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Weltliteratur, or world , as What is world literature? David a starting point to examine the phe- Damrosch. Princeton and Oxford: nomenon as he sees it. He explains Princeton University Press, 2003, that as globalization has begun to 324 pp. take a larger role in the world, it is easier for individual works of lit- erature to cross borders. When they find themselves in a new cultural The disarmingly simple title of setting, they develop a different David Damrosch’s book, What is meaning. Damrosch traces this World Literature?, might lead the change back to and won- reader to respond that, of course, ders how literature maintains the world literature is simply comprised same meaning when it is trans- of writing from around the world. formed by translation and placed in Yet, Damrosch offers a much more a different setting. in depth and interesting view of Damrosch divides the book into what he believes this literature to nine chapters, which are then di- be. He helps the reader understand vided into three sub-sections. He that a piece of literature changes also includes a complete index. The when it stops being a national work title of each section, ‘Circulation’, and becomes an international work. ‘Translation’ and ‘Production’, sug- Literature is transformed, he says, gest the process by which a literary once it crosses the border from one work becomes world literature. In country into another. He begins his each section, Damrosch has chosen book with a quote about world lit- ‘exemplary’ literature to demon- erature from the Communist Mani- strate how each piece exists in a his- festo of Marx and Engels: “The in- torical timeline from Gilgamesh to tellectual creations of individual Rigoberta Menchu. nations become common property. Damrosch develops some of his National one-sidedness and narrow- most intriguing points concerning mindedness become more and more world literature and translation in impossible, and from the numerous his conclusion, where he describes national and local , there three patterns that he has noticed in arises a world literature.” world literature. His discussion be- In his introduction, he uses gins with his theory that “world lit- Goethe’s coined German phrase erature is an elliptical refraction of 282 Resenhas

national literatures.” This speaks to world literature when it gains in its the idea of how literature changes translation and is a balanced piece once it crosses borders. Damrosch of literature. He uses The Epic of maintains that a literary work never Gilgamesh as an example of a lit- really leaves its place of origin but erary work that has been opened to simply has two foci, one in the host a wider audience through its growth country and one in the original in translation. country. This way, the flow of in- His last point is that “world lit- formation is constantly moving and erature is not a set canon of texts transporting ideas and concepts in but a mode of reading: a form of two different cultures. He goes on detached engagement with worlds to explain that there is not only one beyond our own place and time.” ellipse, but, in fact, several ellipses By this he means that these works with one focus in the host country, should not be credited too much for constantly stemming out through being world literature, but rather space and time. that they be considered as a way to His second point is that “world connect to cultures and times other literature is writing that gains in than our own. Because of this in- translation.” He explains that sev- terconnection, Damrosch believes eral different types of literature can that are constantly be- either maintain or lose meaning ing influenced by different outside when they become a translated forces. Again, he uses the metaphor work. For example, treaties and of the ellipse and clarifies that be- informational texts are maintained cause these ellipses are coming from in literal translation because the lan- every direction, every culture, and guage they use is simple and con- every language, they are bound to cise. They neither gain nor lose interact and influence one another. when translated. Meanwhile, other Marx and Engels describe this type literary works such as poems are of contact as “intercourse in every difficult to translate because they are direction.” For Damrosch, then, so tied to their original language that literature from every walk of life they can lose meaning in their trans- intertwines to create the literary lation and read poorly in the other works that we consider world lit- language. This, he decides, is na- erature today. tional literature. He believes that a In What is World Literature? literary work can only become David Damrosch clearly defines Resenhas 283 what he believes world literature to works from around the world and be. He poses a seemingly obvious from several different eras to ex- question and presents passionate emplify his point. The examples and potential answers. Although his stories that he draws upon to pro- theories are very interesting, some duce this study can sometimes seem readers might find the author’s vast off topic if one does not have a good knowledge of world literature some- understanding or background in what daunting. Damrosch proves world literature. himself to be an expert on the topic Heather O’Dea of world literature and uses literary St. Lawrence University

Translation and Latin American Voice-Overs: Translation and Literature observe, “translation has Latin . become both a mechanism and a Daniel Balderston and Marcy E. metaphor for contemporary Schwartz. State University of transnational cultures in the Ameri- New York Press, Albany, 2002, cas.” Their anthology is an enor- 266 pp. mous collection of thirty-one essays written by diverse authors, transla- tors and critics of Latin American literature. They explore important -¿Por qué tú no escribes?-le pregunté themes such as issues over language, de pronto cultural identity and other literary -¿Por qué no te preguntas mejor por aspects, as well as new concepts qué no traduzco? pertaining to translation. Voice-Overs: Translation and - No. Creo que podrías escribir. Si Latin American Literature is divided quisieras… into three parts that are all different - in length. Part I consists of four- Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Tres teen essays in which writers speak tristes tigres about their understanding of trans- lation, Part II contains six pieces As Daniel Balderston and Marcy drawn from the translators’ perspec- Schwartz, editors of Voice-Overs: tives and Part III is made up of