Premises and Problems: Essays on World Literature and Cinema by Luiza Franco Moreira

Abstract

Reviewed by: Premises and Problems: Essays on World Literature and Cinema by Luiza Franco Moreira Hande Gurses Luiza Franco Moreira. Premises and Problems: Essays on World Literature and Cinema. Albany: State U of New York P, 2021. Pp. 233. US$105.00 hardcover, US$32.95 paperback. Almost two centuries after Goethe’s coinage, world literature [Weltliteratur] continues to be a category that abounds with debates as it invites multiple modes of analysis, reading, and categorization. The complexities and tensions inherent to world literature encourage interdisciplinary interventions ranging from history to geography, from political science to philosophy. Premises and Problems: Essays on World Literature and Cinema contributes to the ongoing debates around world literature by focusing on the various definitions of the categories of “world” and “literature” as well as the resulting violence of their respective boundaries. Edited by Luiza Franco Moreira, Premises and Problems: Essays on World Literature and Cinema is the result of a colloquium organized by the Fernand Braudel Center and Binghamton University’s Department of Comparative Literature in April 2016. The volume appears as part of the series published by the Fernand Braudel Center Studies in Historical Social Science. In her introduction, Moreira states that both the volume and the colloquium express a “convergence of interests between the Center and the Department” (2), yet this convergence of interests does not necessarily result in an interdisciplinary methodology. Moreira draws attention to the distinction between social sciences and literature as she claims that despite sharing “an interest in world literature, their approaches do not necessarily coincide” (3). The firmness of disciplinary boundaries in a volume that questions such boundaries comes across as a missed opportunity. The volume, by directing its focus to a methodological concern, aims to call into question the definition of world literature understood as a “systematic category” (1) in the United States. Claiming that such categorical definition prioritizes certain languages while disregarding the “literary languages that do not hold a sufficiently high level of prestige” (1), the volume aims to understand the “ways that hegemony is established and the costs of losing it” (2). While examining the causes and consequences of prevailing hegemonic structures, the volume focuses “on specific historical moments that afford dynamic and not quite central perspectives on hegemony and, more generally, [End Page 574] into the conflicts between diverse literary and linguistic traditions” (2). The volume presents a wide range of linguistic diversity as well as distinct temporal and geographical contexts. Nonetheless, the connection between diversity and the intricate workings of hegemony remains rather disconcerting. While claiming to refrain from “reproducing the point of view of the current hegemonic literatures” (2), the volume remains silent on the hegemonic reach of the languages and literary traditions that are included in the chapters. Ranging from Arabic to Portuguese, from Turkish to Spanish, these languages do have histories of various degrees of hegemonic practices as well as their respective fields of subjugation. The volume’s specific argument would have been more compelling if the implications and complexities of hegemony were more openly addressed. A closer look into the content of each chapter makes it disconcertingly clear that most of the authors and filmmakers that the contributors discuss are names with international prominence, having already gained recognition via prestigious awards and translations. Coming across the names of Bolaño, Borges, Pamuk, and Ceylan in a volume claiming to problematize the hegemony of certain linguistic traditions is disheartening to say the least. Inclusion of works by authors, translators, and filmmakers who have not made it into the syllabi of world literature courses across North American institutions would certainly enhance the argument of this volume. The chapters, organized around thematic and geographical proximity, allow the reader to follow an organic unfolding of ideas. Chapter One, by Tarek Shamma, offers a study of the impact of the translation of Aristotle’s work into Arabic by Abu Bishr Matta bin Yunus. Shamma advocates for a new understanding of translation that “challenges the standards of comprehension and miscomprehension that are usually used in the assessment” (25). Arguing that the translations into Arabic allowed for a new conceptual paradigm to become possible, Shamma advocates for the exploration of “the...