I cannot speak for South Asia but my answer from a British perspective would be a resounding 'yes'. Just take Shakespeare. He has influenced many aspects of our language and is without doubt part of our cultural heritage. Because of him and his major contemporaries such as Marlowe and Jonson, British ( perhaps more specifically English) culuture has become known worldwide - presumably that is why you are studying it in South Asia! In Scotland, Scottish culture owes a great deal to the likes of Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott, Wales is influenced by Dylan Thomas and Ireland can cite such luminaries as Oscar Wilde and Seamus Heaney. These islands abound with massive literary figures from older and more current ages. It would be a thin argument indeed to suggest they have no cultural influence.

Yes of course. A nation’s literature is a unifying factor. Now that English has become a universal language, a better question would be: Does English literature create worldwide loyalties to the UK and the USA?

Moerover, can English literature help to create an international identity?

I think something important your question raises is whether English literature can contribute to national identity in South Asia, in particular the one-time British Raj. I don't live in South Asia (though I have an employer and many friends from India and studied Burmese in college), but I would think that given the importance of English in South Asia it must contribute to South Asian national identities themselves. I recall Bengali-English code-switching in the films of the great director Satyajit Ray, which must have reflected an importance of English in Bengali culture and, I imagine, Indian culture more generally (when I was a student in an American university in the 1960's and early 1970's I had many Indian friends, who would invite me to social events put on by the Indian Students Association; I had no language difficulty at these events, because English was the common language of all the Indians there, and everyone conversed in English). As in the Ray example, code-switching into English occurs in a great French film that takes place during WWI and whose characters are French and German, Jean Renoir's La Grande illusion; this code-switching illustrates the then-declining importance of the ideal of the British gentleman in the upper classes of Europe.) There is also the specifically Anglo-Indian subculture in India, to which English must surely play a role (though I'm sorry I can't say just what). To sum up what I've said, I'd suggest that a look at the role English plays in your own culture could help answer your question. Is it identified with colonization specifically, or is there more?

Indeed.

If you were to put it in the context of Anglo-Irish Literature, then absolutely! The literature we have that establishes our cultural identity has it's foundations in Celtic origins certainly, but would not be what it is today without the influence of literature from our neighbours.

Although plenty of arguments have been forwarded so far, I would like to add that we could see literary history as a diachronic exchange of literary texts as well as thoughts among people of various classes of a nation (although it has become an international exchange). This exchange has also always been subject to institutionalization, which has had impact on collective cultural practices.

It's great to have responses from the colleagues here on RG and it's greater to see that our colleagues agree that English literature and teaching of it do have impact on the culture(s). Looking forward to having more diverse responses. Thank you.

I think that's a very good question. Obviously, being an Australian of Irish descent, I can only draw direct experience from looking at how it has informed the various traditions of countries that are closely related to my own culturally.

However, in saying that, with reference to your question I feel like it would be helpful to draw on some of our neighbours in the Oceanic region. In the general region of Melanesia, the emergence of written literature in countries like Vanuatu, Fiji and Papua New Guinea (though not, perhaps, necessary in shaping the culture up until its fairly recent emergence, largely due to the prevalence of oral literature) I believe may have an important role in shaping the future of the cultures there.

Now, while all of these countries don't perhaps have a prevalence of exclusively English literature (with many being in native languages, pidgins, creoles, Hindi and French as well) English is the most commonly spoken language in all three, and therefore, also the most commonly read (although popular literature and print media is usually quite balanced in its split between native languages and English).

As in a lot of the literature of colonised regions, a lot of the new literature coming out of the Melanesian region is postcolonial and is in many ways grappling with the shock and trauma of colonialism. For this precise region, I believe it will be integral in shaping the culture moving forward. While the university systems there, which have been integral in fostering these literatures are fairly young, as are the literatures themselves, the writing is beginning to diversify in terms of publications as well as emancipate itself somewhat from academia, leading to more widespread adoption of writing.

While Melanesia has a rich cultural history that does not in any way "need" developing, and likewise there is no "need" for the English language or literature unto itself, in terms of making use of what is already there, I believe that given its widespread adoption (which thankfully has not led to extinction of the native languages) and likewise the adoption of the written form CAN have a pragmatic effect on their cultural development as it is, to some extent, a lingua franca and can assist in the ease of sharing stories.

As for how literature departments at universities have, given that they were integral in developing a written tradition, I would say that at least in the case of Melanesia, the relevance of the literature department cannot be dismissed.

(Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20081206173414/http://www.vanuatu.usp.ac.fj/paclangunit/English_South_Pacific.htm )

Now certainly this cannot be applied in all cases, and to all non-native-English-speaking nations, developed or otherwise, I believe that the South Pacific region does show a way in which the relevance and pragmatic capacity of literature can be argued for.

I believe such a thought belongs to the old school of imitating the west. English Literature is no more a confining term expounding the writings of particular nations. South Asian countries tend to focus more on their own culture and definitely aims at bringing them into the forefront. This is evident from the current trends in Literature. Talking about the 'relevance,' unlike the tendacies in past, 'foreign literature' is not bluntly worshipped, taking it to a level of cultural identity. These days, It is just a discipline among many. It is one's own culture that is mirrored and English language is a possible tool to express, for the reason of being entitled as a global language. Good Literature departments do help in melting the myths.

Another perspective:

"Nigeria's first Netflix original film was disqualified from the best international movie category at the Oscars for having too much dialogue in English. Lionheart has segments in the local Igbo language but is mainly filmed in English—a legacy of the country's history as a British colony. 'This movie represents the way we speak as Nigerians,' director and star Genevieve Nnaji furiously tweeted. 'We did not choose who colonized us.'"

---The Bloomberg Close, 5 November 2019

Definitely, language is the foremost part of country. Most of the Asiatic countries had been colonized by Britishers and hence they left not only the impact of their literature on indigenous culture but also inspired the people of the certain country to write in that way. Hence, the British literature has inculcated the habits of flourishing their ideas into international language or the language of the world.

Yes, English literature contributes to the reformation and redefinition of nation culture and identity.

I believe that the literature Departments do contribute to the creation of cultural identities in terms of the subjects that are taught there.