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Bringing together the analyses of the literary world-system, translation studies, and the research of European cultural nationalism, this book contests the view that texts can be attributed global importance irrespective of their origin, language, and position in the international book market. Focusing on Slovenian literature, almost unknown to world literature studies, this book addresses world literature's canonical function in the nineteenth-century process of establishing European letters as national literatures.
Aware of their dependence on imperial powers, (semi)peripheral national movements sought international recognition through, among other things, the newly invented figure of the national poet. Writers central to dependent national communities were canonized to represent their respective cultures to the norm-giving Other - the emerging world literary canon and its aesthetic ideology. Hence, national literatures asserted their linguo-cultural individuality through the process of worlding; that is, by their positioning in the international literary world informed by the supposed universality of the aesthetic.
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Worlding a Peripheral Literature Marko Juvan
Canon and World Literature Series Editor Zhang Longxi City University of Hong Kong Kowloon, Hong Kong
World literature is indeed the most exciting new phenomenon in literary studies today. It is on the rise as the economic, political, and demographic relationships and balances are changing rapidly in a globalized world. A new concept of world literature is responding to such changes and is advocating a more inclusive and truly global conceptualization of canonical literature in the world’s different literary and cultural traditions. With a number of anthologies, monographs, companions, and handbooks already published and available, there is a real need to have a book series that convey to interested readers what the new concept of world literature is or should be. To put it clearly, world literature is not and cannot be the simple conglomeration of all the literary works written in the world, but only the very best works from the world’s different literatures, particularly literary traditions that have not been well studied beyond their native environment. That is to say, world literature still needs to establish its canon by including great works of literature not just from the major traditions of Western Europe, but also literary traditions in other parts of the world as well as the “minor” or insufficiently studied literatures in Europe and North America. More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/15725
Marko Juvan
Worlding a Peripheral Literature
Marko Juvan Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Ljubljana, Slovenia
Canon and World Literature ISBN 978-981-32-9404-2 ISBN 978-981-32-9405-9 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9405-9 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the