Literary Relations Beyond Binary Oppositions: National and International, Translated and Untranslated
On the basis of the Belgian example, this article proposes a typology of literary relationships (translational and other) in multilingual cultures where literatures share a common space and maintain complex and dynamic hierarchical relationships. In principle, multilingual cultures may be a reservoir of multifaceted and unlimited literary relationships between various literatures. In practice, the concrete articulation of literary relationships is subject to the divergent institutionalization of languages and literatures in a multilingual culture (like a city, a region, or a nation). Such a socio-institutional perspective allows for the comprehension of what types of relations are likely to occur within a continuum of almost unlimited possibilities. They partially blur the univocal distinctions between “source” and “target” literatures and require that Translation Studies redefines some of its key concepts. If Translation Studies wants to present itself as the Comparative Literature of the 21st century, it will have to face these new challenges.