The Politics of 'World Literature'

1. Whenever we talk about World Literature, we are bound to encounter the question of a canon or canons of World Literature.
2. So what is a canon? In the ancient Greek, kanõn means ‘a standard or norm by which all things are judged or evaluated, whether the perfect form to follow in architecture or sculpture or the infallible criterion by which things are to be measured.’
3. This notion of determining what is right or just or proper took shape as a rule and a yardstick which was then used to determine what was worthy of circulation and conservation and what was not.
4. In any society or culture, the sacred texts tend to become authoritative and achieve a fixed shape that ideally remains unchangeable through time. Examples: the Quran, the Bible.
5. We have been discussing in the past weeks the relationship between literature and the institution of the nation-state. It is very important to look at the process of canonization in the context of the nation-state.
6. We already know that in a nation-state ‘the great majority [of people] are conscious of a common ‘identity’ and share the same ‘culture.’ Language is one of the most fundamental determining factors when we talk about creating a common identity in terms of the nation-state. If we look at European nation-states, their languages play a very important part in creating a unified, homogenous, and cohesive identity.
7. Religion is also an important factor in terms of a common identity but in Europe religion is not as important as language. People with the same religion (Christianity) speaking different languages established different nation-states.
8. In order to create and then sustain the concept of a common, homogenous, and cohesive identity, the nation-state does two things when it comes to literary (or any) texts. These two things are: legitimizing and censoring. If a literary text is in accordance with the objectives of the nation-state i.e. the promotion of a common, homogenous identity, the text could be canonized. On the other hand, if a literary text were to question the idea of a common, shared identity, it would be censored by the nation-state.
9. It would be a nice idea at this point to come up with the names of a few works of literature that have been canonized and censored by the state of Pakistan.
10. When we talk about canonization, we must keep in mind that ‘in the name of what values, aesthetic or otherwise, and in view of what social purposes, is a canon authorized, or become authoritative enough, to select and propose its “best” or “great” book…’
11. Until the 1970s, the canon of world literature remained primarily a Eurocentric one. To a great extent, it still is but things are changing very quickly because of migration and translations.
12. The most important thing that we need to bear in mind while talking about World Literature is that there exists no fixed canon of World Literature and this so-called ‘canon’ of World Literature could be reconstructed by anyone. The job of a teacher of World Literature should be to ‘direct his or her students toward endless…possibilities of understanding, none of which is or can even be the last word.’
13. In other words, we can say that World Literature is an unfinished and unfinalized field of study.
14. Now we can move towards a discussion on why and how this unfinished object of study takes the form of a social practice and a political project.
15. ‘Scholars like Chris Andre have complained that world literature tends to function as ideological justification, or even legitimation, of whatever power-position it speaks from.’
16. These ‘ideological justification[s]’ are very relevant to students like us who live in postcolonial spaces and who are subjected to pedagogical practices that are remnant of colonialism.
17. Last week, we talked about who a Chinese novel The Two Cousins travelled from China to France to Germany and how the traveling of a literary artifact coincided with European colonialism.
18. We also discussed that Hafiz’s Persian poetry travelled to Goethe’s Germany and I requested you people to find out how.
19. Sir William Jones who was working as a judge with the East Indian Company translated the poetry of Hafiz and that’s how it ended up in circulation in Europe.
20. According to Robert Young, ‘the idea of world literature coincided with the period of imperialism in which European cultures were set as the universal standard that transcended all non-European others.’
21. After the European colonialism ended in the mid-20^th century, another genre of transnational writing emerged by diasporic writers. This genre emerged because soon after the independence of nation-states like India and Pakistan, a phenomenon of immigration started. People from previously colonized countries started migrating to the former colonial center.
22. This transnational literature is written by writers who often have multiple nationalities and are writing for an international audience.
23. Whenever we talk about World Literature, we are bound to encounter the question of a canon or canons of World Literature.
24. So what is a canon? In the ancient Greek, kanõn means ‘a standard or norm by which all things are judged or evaluated, whether the perfect form to follow in architecture or sculpture or the infallible criterion by which things are to be measured.’
25. This notion of determining what is right or just or proper took shape as a rule and a yardstick which was then used to determine what was worthy of circulation and conservation and what was not.
26. In any society or culture, the sacred texts tend to become authoritative and achieve a fixed shape that ideally remains unchangeable through time. Examples: the Quran, the Bible.
27. We have been discussing in the past weeks the relationship between literature and the institution of the nation-state. It is very important to look at the process of canonization in the context of the nation-state.
28. We already know that in a nation-state ‘the great majority [of people] are conscious of a common ‘identity’ and share the same ‘culture.’ Language is one of the most fundamental determining factors when we talk about creating a common identity in terms of the nation-state. If we look at European nation-states, their languages play a very important part in creating a unified, homogenous, and cohesive identity.
29. Religion is also an important factor in terms of a common identity but in Europe religion is not as important as language. People with the same religion (Christianity) speaking different languages established different nation-states.
30. In order to create and then sustain the concept of a common, homogenous, and cohesive identity, the nation-state does two things when it comes to literary (or any) texts. These two things are: legitimizing and censoring. If a literary text is in accordance with the objectives of the nation-state i.e. the promotion of a common, homogenous identity, the text could be canonized. On the other hand, if a literary text were to question the idea of a common, shared identity, it would be censored by the nation-state.
31. It would be a nice idea at this point to come up with the names of a few works of literature that have been canonized and censored by the state of Pakistan.
32. When we talk about canonization, we must keep in mind that ‘in the name of what values, aesthetic or otherwise, and in view of what social purposes, is a canon authorized, or become authoritative enough, to select and propose its “best” or “great” book…’
33. Until the 1970s, the canon of world literature remained primarily a Eurocentric one. To a great extent, it still is but things are changing very quickly because of migration and translations.
34. The most important thing that we need to bear in mind while talking about World Literature is that there exists no fixed canon of World Literature and this so-called ‘canon’ of World Literature could be reconstructed by anyone. The job of a teacher of World Literature should be to ‘direct his or her students toward endless…possibilities of understanding, none of which is or can even be the last word.’
35. In other words, we can say that World Literature is an unfinished and unfinalized field of study.
36. Now we can move towards a discussion on why and how this unfinished object of study takes the form of a social practice and a political project.
37. ‘Scholars like Chris Andre have complained that world literature tends to function as ideological justification, or even legitimation, of whatever power-position it speaks from.’
38. These ‘ideological justification[s]’ are very relevant to students like us who live in postcolonial spaces and who are subjected to pedagogical practices that are remnant of colonialism.
39. Last week, we talk about who a Chinese novel The Two Cousins travelled from China to France to Germany and how the traveling of a literary artifact coincided with European colonialism.
40. We also discussed that Hafiz’s Persian poetry travelled to Goethe’s Germany and I requested you people to find out how.
41. Sir William Jones who was working as a judge with the East Indian Company translated the poetry of Hafiz and that’s how it ended up in circulation in Europe.
42. According to Robert Young, ‘the idea of world literature coincided with the period of imperialism in which European cultures were set as the universal standard that transcended all non-European others.’
43. After the European colonialism ended in the mid-20^th century, another genre of transnational writing emerged by diasporic writers. This genre emerged because soon after the independence of nation-states like India and Pakistan, a phenomenon of immigration started. People from previously colonized countries started migrating to the former colonial center.
44. This transnational literature is written by writers who often have multiple nationalities and are writing for an international audience.