I think the answer to this lies in history really. English was the language of the most imperialistic nations. The perks of being part of an imperialistic empire are a lot of resources, people who you can force into submission (pushing your religion, culture, and language one them), and also having greater advancements in technology because of your resources. While colonies were becoming independent in the 20th century, in order to compete in the world on their own they had to rely on trade and relationships with these already established nations. Primarily looking at Britain and America, English was a tool of trade, information sharing, and oppression.
When it comes to literature, all the ideas above are relavent but also that English was now the common language. Scholars were using it, immigrants were being made to learn it, and the people in America and Britain were being given more free time to read, therefore the popular literature needed to be in English to please the masses.
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