American literature and world history 2003 david damsoch, what is world literature. If conjectures erred in that direction it was a mistake, easily corrected as we learn more about the international diffusion of drama, poetry and so on here, donald sassoons current work on cultural markets will be invaluable. Consistent with this spirit of conjecture, i would note that the concept of a world literature has been described, over time and across borders, as in every case a potential literature. How are trees and waves important for morettis idea. In the article, moretti proposed a mode of reading which included works outside of established literary canons, which he variously termed the great unread and, elsewhere, the slaughterhouse of literature. Download product flyer is to download pdf in new tab. Master of arts in english comprehensive exam study guide and. May 02, 2018 in his essays conjectures on world literature and more conjectures, moretti discusses the movement of literary forms from the centre to the periphery, where they exert pressure on local literatures.
World literature 2002, david damroschs what is world literature 2003. But damrosch emphasizes that he doesnt want world literature seen as a purely aca. Distant reading, the great unread, and 19thcentury. From the evolutionary model of modern european literature, through the geocultural dominant of conjectures on world literature and planet hollywood to the quantitative findings of style, inc. He has taught at the universities of salerno 19791983 and verona 19831990. Its a shorter, lighter piece than i expected perhaps some of that is just contrast with the denseness of hayot, but theres also a sense that moretti is throwing out ideas.
Modernist world literature in slovene national cultural space the article addresses the question of relations between world literature and national literatures. In an article entitled conjectures on world literature published in 2000, franco moretti writes against the persistence of literary approaches based on the notion of national literatures. How are trees and waves important for morettis idea of. Conjectures on world literature university of warwick. Franco moretti speculates on how this system works, what are the mechanisms for new literary production, specially in.
Download citation conjectures on world literature this paper proposes a new method for the study of world literature. Moretti argues against comparative approach in favour of a onebutunequal model. Il demone della distanza e langelo della vicinanza. World literature is used to refer to the total of the world s national literature and the circulation of works into the wider world beyond their country of origin. Moretti offers bar charts, maps, and time lines instead, developing the idea of. Franco moretti born 1950 in sondrio is an italian literary historian and theorist. Franco moretti, more conjectures, nlr 20, marchapril 2003. The question is not really what we should franco moretti conjectures on world literature my mission. From goethe in the 1820s to franco moretti and pascale casanova to. Coverage is split into four parts which examine the origins and seminal formulations of world literature, world literature in the age of globalization, contemporary debates on world literature, and localized versions of world literature contains more than 30. Abstract franco moretti s suggestion that we swap close for distant reading has shaken up the academy.
Moretti assumes that within modernity all cultural influences not. Nearly two hundred years ago, goethe announced the imminence of a world literature. In the past, it primarily referred to the masterpieces of western european literature. Though their individual views differ, the three are often seen as the center of the new global focus in comparative literature. Keywords world literature franco moretti distant reading canon and noncanon it is now more than a decade since franco moretti introduced his controversial distant reading to the world of literary studies. The innovation it proposed, as far as literary studies. Now, readers have access to a wide range of global works in. Conjectures on world literature and more conjectures. If the inline pdf is not rendering correctly, you can download the pdf file here. A teachers report volume 1 issue 5 skip to main content accessibility help we use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Franco moretti, conjectures on world literature, nlr 1. His procedure here bears clear affinities to erich auerbachs famous exemplary method outlined in the philology of world literature, which emphasizes a point of departure, an intuition, an insight, a lever that can order and. Modernist world literature in slovene national cultural space.
Jan 27, 2014 world literature or comparative literature. Apr 01, 2014 in conjectures on world literature 2000 moretti discusses two basic cognitive metaphors. World literature and the slaughterhouse of literature, in hopes of providing a fuller picture of exactly what kind of reading and what kinds of distance are implied by distant reading. Pascale casanovas world of letters and its legacies in. I will borrow this initial hypothesis from the world system school of economic history, for which international capitalism is a system that is simultaneously one, and unequal. Distant reading, the great unread, and 19thcentury british. From the evolutionary model of modern european literature, through the geocultural insights of conjectures of world literature and planet hollywood, to the quantitative findings of style, inc.
