Do the Americas Have a Common Literary History?

This book is based on the assumption that the problem of American literatures written in European languages is not the burden of Europe but the fact that they are second or further literatures written in the same language as older ones that happen to be located in Europe. The papers collected here address the following questions: Is it possible for two or more distinct literatures to coexist in the same language? If the distinction is more than merely ideological and convenient, what are the differences, and how did they come about? Is it reasonable to assume that differentiation followed similar patterns in the various literatures? The volume combines textual and theoretical studies of programmatic writings, literary works, and literary histories in English, French, and Spanish. Contents: Creolization or Proto-Nationalization (contributions by Carla Mulford, Barbel Czennia) - Nationalization: Dissociation and Stabilization (contributions by Eva Findenegg, Frank Lauterbach, Jorn Glasenapp, Simone Hagenmeyer, Barbara Buchenau, Horst Nitschack, Susana Zanetti, Heinz-Joachim Mullenbrock, Terence Martin) - Varieties of Internationalization (contributions by Deborah Cohn, Kathrin Bergenthal, Annette Karl, Efrain Kristal, Hans-Gunter Funke, Anja Depping, Katharina Haack, Robert Dion, Alexandra Podgorniak, Reinhardt Kusgen) - Intercultural Contexts and Transfers (contributions by Maurice Lemire, Clement Moisan, Annette Paatz, Philipp Loser, Robert Dion) - Reflections on Differentiation and Historiography (contributions by Djelal Kadir, Clement Moisan, Marietta Messmer, Zbigniew Bialas, Elisabeth Arend, Claus Uhlig).Buchenau, Barbara is the author of 'Do the Americas Have a Common Literary History?', published 2002 under ISBN 9783631394045 and ISBN 3631394047.