Against World Literature: Introduction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12797/RRB.21.2025.21.10Keywords:
World Literature, translation studies, non-translation, mistranslation, incomparability, untranslatabilityAbstract
AGAINST WORLD LITERATURE: INTRODUCTION
In the introduction to her book Against World Literature, Apter points to the weakness of the philosophical and theoretical foundations underlying the recently revived and increasingly popular project of World Literature—highlighting its opportunistic and even commercial character. The scholar opposes the “global management of literature within corporate education”; notably, she regards the critique of capitalism as one of the essential responsibilities of literary studies. “In a counter-move, I invoke untranslatability as a deflationary gesture towards the expansionism and gargantuan scale of world-literary endeavors,” she writes. Apter does not perceive similar risks in the field of translation studies—which, in her view, constitute a discipline that “relates to a larger public without sacrificing intellectual nuance,” one that is interdisciplinary yet retains its distinctiveness, particularly in relation to comparative literary studies that could benefit from translational experience. For Apter, the ideal form of comparative literature would be one that “recognizes the importance of non-translation, mistranslation, incomparability, and untranslatability,” thereby aligning itself with the emerging paradigm of translational humanities.
References
Agamben, Giorgio. 1999. The End of the Poem. Studies in Poetics. Пер. Daniel Heller-Roa¬zen. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780804763912
Apter, Emily. 2006. The Translation Zone. A New Comparative Literature. Princeton–Oxford: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400841219. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400841219
Assmann, Jan. 1996. «Translating Gods: Religion as a Factor of Cultural (Un)Translatabil¬ity». В: The Translatability of Cultures. Figurations of the Space Between. Ред. Sanford Budick, Wolfgang Iser, 25–36. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Baker, Mona, Saldanha, Gabriela, ред. 2008. Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. London–New York: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203872062
Bassnett, Susan. 2002. Translation Studies. London–New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203427460. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203427460
Bassnett, Susan, Trivedi, Harish, ред. 1999. Postcolonial Translation. Theory and Practice. Oxford: Routledge.
Bellos, David. 2011. Is That a Fish in Your Ear? Translation and the Meaning of Everything. New York: Penguin Books.
Benjamin, Walter. 1996. Selected Writings, т. 1, 1913–1926. Ред. Marcus Bullock, Michael W. Jennings. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bermann, Sandra, Wood, Michael, ред. 2005. Nation, Language, and the Ethics of Translation. Princeton–Oxford: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400826681. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt3fgz7m
Butler, Judith. 2009. «The Sensibility of Critique: Response to Asad and Mahmood». В: Is Critique Secular? Blasphemy, Injury, and Free Speech. Ред. Тalal Аsad, Wendy Brown, Judith P. Butler, Saba Маhmood, 95–130. Berkley: The Townsend Center for the Hu-manities, University of California. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1c5cjtk.7
Casanova, Pascale. 1999. La République mondiale des Letters. Paris: Seuil.
Casanova, Pascale. 2004. The World Republic of Letters. Пер. Malcolm B. DeBevoise. Cam¬bridge, MA–London: Harvard University Press.
Cassin, Barbara, ред. 2006. Vocabulaire européen des philosophies. Dictionmaire des in¬traduisibles. Paris: Seuil.
Cassin, Barbara, Apter, Emily, Lezra, Jacques, Wood, Michael, ред. 2014. Dictionary of Un¬translatables. A Philosophical Lexicon. Princeton: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400849918. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400849918
Cheah, Pheng, Robbins, Bruce, ред. 1998. Cosmopolitics. Thinking and Feeling Beyond the Nation. Minneapolis–London: University of Minnesota Press.
D’haen, Theo, Damrosch, David, Kadir, Djelal, ред. 2012. The Routledge Companion to World Literature. London–New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203806494. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203806494
Damrosch, David. 2003. What Is World Literature? Princeton: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691188645. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691188645
Derrida, Jacques. 1985. «Des Tours de Babel». Пер. Joseph F. Graham. В: Difference in Translation. Ред. Joseph F. Graham, 165–207. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Unversity Press.
Derrida, Jacques. 1996. Le monolinguisme de l’autre, ou La prothèse d’origine. Paris: Galilée.
Derrida, Jacques. 2008. Séminaire. La bête et le souverain, т. 1, 2001–2002. Ред. Michel Lisse, Marie-Louise Mallet, Ginette Michaud. Paris: Galilée.
Detienne, Marcel. 2000. Comparer l’incomparable. Paris: Éditions du Seuil.
Dimock, Wai Chee, Buell, Lawrence, ред. 2007. Shades of the Planet. American Litera-ture as World Literature. Princeton–Oxford: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv39x8t1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv39x8t1
During, Simon. 2009. Exit Capitalism: Literary Culture, Theory and Post-Secular Moderni¬ty. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203872642. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203872642
Gikandi, Simon. 2006. «Preface: Modernism in the World». Modernism/Modernity 13, ч. 3: 419–424. https://doi.org/10.1353/mod.2006.0061. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/mod.2006.0061
Goodman, Nelson. 1954. Fact, Fiction, and Forecast. London: Athloe Press.
