical.