How Literatures Begin: A Global History

Published by Princeton University Press 2021

How Literatures Begin

A Global History

Edited by: Joel B. Lande and Denis Feeney

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691219844

Overview
Contents

About this book

A comparative history of the practices, technologies, institutions, and people that created distinct literary traditions around the world, from ancient to modern times

Literature is such a familiar and widespread form of imaginative expression today that its existence can seem inevitable. But in fact very few languages ever developed the full-fledged literary cultures we take for granted. Challenging basic assumptions about literatures by uncovering both the distinct and common factors that led to their improbable invention, How Literatures Begin is a global, comparative history of literary origins that spans the ancient and modern world and stretches from Asia and Europe to Africa and the Americas.

The book brings together a group of leading literary historians to examine the practices, technologies, institutions, and individuals that created seventeen literary traditions: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Greek, Roman, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, English, German, Russian, Latin American, African, African American, and World Literature. In these accessible accounts, which are framed by general and section introductions and a conclusion by the editors, literatures emerge as complex weaves of phenomena, unique and deeply rooted in particular times and places but also displaying surprising similarities. Again and again, new literatures arise out of old, come into being through interactions across national and linguistic borders, take inspiration from translation and cultural cross-fertilization, and provide new ways for groups to imagine themselves in relation to their moment in history.

Renewing our sense of wonder for the unlikely and strange thing we call literature, How Literatures Begin offers fresh opportunities for comparison between the individual traditions that make up the rich mosaic of the world’s literatures.

The book is organized in four sections, with seventeen literatures covered by individual contributors: Part I: East and South Asia: Chinese (Martin Kern), Japanese (Wiebke Denecke), Korean (Ksenia Chizhova), and Indian (Sheldon Pollock); Part II: The Mediterranean: Greek (Deborah Steiner), Roman (Joseph Farrell), Hebrew (Jacqueline Vayntraub), Syriac (Alberto Rigolio), and Arabic (Gregor Schoeller); Part III: European Vernaculars: Romance Languages (Simon Gaunt), English (Ingrid Nelson), German (Joel Lande), Russian (Michael Wachtel); Part IV: Modern Geographies: Latin American (Rolena Adorno), African (Simon Gikandi), African American (Douglas Jones), and World Literature (Jane O. Newman).

Author / Editor information

Joel B. Lande is assistant professor of German at Princeton University and the author of Persistence of Folly: On the Origins of German Dramatic Literature. Denis Feeney is the Giger Professor of Latin at Princeton University. His books include Beyond Greek: The Beginnings of Latin Literature.

Reviews

“This fascinating collection addresses the question of the differing ways in which a literary tradition can begin and, equally, can survive and flourish. In a series of clear and accessible essays, the distinguished contributors present a range of intriguing case studies into the cultural, political, and institutional factors that may give rise to a significant literary tradition.”—David Damrosch, Harvard University

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
CONTRIBUTORS Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
INTRODUCTION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I. East and South Asia
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	15
1 Chinese Martin Kern Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
2 Japanese Wiebke Denecke Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	43
3 Korean Ksenia Chizhova Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
4 Indian Sheldon Pollock Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
Part II. The Mediterranean
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	99
5 Greek Deborah Steiner Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	107
6 Latin Joseph Farrell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	131
7 Hebrew Jacqueline Vayntrub Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
8 Syriac Alberto Rigolio Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
9 Arabic Gregor Schoeler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
Part III. European Vernaculars
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
10 English Ingrid Nelson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
11 Romance Languages Simon Gaunt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
12 German Joel Lande Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	261
13 Russian Michael Wachtel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	281
Part IV. Modern Geographies
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	299
14 Latin American Rolena Adorno Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	303
15 African Simon Gikandi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	323
16 African American Douglas Jones Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	347
17 World Literature Jane O. Newman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	365
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	381
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	385
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	395
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	413

Language: English
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Pages
- Main content: 432
Illustrations
- Other: 10 color + 34 b/w illus. 2 maps.
Keywords: untranslatability; nationalism; globalism; cosmopolitanism; orality; script; cultural identity; cultural difference; religion; oral tradition; development of writing; written languages; Bible; Apocrypha; Pseudepigrapha; Dead Sea Scrolls; Koran; poetry; Sanskrit; vernacular; elite; fiction; Chanson de Roland; Vico; Auerbach; national; cosmopolitcan; criticism; philology; sacred; secular; cosmopolitan

eBook

Published: July 20, 2021
ISBN: 9780691219844