World Literature in Theory and Practice

WorldLiteratureinTheoryandPractice“Theageofworldliteratureisathand,”the77-year-oldJohannWolfgangvonGoetheproclaimedtohisyoungdiscipleEckermannin1827,“andeveryonemuststrivetohastenitsapproach.”Werehetosurveythescenetoday,Goethewouldlikelyfeelthathisprophecyhascometrue,buthemightwonderwhetherhe’dgottenmorethanhe’dbargainedfor.Goethehopedthattheageofworldliteraturewouldbeaneraofinternationalexchangeandmutualrefinement,acosmopolitanprocessinwhichGermanywouldassumeacentralroleasatranslatorandmediatoramongcultures,leadinganinternationalelitetochampionlastingliteraryvaluesagainstthevanitiesofnarrownationalismandthevagariesofpopulartaste.ItishardtoimaginethathewouldhavebeenpleasedwiththebooksrecentlyonofferatthegiftshopofHoChiMinh’sResidenceinHanoi.Therewasn’tacopyofFaustorevenConfucius’sAnalectsinsight;intheirplace,aguidetotheResidenceinChinesewassandwichedbetweentwovolumesinVietnamese:acartoonlifeofAbrahamLincoln,andacollectionofchildren’sstories,whoseglossycoverboastedaleeringTiggerandaroly-polyPooh,takenfromtheDisneyfilm.TheDisneyficationoftheglobewasnotexactlythefuturetowardwhichGoethewantedeveryonetostrive.“世界文学的时代即将来临，”77岁的约翰沃尔夫冈冯歌德宣布他的年轻弟子的1827，“每个人都必须努力加速它的方法。”他到现场调查，今天，歌德可能觉得他的预言成真了，但他可能不知道他已经比他预料的。歌德希望世界文学时代将国际交流与相互细化的时代，其中德国将承担核心作用在文化翻译和中介性过程，导致持久的文学价值冠军反对狭隘的民族主义的虚荣和大众口味变幻莫测的国际精英。很难想象他会高兴的书最近提供在河内胡志明故居礼品店。没有一份浮士德甚至孔子的论语在眼前；在他们的地方，在中国的住宅导向夹在越南两卷之间：亚伯拉罕林肯的卡通人生，和收集的儿童故事，它的封面有一个色迷迷的跳跳虎和小熊维尼不倒翁，从迪士尼电影。全球的迪斯尼是不是未来走向的歌德要大家努力。Whatarewetomakeofworldliteraturetoday?Theculturalandpoliticalrealignmentsofthepasttwodecadeshaveopenedthefieldofworldliteraturetoanunprecedented,evenvertiginousvarietyofauthorsandcountries.Atonceexhilaratingandunsettling,therangeandvarietyofliteraturesnowinviewraiseseriousquestionsofscale,oftranslationandcomprehension,andofpersistingimbalancesofeconomicandculturalpower.Atthesametime,theshiftinglandscapeofworldliteratureoffersnewopportunitiesforreaderstoencounterwriterslocatedwellbeyondtheselectfewWesternEuropeancountrieswhoseworkslongdominatedworldwideattention.Whereasinpasterasworksusuallyspreadfromimperialcenterstoperipheralregions(fromChinatoVietnam,fromLondontoAustraliaandKenya,fromParistoalmosteverywhere),anincreasinglymultipolarliterarylandscapeallowswritersfromsmallercountriestoachieverapidworldwidefame.Whilestillinhisfifties,OrhanPamukbecamethesecond-youngestrecipientftheNobelPrizeforLiteratureandwastranslatedinto56languages,Vietnameseincluded;hehasmanymorereadersabroadthaninhisnativeTurkey.Increasinglycomplexpatternsoftravel,emigration,andpublicationmake“national”languagesandliteraturesmoreandmoreinternationalincharacter.ThewinneroftheNobelPrizein2000,GaoXingjian,haslonglivedinFranceandhasbecomeaFrenchcitizen,yethecontinuestowriteinChinese.CulturalhybridityisalsofoundwithinthebordersofChinaitself,asinthestoriesoftheSino-TibetanwriterTashiDawa,whohasblendedelementsdrawnfromTibetanfolkloreandinternationalmagicalrealismforhiswritingsinChinese;inaveryrealsense,hisworkswereparticipatinginworldliteratureevenbeforetheybegantobetranslatedandreadabroad.我们今天要做什么世界文学？在过去的二十年里的文化和政治变革已经打开了世界文学领域前所未有的，甚至是令人眼花缭乱的各种作者和国家。在一次令人愉快的和令人不安的，范围和各种文献现在针对提高规模的严重问题，翻译和理解，并坚持经济与文化权力失衡。同时，世界文学的转向景观为读者们提供了新的机会，而在西方国家，他们的作品在世界各地的作品中长期占据着主导地位，这让读者们找到了新的机会。而在过去时代的作品通常从帝国中心扩散到周边地区（从中国到越南，从伦敦、澳大利亚到肯尼亚，从巴黎到几乎无处不在），越来越多的文学景观可以从较小的国家实现快速成名的作家。虽然五十几岁，帕慕克成为第二年轻的收件人F诺贝尔文学奖并被翻译成56种语言，包括越南；他有更多的读者比在家乡土耳其。日益复杂的旅游、移民、出版模式，使“民族”语言和文学在文字上越来越国际化。诺贝尔奖的2000名得主高行健，长久以来一直住在法国，并成为一名法国公民，但他仍继续用中文书写。文化杂合也在中国境内发现的，如在汉藏作家扎西达娃的小说，谁有混合元素来自藏族民俗和国际魔幻现实主义，他的作品在中国；在一个非常真实的意义上说，他的作品参与世界文学甚至在他们开始被翻译和阅读国外。FromChinaandVietnamtoTurkeyandBrazil,scholarsandteachersarethinkinginnewwaysabouthowtoexploreandpresenttherelationsoftheworld’sliteratures.Thegatheringmomentumofglobalizationhasfurtheredboththecontactsandtheconflictsamongpeoplesacrosstheglobe,andcoursesinworldliteraturearerapidlyexpandingtheirpurviewbeyondtheirtraditionalfocusonWesternEuropeoronrelationsofaformercolonyanditsonetimecolonizer.Oftenrelegatedinthepasttolower-levelundergraduatecurricula,worldliteraturesurveysanddebatesonworldliteraturearenowbecominganintegralpartofcomparativeliteraturecurriculaatalllevelsofundergraduatestudyandatthegraduatelevelaswell.从中国和越南到巴西，学者和教师都在思考如何探索和呈现世界文学的关系。全球化的势头有进一步的接触，和世界各地的人民之间的冲突，并在世界文学课程迅速扩大自己的权限超出其在西欧或对前殖民地和前殖民者关系传统的焦点。在过去的低水平本科课程，世界文献调查和世界文学的辩论往往是在所有的本科研究和研究生水平的比较文学课程的一个组成部分，现在已成为一个不可分割的一部分。Thesedevelopmentsraiseserioustheoreticalandmethodologicalquestions.Considerableperplexitiesattendtherapidexpansionofthepurviewofworldliterature,whichencountersresistancetodayfromtwoquitedifferentperspectives:thataglobalstudyofworldliteratureisimpossible,andthatitisalltooeasy.Scholars,teachers,andstudentsofworldliteraturemustwrestlewithproblemsofmethod,approach,andperspective.Howcanwegainanadequategroundinginmorethanoneortwocultures?Howdowemakeintelligentchoicesofwhattoreadinthosetraditions?Oncewehavemadeourselection,howcanwedomorethanskimthesurfaceofcomplexworksthatwemayneedtoreadmostlyintranslation?Howdoweavoidprojectingourhome-culturevaluesontothewiderworl