Read more  Dates and place: March 20-22, 2024, in NantesOrganization: Philippe Postel (Nantes University/LAMo), Nicolas Correard (Nantes University/LAMo), Émilie Picherot (University of Lille/IUF)Contact: colloque.Europe.ailleurs@univ-nantes.fr Deadline for submission: September 1, 2022. Working languages: French and English
Since the 19th century and the advent of modern nations, the dynamics of heritage have involved the definition of canons. Certain works have been given an identity value because of their role in specifically literary traditions, but also, more generally, on a linguistic and cultural level. However, this process is not without involving phenomena of essentialization or repression, and in particular a minimization of foreign contributions, particularly distant contributions to European heritage. To take just one example, Robinson Crusoe (1719) has long been considered paradigmatic of Western civilization and more specifically of English culture, as well as of the modern novel (Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel, 1957). However, Defoe's story was probably inspired, more than we are willing to admit, by the self-taught philosopher of the Arab-Andalusian thinker Ibn Tufayl (Abudacer, 12th century), known at the beginning of the 18th century through Latin and English translations. How does this affect our view of this work, and the place we give it in literary history? Far away in time and because he belonged to a different civilization, should Ibn Tufayl, moreover, be considered non-European while he lived in the Iberian Peninsula? Postcolonial approaches challenge traditional canons, but often themselves succumb to the temptation of essentialization, which they claim to criticize. Diverse in its nations, its languages ​​and its relations with the outside world, Europe has never formed a united and closed whole, a whole closed in on itself. A certain number of founding questions of comparative literature as a discipline find an echo today among historians and philosophers. Thus François Jullien questions the notion of cultural identity conceived in terms of specificities and differences, to which he prefers those of "resource" and "fertility", proposing to consider "the diversity of cultures in terms of gap". Cultural identity would not be defined by intangible principles or by fixed sets (such as bodies of work); it would be constructed in a dynamic game between what separates and brings cultures together, in a historical and evolutionary logic. He thus contrasts the "common", understood as an act of sharing, welcoming or listening to others, with "communitarianism" based on exclusion (De l'Universel, 2008). Some historians also rethink in terms of openness the notion of cultural identity, applied to a country or territory. The World History of France (2017), edited by Patrick Boucheron, specifies the constitutive links between France and other spaces, often distant “elsewheres” which have nevertheless contributed to orienting its history and forming its “identity”. The project of writing stories "in equal parts", escaping the history of the victors or the dominant, is based on the identification of "meeting" points allowing perspectives to be compared (Romain Bertrand, L'Histoire à parts égales, 2011). The same is true in literary history (French Global. A New Perspective on Literary History, ed. Ch. McDonald and S. Rubin Suleiman, 2014). In the continuity of Étiemble's Chinese Europe (1989), comparative literature contributes to this scientific deconstruction of the myths of closed cultural identity, undermined by the comfort of essentialism. On a national scale, this is the very nature of this discipline, unlike studies on monolingual corpora. And European literature as a whole cannot be understood without an openness to the literatures of the whole world, to extra-European literatures. Even before the first modern era, the centuries-long presence of Arabs in territories like Sicily or the Iberian Peninsula left its mark on the culture of Latin Christendom, not to mention the exchanges passing through places open to the world, like Venice. The massive contribution of scholarly and philosophical sources from the Islamic world to medieval European culture is symbolized by the rediscovery of Aristotle via Averroes and Avicenna, so much so that Alain de Libera was able to describe scholastic Aristotelianism as a "borrowed philosophy" (Penser au Moyen Âge, 1991). Europe's attention to Arab culture has also resulted in more literary contributions. What role does it play in the work and thought of Dante, who places the Arab-Andalusian philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes) in the "Castle of Heroes and Sages" (1st circle of Hell), alongside Hector, Aeneas, Aristotle, Plato, Cicero and Euclid? Similarly, in his Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer does not merely mention Avicenna (twice); he may have been inspired by a Persian tale from the Bahar-i Danish to compose the "Tale of the Merchant". The "classics" were therefore not all built on an exclusive relationship to Greco-Latin sources taken as models, but also by drawing on non-European sources. Thus, when animals are made to speak in the Renaissance, one can draw inspiration from Aesop or other ancient authors, but also from Kalila wa'Dimna or the 22nd epistle of the Epistles of the Brethren in Purity (9th-10th century), known through the adaptation of the Catalan renegade Anselm Turmeda. From the 16th century onwards, the colonial expansion movement gave rise to cultural exchanges from Europe to colonized or semi-colonized countries (a movement which seems to have received privileged attention in research until now) but also from newly discovered countries to Europe: the Europe of the Enlightenment was nourished by the Chinese model in many respects (see Étiemble