Comp Lit Week 9
Class 4ABA0001
Created Nov 26, 2019 1253 PM
Materials
Reviewed
Type Section
NOTES
Moretti argues that although comparative literature aims to be global, it hardly
has achieved that goal since it tends to focus on the Western European
narrative.
Cohen - 'the great unread' - analysing a certain point in literary history is still
favouring the canonical works and leaving out lots of works not viewed. The
great unread deepens even more, then, when globality is taken into account.
Moretti proposes the world literature being a problem needing a solution (and a
solid hypothesis to start searching for the solution, rather than searching for
the solution by reading more texts), not a subject.
Borrowing the theory of international capitalism, "a system that is
simultaneously one and unequal" – literature is one, but the influences of
different cultures is unequal. Even-Zohar proposes interference as relationship
between literatures where the source literatures become subject to loans for
other literatures, but they ignore the target literature influence themselves.
Proposing a new method for world literature, distant reading: "a patchwork of
other people's research, without a single direct textual reading". Investing close
reading into a handful of works shows that only a few texts have actual weight,
whereas close reading allows for appreciation of literature in units - forms,
genres, styles - with distance being the condition of knowledge. "If we want to
understand the system in its entirety, we must accept losing something."
Discovering a law of literary evolution – through joining the Indian, Japanese,
and Brazilian experience of novel influence on the national literature, Moretti
encounters a situation where peripheral cultures take in the European form of
novel not as an autonomous development of literature but as a compromise.
Comp Lit Week 9 1
, Although the initial claim was that Western construction clashed with Japanese
social experience, Moretti proposes that such clash is usually "more of a
triangle: foreign form, local material – and local form".
Moretti proposes that the larger geographical scope one wishes to take, the
smaller the unit of study should be, i.e. focusing on a trope or literary device.
The interferences theory makes the structure of literatures different and
difficult.
Schwarz: original historical conditions turn into sociological forms.
Therefore, "forms are the abstract of specific social relationships".
The historical conditions present at the time of writings "crack" the storyline,
which is made universally relatable. This is the "foreign debt" of texts: form of
novel is adopted, but still national character and narrative is seen through the
text.
Forms are abstract of relationships, therefore analysis of forms is an analysis of
power. Moretti elaborates that wanting to study literary devices, e.g. narrative
voice, through sociological formalism, it is required that he know many
languages, and the expertise in this must be owed to national literature
specialists.
The tree and the wave models:
The tree: used in comparative philology; describes the flow from unity to
diversity; geographical discontinuity (needing space and barriers to to
branch off)
The wave: historical linguistics, but also used to show spread of
technological advancement, for instance; "uniformity engulfing an initial
diversity"; geographical continuity (breaking barriers to branch off)
The law of literary evolution mixes these two models, i.e. novel form spreading
in waves, but then branching off in local contexts.
Moretti argues that comparative literature, although claiming to be global, is
actually quite separated into Western literatures and other literatures, studying
the former ones without trying to disturb the latter; but Moretti proposes that
literatures are the same
LECTURE
How do cultures influence one another? Moretti argues that they influence
each other unequally.
Comp Lit Week 9 2
Class 4ABA0001
Created Nov 26, 2019 1253 PM
Materials
Reviewed
Type Section
NOTES
Moretti argues that although comparative literature aims to be global, it hardly
has achieved that goal since it tends to focus on the Western European
narrative.
Cohen - 'the great unread' - analysing a certain point in literary history is still
favouring the canonical works and leaving out lots of works not viewed. The
great unread deepens even more, then, when globality is taken into account.
Moretti proposes the world literature being a problem needing a solution (and a
solid hypothesis to start searching for the solution, rather than searching for
the solution by reading more texts), not a subject.
Borrowing the theory of international capitalism, "a system that is
simultaneously one and unequal" – literature is one, but the influences of
different cultures is unequal. Even-Zohar proposes interference as relationship
between literatures where the source literatures become subject to loans for
other literatures, but they ignore the target literature influence themselves.
Proposing a new method for world literature, distant reading: "a patchwork of
other people's research, without a single direct textual reading". Investing close
reading into a handful of works shows that only a few texts have actual weight,
whereas close reading allows for appreciation of literature in units - forms,
genres, styles - with distance being the condition of knowledge. "If we want to
understand the system in its entirety, we must accept losing something."
Discovering a law of literary evolution – through joining the Indian, Japanese,
and Brazilian experience of novel influence on the national literature, Moretti
encounters a situation where peripheral cultures take in the European form of
novel not as an autonomous development of literature but as a compromise.
Comp Lit Week 9 1
, Although the initial claim was that Western construction clashed with Japanese
social experience, Moretti proposes that such clash is usually "more of a
triangle: foreign form, local material – and local form".
Moretti proposes that the larger geographical scope one wishes to take, the
smaller the unit of study should be, i.e. focusing on a trope or literary device.
The interferences theory makes the structure of literatures different and
difficult.
Schwarz: original historical conditions turn into sociological forms.
Therefore, "forms are the abstract of specific social relationships".
The historical conditions present at the time of writings "crack" the storyline,
which is made universally relatable. This is the "foreign debt" of texts: form of
novel is adopted, but still national character and narrative is seen through the
text.
Forms are abstract of relationships, therefore analysis of forms is an analysis of
power. Moretti elaborates that wanting to study literary devices, e.g. narrative
voice, through sociological formalism, it is required that he know many
languages, and the expertise in this must be owed to national literature
specialists.
The tree and the wave models:
The tree: used in comparative philology; describes the flow from unity to
diversity; geographical discontinuity (needing space and barriers to to
branch off)
The wave: historical linguistics, but also used to show spread of
technological advancement, for instance; "uniformity engulfing an initial
diversity"; geographical continuity (breaking barriers to branch off)
The law of literary evolution mixes these two models, i.e. novel form spreading
in waves, but then branching off in local contexts.
Moretti argues that comparative literature, although claiming to be global, is
actually quite separated into Western literatures and other literatures, studying
the former ones without trying to disturb the latter; but Moretti proposes that
literatures are the same
LECTURE
How do cultures influence one another? Moretti argues that they influence
each other unequally.
Comp Lit Week 9 2