Hamacher, Werner. 2010. «From “95 Theses on Philology”». PMLA 125, ч. 4: 994–1001. https://doi.org/10.1632/pmla.2010.125.4.994. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1632/pmla.2010.125.4.994
Heidegger, Мartin. 1983. Die Grundbegriffe der Metaphysik. Welt – Endlichkeit – Einsam-keit. Gesamtausgabe. II. Abteilung: Vorlesungen 1919–1944, т. 29–30. Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann.
Heller-Roazen, Daniel. 2011. Secrets of al Jāh. iz. Geheimnisse des al- Jāh. iz. . Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz.
Heller-Roazen, Daniel. 2014. «Glossolalia: From the Unity of the Word to Plurality of Tongues». В: Dictionary of Untranslatables. A Philosophical Lexicon. Ред. Barbara Cas-sin, Emily Apter, Jacques Lezra, Michael Wood, 594. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Judy, Ronald A. 2011. «Discrepant Diaspora, Inchoate Reflections on a Neo-Humanist Style». Ескіз есею перед публикацийом. Columbia University.
Kilito, Abdelfattah. 2006. «Introduction». В: Abdessalam Benabdelali. De la traduction. Пер. Kamal Toumi. Casablanca: Éditions Toubkal.
Kripke, Saul A. 1982. Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language. An Elementary Exposi¬tion. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Krishnaswamy, Revathi. 2010. «Toward World Literary Knowledges: Theory in the Age of Globalization». Comparative Literature 62, ч. 4: 399–419. https://doi.org/10.1215/00104124-2010-024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/00104124-2010-024
Kuhiwczak, Piotr, Littau, Karin, ред. 2007. A Companion to Translation Studies. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853599583. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853599583
Laclau, Ernesto. 2006. «On the Names of God» В: Political Theologies. Public Religions in a Post-Secular World. Ред. Hent de Vries, Lawrence E. Sullivan, 137–147. New York: Fordham University Press.
Loffredo, Eugenia, Perteghella, Manuela, ред. 2008. Translation and Creativity. Perspec-tives on Creative Writing and Translation Studies. London–New York: Continuum.
Mahmood, Saba. 2005. Politics of Piety. The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject. Princeton, NJ–Oxford: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvct00cf. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvct00cf
Markus, Greil, Sollors, Werner, ред. 2009. A New Literary History of America. Cam-bridge, MA–London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1msswhj. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1msswhj
Moretti, Franco. 2000. «Conjectures on World Literature». New Left Review 2, ч. 1: 54–68. https://doi.org/10.64590/hxj. DOI: https://doi.org/10.64590/hxj
Moretti, Franco. 2006. «Evolution, World-Systems, Weltliteratur». В: Studying Transcul-tural Literary History. Ред. Gunilla Lindberg-Wada, 113–121. Berlin–New York: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110920550.113. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110920550.113
Munday, Jeremy, ред. 2008. Introducing Translation Studies. Theories and Applications. London–New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203869734. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203869734
Munday, Jeremy, ред. 2009. The Routledge Companion to Translation Studies. London–New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203879450. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203879450
Noudelmann, François. 2004. Pour en finir avec la généalogie. Paris: Léo Scheer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3828/cfc.2004.28.1.004
Noudelmann, François. 2012. Les airs de famille. Une philosophie des affinités. Essai. Paris: Gallimard.
Osborne, Peter, Charles, Matthew. 2011. «Walter Benjamin». В: The Stanford Encyclope-dia of Philosophy. Ред. Edward N. Zalta. Доступ: яр 2011. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/benjamin/.
Palumbo, Giuseppe, ред. 2009. Key Terms in Translation Studies. London–New York: Con¬tinuum.
Prendergast, Christopher, ред. 2004. Debating World Literature. London–New York: Verso.
Seidman, Naomi. 2006. Faithful Renderings. Jewish-Christian Difference and the Politics of Translation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chica¬go/9780226745077.001.0001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226745077.001.0001
Simon, Sherry. 1996. Gender in Translation. Cultural Identity and the Politics of Transmis¬sion. London–New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203202890. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203202890
Slaughter, Joseph R. 2007. Human Rights, Inc. The World Novel, Narrative Form, and In-ternational Law. New York: Fordham University Press. https://doi.org/10.5422/ford-ham/9780823228171.001.0001.
Spivak, Gayatri Ch. 2003. Death of a Discipline. New York: Columbia University Press.
Toury, Gideon, 1995. Descriptive Translation Studies – and Beyond. Amsterdam–Philadel¬phia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.4
Trumpener, Katie. 2006. «World Music, World Literature: A Geopolitical View». В: Com-parative Literature in an Age of Globalization. Ред. Haun Saussy, 185–202. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Venuti, Lawrence, ред. 2004. The Translation Studies Reader. New York–London: Rout-ledge.
Walkowitz, Rebecca L. 2007. «Unimaginable Largeness: Kazuo Ishiguro, Translation, and the New World Literature». Novel 40, ч. 3: 216–239. https://doi.org/10.1215/ddn-ov.040030216. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/ddnov.040030216
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. 1997. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Пер. David Pears, Brian Mc¬Guinness. London: Routledge.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Rocznik Ruskiej Bursy

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