or Nicolas Standaert, or even Alexander Statman in the field of science). What about the West Indies or Africa? Montaigne recognized in the song of a cannibal a "completely Anacreontic" turn, a primitive lyricism worthy of the Greeks. But are there, beyond that, Amerindian or African contributions to European literature of this period? The interventions could focus on the following research directions: – source studies or plural and crossed sources: there are many cases of transmissions by multiple routes, which challenge the reconstruction of the network of influences and the very idea of ​​a single source, as the case of oriental animal fables clearly demonstrates; – role of mediations, for example that of viatic literature. Do travel narratives, so numerous and so influential, from the Crusades to modern explorations of the ends of the world, diffuse foreign literary motifs and forms? Similarly, certain contact zones or certain communities, such as that of the Moriscos in Spain, that of the Armenians in several Italian cities, or even the Jewish diasporas, were able to play a decisive role in certain transfers. - clarifications concerning European mediation in the transmission, translation and recognition of certain works emanating from other civilizations. Thus the Thousand and One Nights have become a European, Arabic and world “classic”… thanks to Antoine Galland, their first French translator. In essence, has Europe not also contributed to creating certain non-European “classics”? – new perspectives on the history of criticism. Certain notions have been renewed by contact with foreign forms, from nearby or distant spaces. Thus Chinese erotic novels led Étiemble to redefine European erotic literature (L'Érotisme et l'amour, 1987). Criticism has also been able to dismiss or downplay certain extra-European sources for ideological reasons. We know, for example, that the medieval legend of Barlaam and Josaphat (inspired by the "Lives of Buddha") provided the subject of a comedia by Lope de Vega, but also of Life is a Dream by Calderón; but this influence was undoubtedly difficult to recognize in Spain under Franco's regime, while the theater of the Golden Age was promoted as a national heritage, shaping the idea of ​​a Spanish identity. Conversely, criticism has been able to overestimate the influence of distant models: what is really "Chinese" in the fashion for Chinese tales in the 18th century, or "Persian" in Montesquieu's Persian Letters? Other directions could be considered, but they will have to contribute significantly to our collective reflection. We will focus on periods prior to the colonial domination of the 19th century, which was accompanied by an increase in trade. We therefore posit the (approximate) date of 1800 as a terminus ad quem, insofar as the issues become fundamentally different afterwards. We will likewise favour the most original subjects, but some already known avenues deserve to be explored more thoroughly, for example concerning the Arabic sources of the Occitan poetic tradition of fin'amor. A critical discussion of previous research or a re-examination of certain theses may also be proposed, provided that these are old works. Thus, the hypothesis of an Iranian source for Tristan and Iseut, suggested by Pierre Gallais, has recently been developed on new bases by Shahla Nosrat (Tristan and Iseut and Wîs and Râmîn, 2014). The colloquium, organised with the support of the laboratory “Ancient and Modern Literatures” (LAMo) of Nantes University (theme 6: “The Republic of Letters in Globalisation: exchanges, identities, decentering”), therefore proposes to map the construction of a European cultural heritage indebted to other non-European sources.  Keywords: Europe and non-European literatures – Reception – Cultural identity – Cultural exchanges – The concept of “classics”
English version:
Since the 19th century and the advent of modern nations, the dynamics of patrimonialization have involved the definition of canons. Some iconic books are considered to shape identities, not only for their role in specific literary traditions, but also, more generally speaking, on a linguistic and cultural level. However, this process also involves essentialization or repression, and often a neglect of foreign contributions, particularly of distant contributions to the European heritage. Robinson Crusoe, for instance, has long been held as an archetype of Western civilization, and more specifically of English culture, as well as a founding modern novel (Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel, 1957). Yet Defoe's narrative may have been inspired –more than is generally granted– by an Arab source, the Self-Taught philosopher of the 12th century Arab-Andalusian thinker Ibn Tufayl (Abudacer), known at the beginning of the 18th century through a Latin translation and an English one. How does it affect the way we deal with this work, or its place in literary history? Distanced in time and because he belonged to another civilization, should Ibn Tufayl be considered as non-European, while he lived in the Iberian Peninsula? The post-colonial approaches challenge traditional canons, but they frequently contribute to the very process of essentialization they claim to criticize. With its diversity of nations, languages ​​and multiple relations with the rest of the world, Europe has never formed a coherent and united whole, closed on itself.A number of fundamental questions central to comparative literature as a discipline are now raised by historians and philosophers . François Jullien questions the notion of cultural identity conceived in terms of specificities and differences. Preferring the notions of “resource” and “fertility”, he proposes to consider “the diversity of cultures in terms of distance from one another”. Cultural identity would not be defined by constant