Neohelicon
Volume/Issue:
Volume 38: Issue 2
“Weltliteratur”: from a utopian imagination to diversified forms of world literatures
Author:
Ning Wang Institute of Arts and Humanities, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200240 People’s Republic of China

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Pages:
295–306
Online Publication Date:
09 Jul 2011
Publication Date:
01 Dec 2011
Article Category:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11059-011-0098-5
Keywords:
World literature; Chinese literature; Utopia; Global cultures
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Abstract  

Since world literature is represented in different languages, translation has played an important role in reconstructing such world literatures in different languages and cultural backgrounds. In the past decades, the postcolonial literary attempts have also proved that even in the same language, for instance, English, literary writing is still more and more diversifying, hence the birth of international English literature studies. Thus the concept “world literature” is no longer determinate, for it has evolved in the historical development of literature of all countries. Today’s literary historiography is thereby pluralistically oriented: not only by means of nation-state, for instance, British literature and American literature, but also by means of language, such as (international) English literature(s), and (international) Chinese literature(s). Walter Benjamin, in dealing with the task of the (literary) translator, pertinently points out that translation endows a literary work with “continued life” or “afterlife”, without which many literary works of world significance will remain dead or marginalized. Inspired by Benjamin’s thinking of translation and Damrosch’s emphasis on the role played by translation in constructing world literature, the author lays particular emphasis on the translation of literary works which may well help form such a world literature. The reason why Chinese literature is little known to the world is largely for lack of excellent translation. The author thereby calls for translating Chinese literature into some of the major world languages.

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Neohelicon
Print ISSN:
0324-4652
Online ISSN:
1588-2810

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Neohelicon
Language English
Size B5
Year of
Foundation		 1973
Volumes
per Year		 1
Issues
per Year		 2
Founder Akadémiai Kiadó
Founder's
Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Publisher's
Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
CH-6330 Cham, Switzerland Gewerbestrasse 11.
Responsible
Publisher		 Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 0324-4652 (Print)
ISSN 1588-2810 (Online)

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