Page 248 - Marcello Potocco, Nacionalni imaginariji, literarni imaginariji, Dissertationes 20
P. 248
Nacionalni imaginariji – Literarni imaginariji
be understood as one of the realisations of the so called “northern fron-
tier” and therefore as a continuation of Frye’s definition of the Canadi-
an founding myth.
Following Castoriadis’ theory of social imaginary, as well asFrye’s
and Ricœur’s concepts of the narrative construction of society, a sim-
ilar notion of a founding myth is discussed in regard to the Slovenian
national identification. The constitution of the founding myth is inter-
twined with material praxis and the so called stock responses (the term
is Frye’s). The study shows some of the key mechanisms involved in the
formation of Slovenian national identification, especially the feeling of
endangerment and the bifocality of identification, which are both under-
stood as typical stock responses in the Slovenian identity construction.
As the 19th century and the rise of Jansenism were crucial in forming
these stock responses, the author gives a brief description of the ideolog-
ical and the aesthetical basis of the magazine Kmetijske in rokodelske
Novice, which was established in 1848.
Before attempting to describe some of the key factors for a particu-
larly forceful national interpellation in the Canadian and Slovenian lit-
erary systems, Potocco focuses on the analysis of national literary his-
tory, especially against the grain of comparative literature. The crisis of
comparative literature, which has often been hinted at after the publi-
cation of Tötösy de Zepetnek’s Comparative Literature: Theory, Meth-
od, Application, has been affected by the rise of poststructuralism and
the anti-essentialist tendencies that led to converting Comparative Lit-
erature into Comparative Cultural Studies. Although this development
has to be ascribed also to pragmatic reasons, in Canada it may be attrib-
uted to the “emotional and intellectual primacy” of the nationally ori-
ented research of literature. Despite its earlier beginnings, the urge to
define a single Canadian identity became dominant only in the 1960s
and in the 1970s, with the criticism of N. Frye, and with the rise of na-
tionalism, especially with the so called thematic criticism. Thematic crit-
ics were widely attacked in the 1980s and later, but many of their com-
mentators themselves used the research of literature to reflect national
identity. Poststructuralist authors noted that, in the works of themat-
ic critics, literary criticism actually became cultural criticism. Both ten-
dencies – research on mainly Canadian literature and the tendency to-
wards cultural criticism – are also evident in studies of multicultural-
ism, although here cultural differences are set as the Canadian unifying
principle. Systemic and empirical approaches to literature took this as a
fertile ground for studying the intersections of Canadian literatures in
be understood as one of the realisations of the so called “northern fron-
tier” and therefore as a continuation of Frye’s definition of the Canadi-
an founding myth.
Following Castoriadis’ theory of social imaginary, as well asFrye’s
and Ricœur’s concepts of the narrative construction of society, a sim-
ilar notion of a founding myth is discussed in regard to the Slovenian
national identification. The constitution of the founding myth is inter-
twined with material praxis and the so called stock responses (the term
is Frye’s). The study shows some of the key mechanisms involved in the
formation of Slovenian national identification, especially the feeling of
endangerment and the bifocality of identification, which are both under-
stood as typical stock responses in the Slovenian identity construction.
As the 19th century and the rise of Jansenism were crucial in forming
these stock responses, the author gives a brief description of the ideolog-
ical and the aesthetical basis of the magazine Kmetijske in rokodelske
Novice, which was established in 1848.
Before attempting to describe some of the key factors for a particu-
larly forceful national interpellation in the Canadian and Slovenian lit-
erary systems, Potocco focuses on the analysis of national literary his-
tory, especially against the grain of comparative literature. The crisis of
comparative literature, which has often been hinted at after the publi-
cation of Tötösy de Zepetnek’s Comparative Literature: Theory, Meth-
od, Application, has been affected by the rise of poststructuralism and
the anti-essentialist tendencies that led to converting Comparative Lit-
erature into Comparative Cultural Studies. Although this development
has to be ascribed also to pragmatic reasons, in Canada it may be attrib-
uted to the “emotional and intellectual primacy” of the nationally ori-
ented research of literature. Despite its earlier beginnings, the urge to
define a single Canadian identity became dominant only in the 1960s
and in the 1970s, with the criticism of N. Frye, and with the rise of na-
tionalism, especially with the so called thematic criticism. Thematic crit-
ics were widely attacked in the 1980s and later, but many of their com-
mentators themselves used the research of literature to reflect national
identity. Poststructuralist authors noted that, in the works of themat-
ic critics, literary criticism actually became cultural criticism. Both ten-
dencies – research on mainly Canadian literature and the tendency to-
wards cultural criticism – are also evident in studies of multicultural-
ism, although here cultural differences are set as the Canadian unifying
principle. Systemic and empirical approaches to literature took this as a
fertile ground for studying the intersections of Canadian literatures in
