{"title":"\"我要求琐罗亚斯德的友谊威廉-戈德温与世界友谊文学","authors":"Sungjin Shin","doi":"10.1007/s11061-024-09804-0","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>The debate about world literature holds a prominent place in national and comparative literary studies today. However, despite its significance, critics have yet to reach a consensus on how to address its challenges, which include its methodology, the vast volume of texts, uneven circulation, and difficulties of translation. This essay examines the concerns of world literature through the lens of William Godwin’s philosophy on history writing. While Godwin’s historical perspective has not been widely discussed in relation to world literature, his reflections on history and history writing that resist a comparative approach to universal history engage with similar issues found in the debates on world literature. Delving into Godwin’s writings on history, which challenge distant approaches to history and stress the importance of the individual and the particular, this essay argues that Godwin’s pursuit of a purposeful and intimate relationship with the past offers important insights for addressing the issues of world literature. In particular, Godwin’s emphasis on the purpose of studying history and his affectionate approach toward the temporal “other” provide helpful directions in forming respectful relationships with the geographical and ethnic “other” and their literature. Godwin’s pursuit of deep knowledge and friendship with the inspiring past proposes a valuable alternative to seeking systematic incorporation of the other’s literature or unthinkingly expanding world literary canon.</p>","PeriodicalId":44392,"journal":{"name":"NEOPHILOLOGUS","volume":"249 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"“I Demand the Friendship of Zoroaster”: William Godwin and World Literature of Friendship\",\"authors\":\"Sungjin Shin\",\"doi\":\"10.1007/s11061-024-09804-0\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p>The debate about world literature holds a prominent place in national and comparative literary studies today. However, despite its significance, critics have yet to reach a consensus on how to address its challenges, which include its methodology, the vast volume of texts, uneven circulation, and difficulties of translation. This essay examines the concerns of world literature through the lens of William Godwin’s philosophy on history writing. While Godwin’s historical perspective has not been widely discussed in relation to world literature, his reflections on history and history writing that resist a comparative approach to universal history engage with similar issues found in the debates on world literature. Delving into Godwin’s writings on history, which challenge distant approaches to history and stress the importance of the individual and the particular, this essay argues that Godwin’s pursuit of a purposeful and intimate relationship with the past offers important insights for addressing the issues of world literature. In particular, Godwin’s emphasis on the purpose of studying history and his affectionate approach toward the temporal “other” provide helpful directions in forming respectful relationships with the geographical and ethnic “other” and their literature. Godwin’s pursuit of deep knowledge and friendship with the inspiring past proposes a valuable alternative to seeking systematic incorporation of the other’s literature or unthinkingly expanding world literary canon.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":44392,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"NEOPHILOLOGUS\",\"volume\":\"249 1\",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.2000,\"publicationDate\":\"2024-04-12\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"NEOPHILOLOGUS\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11061-024-09804-0\",\"RegionNum\":3,\"RegionCategory\":\"文学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"0\",\"JCRName\":\"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"NEOPHILOLOGUS","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11061-024-09804-0","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
“I Demand the Friendship of Zoroaster”: William Godwin and World Literature of Friendship
The debate about world literature holds a prominent place in national and comparative literary studies today. However, despite its significance, critics have yet to reach a consensus on how to address its challenges, which include its methodology, the vast volume of texts, uneven circulation, and difficulties of translation. This essay examines the concerns of world literature through the lens of William Godwin’s philosophy on history writing. While Godwin’s historical perspective has not been widely discussed in relation to world literature, his reflections on history and history writing that resist a comparative approach to universal history engage with similar issues found in the debates on world literature. Delving into Godwin’s writings on history, which challenge distant approaches to history and stress the importance of the individual and the particular, this essay argues that Godwin’s pursuit of a purposeful and intimate relationship with the past offers important insights for addressing the issues of world literature. In particular, Godwin’s emphasis on the purpose of studying history and his affectionate approach toward the temporal “other” provide helpful directions in forming respectful relationships with the geographical and ethnic “other” and their literature. Godwin’s pursuit of deep knowledge and friendship with the inspiring past proposes a valuable alternative to seeking systematic incorporation of the other’s literature or unthinkingly expanding world literary canon.
期刊介绍:
Neophilologus is an international peer-reviewed journal devoted to the study of modern and medieval language and literature, including literary theory, comparative literature, philology and textual criticism. The languages of publication are English, French, German and Spanish.