Översättning och världslitteratur

Abstract

Translation and World Literature

In this text I discuss the relation between translations and »world literature«. I base my argument on some experiences of my own as a teacher and researcher, on two Norwegian dissertations on the problematics of translation, and on a sketch of the development of »world literature« including some speculation on the situation of »world literature« today and, perhaps, tomorrow.

I base this part on an essay by Susan Sontag: »The World as India«. Sontag is inspired by Walter Benjamin when she imagines translation to be like a  »ferry« between separate shores of language and literature. A similar metaphor, used by Hans Georg  Gadamer, equates translation to a »bridge«.

My argument is that these metaphors are already slightly antiquated: the world wide web means new conditions for translation and linguistic identity.