World literature is trans-imperial : A medieval and a modern approach
(2018) In Medieval Worlds 8. p.3-21- Abstract
- Various concepts guide discussions on global literature, not least ›transnational‹. The presenttext advocates, however, for the term trans-imperial, as offering a more correct definitionof world literature, or global literature, both in pre-modern and modern times. Imperialspheres build up worlds of strong interconnections, and the languages they employ becomeprivileged languages that may last beyond the time span of a given empire. These imperialspheres with their one central language therefore form the hardest borders for the disseminationof texts, now and then. By being trans-imperial, texts therefore constitute thetrue global literature. In medieval times trans-imperial texts would comprise especially fablestories, holy texts,... (More)
- Various concepts guide discussions on global literature, not least ›transnational‹. The presenttext advocates, however, for the term trans-imperial, as offering a more correct definitionof world literature, or global literature, both in pre-modern and modern times. Imperialspheres build up worlds of strong interconnections, and the languages they employ becomeprivileged languages that may last beyond the time span of a given empire. These imperialspheres with their one central language therefore form the hardest borders for the disseminationof texts, now and then. By being trans-imperial, texts therefore constitute thetrue global literature. In medieval times trans-imperial texts would comprise especially fablestories, holy texts, philosophy and science, and mirrors of princes. These were the texts mostoften carried from one imperial sphere, or rather imperial language, to another, throughtranslations. This article, consequently, offers definitions of what constitutes an imperiallanguage. Central to identifying and safeguarding a language and making it perform as animperial language was the establishment of a grammar and/or a set of canonized texts definingthe language, the actual use of it by an empire in running its administration, and theperformance of the empire’s self-images through it. In many cases, secondary imperial languages– like Greek in the Roman world or Persian in the Caliphate – would hold a lower butstill privileged place in the empire’s life and communication. Many such secondary imperiallanguages could then subsequently rise to the status of imperial languages, as several vernacularlanguages later did from Latin. The text argues that these features, which are probablymost clear-cut in a pre-modern context, also hold true in a modern context, and that whatwe normally refer to as successful national languages (English, French, Spanish, Russian,etc.) were, from early on, imperial rather than national languages, and that their literature,in being global, was trans-imperial.world literature, global literature, empires, nation states, transnational, trans-imperial (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/e59db1cc-33b4-4a79-be9c-95882c48b327
- author
- Høgel, Christian LU
- publishing date
- 2018
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- world literature, global literature, empires, nation states, transnational, trans-imperial
- in
- Medieval Worlds
- volume
- 8
- pages
- 19 pages
- publisher
- Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ISSN
- 2412-3196
- DOI
- 10.1553/medievalworlds_no8_2018s3
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- ISBN-13 Online: 978-3-7001-8441-6
- id
- e59db1cc-33b4-4a79-be9c-95882c48b327
- date added to LUP
- 2023-01-09 12:23:20
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 14:01:16
@article{e59db1cc-33b4-4a79-be9c-95882c48b327,
abstract = {{Various concepts guide discussions on global literature, not least ›transnational‹. The presenttext advocates, however, for the term trans-imperial, as offering a more correct definitionof world literature, or global literature, both in pre-modern and modern times. Imperialspheres build up worlds of strong interconnections, and the languages they employ becomeprivileged languages that may last beyond the time span of a given empire. These imperialspheres with their one central language therefore form the hardest borders for the disseminationof texts, now and then. By being trans-imperial, texts therefore constitute thetrue global literature. In medieval times trans-imperial texts would comprise especially fablestories, holy texts, philosophy and science, and mirrors of princes. These were the texts mostoften carried from one imperial sphere, or rather imperial language, to another, throughtranslations. This article, consequently, offers definitions of what constitutes an imperiallanguage. Central to identifying and safeguarding a language and making it perform as animperial language was the establishment of a grammar and/or a set of canonized texts definingthe language, the actual use of it by an empire in running its administration, and theperformance of the empire’s self-images through it. In many cases, secondary imperial languages– like Greek in the Roman world or Persian in the Caliphate – would hold a lower butstill privileged place in the empire’s life and communication. Many such secondary imperiallanguages could then subsequently rise to the status of imperial languages, as several vernacularlanguages later did from Latin. The text argues that these features, which are probablymost clear-cut in a pre-modern context, also hold true in a modern context, and that whatwe normally refer to as successful national languages (English, French, Spanish, Russian,etc.) were, from early on, imperial rather than national languages, and that their literature,in being global, was trans-imperial.world literature, global literature, empires, nation states, transnational, trans-imperial}},
author = {{Høgel, Christian}},
issn = {{2412-3196}},
keywords = {{world literature; global literature; empires; nation states; transnational; trans-imperial}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{3--21}},
publisher = {{Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften}},
series = {{Medieval Worlds}},
title = {{World literature is trans-imperial : A medieval and a modern approach}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1553/medievalworlds_no8_2018s3}},
doi = {{10.1553/medievalworlds_no8_2018s3}},
volume = {{8}},
year = {{2018}},
}