Configurations of Transnationalism in East-Central European Avant-Gardes
Configurations of Transnationalism in East-Central European Avant-Gardes
Following the developments in the field of transnational studies and World Literature, the present study addresses the idea that, rather than comparing the different materializations of East-Central European literature with Western literature in a way that enforces an inherent power structure between the two elements, one should turn his attention to the neighboring literatures of the former and set aside the dominant discourse related to the latter. The historical avant-garde represents an important case in this respect. The presence of Jewish writers, the existence of several catalyzing cultural centers (France, Germany), and the occurrences of spatial displacements of authors from within these avant-gardes, as well as ideological affinities are factors that have consolidated a form of interliterary communication between the East-Central European avant-gardes that could provide a very strong case study in regard to early transnational dialogues between marginal national literatures. Drawing from what Tötösy de Zepetnek called “inbetween peripherality” and the most recent discussions revolving around the inherent internationality of the avant-garde movements, my paper seeks to adapt recent theories to the aforementioned geoliterary space and motivate why the avant-gardes belonging to this space are critical to the explanation of early transnational communications in the modern European culture.
Keywords: historical avant-garde, transnational studies, World Literature, peripherality, internationalism
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