Essay
World Literature and Cultural Differences Essay
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- Lancaster University (LU)
Final Year undergrad essay outlining cultural differences in world literature.
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DELC339 13/12/2021With reference to AT LEAST two literary texts studied on this module, discuss
whether literature is predisposed to explore cultural difference
[2500 words]
Literature can be traced back to roughly 3400 B.C and Ancient Mesopotamia,
however the widespread distribution of literature in Europe took place much
later, in the year 1471, following the invention of Gutenberg’s Printing Press,
circa 1436. This radical new invention led to the mass distribution of printed
literary works; the first of which to be printed in England being the English
translation of the Recuyell of the Historyes de Troye, translated by William
Caxton from the original French in 1471. This illustrates the view that literature
has always been one of our biggest sources of knowledge when it comes to
analysing other cultures and this has only been exacerbated with the recent
developments of globalisation and its subsequent impacts on World Literature. It
is through literature, that we can see how various civilisations and cultures
interact with the world; it teaches us of their religions, their values, and their
beliefs. It has been claimed by scholars that literature, World Literature in
particular, is the key to “exposing ourselves to the experience and sensibility of
others” (D’haen, 2012). Drawing on the works of Leila Aboulela and Yuri Herrera,
this essay aims at highlighting how literature explores cultural differences,
drawing particular attention to the concurrent themes of religion and migration.
In order to better comprehend how literature is predisposed to explore cultural
differences, an understanding of World Literature as a global phenomenon is
essential. This is perhaps one of the most prominent reasons as to why literature
is able to explore cultural difference. As Goethe states: World Literature or
Weltliteratur “asks us to look beyond the national context and see literature as a
universal possession of mankind” (Goethe, 1984). It is this looking beyond the
national context that allows us to actually learn about other cultures. In his book
What is World Literature, literary historian David Damrosch outlines his view on
the subject; exploring the idea that world literature “encompasses all literary
works that circulate beyond their culture of origin, either in translation or in their
original language” (Damrosch, 2003). Literature explores cultural difference best
when it comes from the exact culture that it is trying to educate its readers
about. World Literature is indisputably a product of globalisation, and it is this
globalisation and our increasingly interconnected world that has led to an
enhanced demand for foreign literature. In chapter 19 of his book Is that a Fish
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, DELC339 13/12/2021
in Your Ear, David Bellos explains to us that according to the UNESCO Index
Translationum, between 2000 and 2009, over 11,388 foreign works were
translated into English (Bellos, 2012); moreover, in 2015, translated fiction
represented over 5% of all print fiction sales in the UK (Onwuemezi , 2016). This
is a reciprocal process, with hundreds of English titles also being translated into
other languages per annum. For example, the very successful sixth instalment of
the Harry Potter book series Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince appeared in
15 languages between July and December of 2005 (Walkowitz, 2015). Some of
these languages included Vietnamese, Afrikaans and Estonian, which
demonstrates that these literary works are being translated not only into
vehicular languages such as English, French and German, but vernacular
languages too and are thus spreading literature into every culture in every
corner of the globe.
The literary works referred to in this essay each explore a different aspect of
cultural difference, and will each be examined in turn to find out what each
respective novel teaches us as English speaking, western readers about that
specific cultural difference.
It can be argued that religion is a ubiquitous theme in the sphere of literature,
whether the novel is sectarian or secular. Leila Aboulela’s The Translator is no
exemption to that. The Translator revolves around Sammar, a Sudanese, Muslim
woman who has emigrated to Aberdeen, Scotland to work as a translator for Rae,
a professor of Islamic Studies at the University. Since our protagonist is a
practicing Muslim in a western climate, religion is naturally a leading theme
throughout the novel and is even prevalent in the roots and inspirations for the
novel. Aboulela uses her own personal life experiences as the foundations of the
novel’s plot. She herself moved to Aberdeen from Sudan in 1990 with her
husband and two children (Leilaaboulela.com, 2021) and upon arriving in
Aberdeen, she instantly noted numerous cultural differences between the two
countries. With all this change it must have been a huge culture shock for
Aboulela, yet the one thing that she was sure on was that her identity comprised
of two key things: Islam and Sudan; her religion and her homeland. Given that
she had always been an avid reader, Aboulela decided to write about her
personal experiences and used them as the inspiration for her novel. This literary
masterpiece has been referred to as a “Muslim narrative” on several occasions,
most notably by Dr Christine Phillips, senior lecturer in Arabic studies at the
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