Autonomy, market and ideology
Autonomy, market and ideology
Autonomy, market and ideology in the Belarusian literary field of the first third of the 20th century and the turn of the millennium
Project description
The project will use the example of Belarusian literature to analyse the profile and development of institutional and aesthetic-poetological autonomy of 'small' literatures and use the results for a theoretical sharpening of Pierre Bourdieu's model of autonomy. The guiding hypothesis, namely that processes of autonomisation take place in 'smaller' literatures for which the established model is only partially effective, is the result of extensive preliminary work at the theoretical level (Bourdieu's field theory) and at the object level (Belarusian literature). This preliminary work indicates that Bourdieu's conceptualisation of autonomy or autonomisation describes an "extreme case", so to speak, behind which the development of many literatures actually "lags behind".
From this perspective, the field model is used heuristically to analyse two decisive phases in the development of Belarusian literature (namely the 'constitution phase' at the beginning of the 20th century and the post-Soviet 'reconstitution phase' since the early 1990s).
On an institutional and aesthetic-poetological level, phenomena and processes can be identified that could indicate autonomy or autonomisation in the specific logic of the Belarusian literary field. They should be examined for their correlation with the field of power (in contrast to the established field-theoretical system), which is dominated less by market-economic than by ideological parameters, as well as for the resulting correlations between them, and systematised accordingly.
In this way, potential for reflection can be derived from the example of Belarusian literature, which allows for a systematic revision of the established concept of autonomy. At the same time, by focusing on the process of autonomisation, new insights can be gained about Belarusian literature, among other things with regard to its transition from a (non-established) "national" literature into the Soviet model and out of it (totalisation and de-totalisation). Finally, the study provides the first systematic insights into the Belarusian literary industry and market.
Project partners
- Dr P.I. Navumenka (BGU Minsk, PhilFak)
- Dr A. Bjazlepkina (BGU Minsk, JourFak)
- Dr Hanna Zapartyka (BDAMLi Minsk)
- Prof. Dr. David Rotman (Centre for Social and Political Research CSPI, Minsk)
Project-related preparatory work (selection)
- Kohler, G.-B. / P.I. Navumenka / R. Grüttemeier (eds.) 2012: Kleinheit als Spezifik. Contributions to a field-theoretical analysis of Belarusian literature in the context of 'small' Slavic literatures. Oldenburg (= Studia Slavica Oldenburgensia 20). ISBN: 978-3-8142-2270-7 [Published in extended form in Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian and English: Pogljady na specyfičnasc' "malych" litaratur: belaruskaja i ŭkrainskaja litaratury. Uklad. G.-B. Koler, P.I. Navumenka. Minsk: paruks pljus, 2012. ISBN: 978-985-90192-8-9].
- Kohler, G.-B. 2010: 'National disposition and the author's trajectory. Reflections on Polish and Croatian literature. In: Dorleijn, G.J. / R. Grüttemeier / L. Korthals Altes (eds.), Authorship revisited. Conceptions of authorship around 1900 and 2000. Leuven, 11-38 (= Groningen studies in cultural change 38). ISBN 978-90-429-2377-5.
- Kohler, G.-B. 2007: Institutional autonomy 1840 versus aesthetic autonomy 1900? Moments of tension in Croatian literature with respect to the idea of 'nation' in the poetic self-positionings of authors. In: Dorleijn, G.J. / R. Grüttemeier / L. Korthals Altes (eds.), The autonomy of literature at the fins de siècles, 1900 and 2000. A Critical Assessment. Leuven, 1-27 (= Groningen studies in cultural change 32). ISBN 978-90-429-2044-6.
- Kohler, G.-B. 2013: Misplacement and autopalimpsest. Michas' Zarėcki's novel fragments Kryvičy (1929) and Smerc' Andrėja Berazoŭskaha (1931) in the context of the de-autonomisation of the Belarusian literary field. In: Journal for Slavic Studies 58/1 (2013), 3-30.
- Kohler, G.-B. / P.I. Navumenka 2012: Interference of autonomisation and deautonomization in the Belarusian literary field. Indication of 'smallness', or something different? In: Vesnik BDU. Seryja 4: Filal. Žurn. Ped. 2013/3, 3-11. ISSN 0372-5375.
- Koler, G.-B. / P.I. Naumenko 2013: Aspekty i strategii institucional'noj i ėstetičeskoj avtonomizacii v "malych" literaturach (na materiale belorusskoj literatury pervoj treti XXst.). In: Belorusskaja literatura kak model' razvitija "malych" (slavjanskich) literatur. Materialy k tematičeskomu bloku na XV Meždunarodnom s''ezde slavistov (Minsk 20-27 August 2013). Sost. G.-B. Koler, P.I. Naumenko. Minsk, 7-90. ISBN 978-985-6939-68-9.