The Position of Translated Literature within the L

Chapter13ThePositionofTranslatedLiteraturewithintheLiteraryPolysystembyItamarEven-ZoharⅠIdeasofPolysystemInspiteofthebroadrecognitionamonghistoriansofcultureofthemajorroletranslationhasplayedinthecrystallizationofnationalcultures,relativelylittleresearchhasbeencarriedoutinthisarea.MentiontranslationswhenitisunavoidableSeldomincorporatedintothehistoricalaccountinacoherentwayWhatisthefunctionoftranslatedliteratureasawhole?Whatisitspositionwithinthatliterature?Noawarenessofthepossibleexistenceoftranslatedliteratureasaparticularliterarysystem.Couldtranslatedliteraturebeasystem?Isthereasortofculturalandverbalnetworkofrelationswithinagroupoftranslatedtexts?Whatkindofrelationsmightbe?Translatedworksdocorrelateinatleasttwoways:(a)inthewaytheirsourcetextsareselectedbythetargetliterature:correlatablewiththehomeco-systemsofthetargetliterature(b)Inthewaytheyadoptspecificnorms,behaviors,andpolicies-intheiruseoftheliteraryrepertoire:resultfromtheirrelationswiththeotherhomeco-systemsTranslatedliteratureisnotonlyasanintegralsystemwithinanyliterarypolysystem,butasamostactivesystemwithinit.Whethertranslatedliteraturebecomescentralorperipheral(边缘的),whetherthispositionisconnectedwithinnovatory(primary)orconservatory(secondary)repertoires,dependsonthespecificconstellationofthepolysystemunderstudy.ⅡThecentralPositionofTranslatedLiteratureItparticipatesactivelyinshapingthecenterofthepolysystem.Itisanintegralpartofinnovatoryforces,identifiedwithmajoreventsinliteraryhistory.Thereisnoclear-cutdistinctionbetween“original”and“translated”writings.Newliterarymodelsareemerging,translationbecomesoneofthemeansofelaboratingthenewrepertoire.(newmodelsofreality,newpoeticlanguage,compositionalpatternsandtechniques)Thetextsarechosenaccordingtotheircompatibilitywiththenewapproachedandthesupposedlyinnovatoryroletheymayassumewithinthetargetliterature.Theconditionsofliteraturemaintainingacentralpositionintheliterarypolysystem:(a)Whenapolysystemhasnotbeencrystallized,thatis,whenaliteratureis“young”,intheprocessofbeingestablished.(b)Whenaliteratureiseither“peripheral”(withinalargegroupofcorrelatedliteratures)or“weak”,orboth.(c)Whenthereareturningpoints,crises,orliteraryvacuumsinaliterature.fulfilltheneedofayoungerliteraturetoputintouseitsnewlyfoundedtongueforasmanyliterarytypesaspossiblemakeitserviceableasaliterarylanguageandusefulforitsmergingpublicresourcesofestablishedliteraturesarelimited,positionwithinalargerliteraryhierarchyisgenerallyperipheral.suchliteraturesoftendonotdevelopthesamefullrangeofliteraryactivitiesobservableinadjacentlargerliteratures(whichmaycreateafeelingthattheyareindispensable).PeripheralliteraturesintheWesternHemispheretendtobeidenticalwiththeliteraturesofsmallernations.Withinagroupofrelatablenationalliteratures,hierarchicalrelationshavebeenestablishedsincetheverybeginningsoftheseliteratures.(eg.TheliteraturesofEurope)Withinthis(macro-)polysystem,peripheralliteraturesweremodeleduponanexteriorliterature.(TLisamajorchannelofrenovatingrepertoire,andasourceofreshufflingandsupplyingalternatives.)strongerliteraturesmayadoptnoveltiesfromsomeperipherywithintheirindigenousborders,“weak”literaturesoftendependonimportalone.Atsomehistoricalmoments,establishedmodelsarenolongertenableforayoungergeneration,noitemintheindigenousstockistakentobeacceptable,turningpointsorliterary“vacuum”occurs,andtranslatedliteraturemayconsequentlyassumeacentralposition,whethertheyarestrongorweakliteratures.