Towards a typology of literary systems 2008 180 alexander beecroft. Replying to critics of his conjectures on world literature nlr 1, franco moretti considers the objections to a world systems theory of the relations between centre and periphery in the sphere of the novel or poetry, and proposes some new hypotheses about the morphology of forms and the politics of comparative literary studies. In its original formulation, in the essay conjectures on world literature, the term had nothing to do with the digital analysis of literature we associate it with today, and not even with the visualizations and mappings of e. Aug 05, 2014 moretti, conjectures on world literature i havent actually finished on literary worlds yet, but an upcoming conference has sent out prereading lists for its workshop sessions, and several of them are of interest to me. Moretti, conjectures on world literature sense of planet. Buck as both the outsiderinside a particular chinese cultural tradition as well. Here franco moretti offers a set of hypotheses for tracking the birth and fate of the novel in the peripheries of europe, in latin america, arab lands, turkey, china, japan, west africa. The united states is the country of close reading, so i dont expect. This article attempts to join the insights of books like atlas of the european novel and graphs, maps, trees to those of articles like conjectures on world literature and the slaughterhouse of literature, in hopes of providing a fuller picture of exactly what kind of reading and what kinds of distance are implied by distant reading.
Theo dhaen, cesar dominguez, and mads rosendahl thomsen. It represents franco moretti s concept of world literature and confronts it with erich auerbachs rejection of the two versions of universalization of world literature. World literature in theory provides a definitive exploration of the pressing questions facing those studying world literature today. The question is not really what we should franco moretti. Franco moretti speculates on how this system works, what are the mechanisms for new literary production, specially in the clash of the center and the periphery. Moretti argued that the traditional method of close reading forced scholars to. Buck alongside franco moretti stuart christie hong kong baptist university abstract reappropriating franco moretti s term distant reading, this essay positions american novelist pearl s. Without any single magnum opus to his name, moretti s points are instead scattered across a score of articles and a handful of short books. Comparative criticism discussion group, 27 january 2014. Damrosch, introduction to what is world literature. To break out of the confines of this perspective would be to open oneself to the project of a world literature, mentioned by goethe in a conversation with. Since the year 2000, when franco moretti used the term distant reading in his much debated essay conjectures on world literature, to denote a strategically new method of literary analysis, it has transformed into a critical buzzword, loaded with a wide range of positive and negative interpretations. Instead, distant reading originally referred to the study of world. Yet while so many critics knows moretti s name, it can be difficult to pin down exactly what hes saying.
He graduated in modern literatures from the university of rome in 1972. World literature oxford comparative criticism and translation. In this introduction, we begin by outlining casanovas. Significantly, moretti titles his essay conjectures on world literature. In an article entitled conjectures on world literature 2000 and. In his muchcited essay conjectures on world literature he proposed a method that promised to open a. The two essays by franco moretti, conjectures on world literature o and slaughterhouse of literature o quite difficult worth reading if you can wade through some of the references to world literary figures that you may not recognize.
Her seminal book the world republic of letters harvard up 2004 is foundational for world literature studies, together with franco moretti s essays conjectures on world literature 2000 and more conjectures 2003, and david damroschs what is world literature 2003. In an article entitled conjectures on world literature, published in 2000, franco moretti writes against the. First essay 810 pages 30% second essay 810 pages 30% keywords exam 20% attendance and participation 20% course schedule. Of course, this knowledge does not tell us anything about the contents of these books. National onesidedness and narrowmindedness become more and more impossible, and from the many national and local.
In its original formulation, in the essay conjectures on world literature. In the case of world literature, the most obviously unequal characteristic, moretti contends, is power. Modernist world literature in slovene national cultural. Indian literature 79 literature, proposing radically newand divergent. This was goethe, of course, talking to eckermann in 1827. In conjectures on world literature, franco moretti uses the metaphors of trees and waves to describe the division of labor between world and national literature.
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