principles or by fixed corpuses (of literary works); it would rely on a dynamic interplay between what separates and what brings cultures together, in a historical and evolutionary perspective. Jullien thus opposes the “common” (understood as an act of sharing, welcoming or listening to the Other) to “communitarianism” (based on exclusion) in De l’Universel (2008).Some historians also rethink the notion of cultural identity, applied to a country or a territory, in terms of openness. France in the World, a New Global History (2017), edited by Patrick Boucheron, thus shows the links between France and other spaces, often distant elsewhere, which have nevertheless oriented its history and shaped its “identity”. The project of writing “equal histories”, overruling the history from the point of view of the winners and the dominant cultures, is thus based on the identification of “encounters”, making it possible to confront the perspectives (Romain Bertrand, L’Histoire in equal parts, 2011). This is also the case with literary history (Ch. McDonald and S. Rubin Suleiman dir., French Global. New perspectives on Literary History, 2014).In the wake of Étiemble's L'Europe Chinois (1989), comparative literature still contributes to the scientific deconstruction of myths of a closed cultural identity, undermined by the comfort of essentialism. On a national scale, this is the very purpose of comparative literature, as opposed to studies of monolingual corpuses. European literature, more generally, cannot be understood without opening up to literatures from all over the world. Even before the early modern period, the centennial presence of the Arabs in territories such as Sicily or the Iberian Peninsula left its mark on the culture of Latin Christianity, not to mention cultural exchanges through places like Venice, that were open to the world. The rediscovery of Aristotle via Averroes and Avicenna is emblematic of the massive contribution of scholarly and philosophical sources from the Islamic world to medieval European culture, allowing Alain de Libera to refer to scholastic Aristotelianism as a “borrowed philosophy” (Penser au Middle Ages, 1991 ). European interest in Arab culture also resulted in more direct literary contributions. What role did it take in the work and thought of Dante, who places the Arab-Andalusian philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes) in the “Castle of heroes and wise men” (1st circle of Hell), alongside Hector, Aeneas, Aristotle, Plato , Cicero and Euclid? Likewise, in his Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer mentions Avicenna twice, and he may have been inspired by a Persian tale drawn from the Bahar-i Danish to compose the Merchant's Tale. Literary “classics” were not all built on an exclusive relationship to Graeco -Latin sources, projected as models, but also by drawing from non-European sources. Speaking animals in Renaissance fictions, for instance, could be inspired by Aesop or other ancient authors, but also by the Kalila wa-Dimna or the 22nd epistle of the Epistles of the Brethren in Purity (9th-10th century), known through its adaptation by the Catalan renegade Anselm Turmeda.From the 16th century on, colonial expansion brought cultural exchanges from Europe to colonized or semi-colonized countries (a transfer which seems to have been the main focus so far in research), but equally from recently discovered countries towards Europe. In many respects, the Enlightenment was inspired by the Chinese model, for instance (see Étiemble, or Nicolas Standaert, or even Alexander Statman in the field of science). What of the West Indies or Africa? Montaigne recognized in a cannibal's song a “definitely Anacreontic” manner, a kind of primitive lyricism worthy of the Greeks. Beyond this interest, is it possible to find Amerindian or African contributions to the European literature of this period? Papers may focus on the following topics:- source studies, including plural and crossed sources: there are many cases of transmissions by multiple routes, which challenge the reconstitution of a network of influences and the very idea of ​​a single source, as shown by the example of oriental animal fables. – studies on the role of mediations, for example that of travel literature. Travelogues were abundant and influential from the time of the Crusades onto the modern exploration of the most remote places in the world. Did they spread some foreign motifs or literary forms? Similarly, certain areas of contact or certain communities, such as the Moorish in Spain, the Armenians in several Italian cities, or the Jewish diasporas, may have played a decisive role in some transfers.- updates on European mediation in the transmission, translation and recognition of certain works from other civilizations: the Arabian Nights, for example, became a European, Arab and world “classic”… thanks to Antoine Galland, their first French translator. Didn't Europe help produce certain non-European “classics”, paradoxically? - new insights into the history of criticism. Some critical notions have been renewed by the contact with new forms, from foreign spaces (close or far ones). Chinese erotic novels, for example, led Étiemble to redefine European erotic literature (L'Érotisme et l'amour, 1997). But critics sometimes ignored or downplayed certain extra-European sources for ideological reasons. We know the medieval legend of Barlaam and Josaphat (inspired by the “Lives of Buddha”) provided the argument for a comedia by Lope de Vega, and also for Life is a dream by Calderón. Yet this influence may have been difficult to acknowledge under Franco's regime, as Golden age theater was promoted as a national heritage, shaping the idea of ​​Spanish identity. Conversely, critics may have overestimated the influence of some distant models.  What is really “Chinese” in the fashion for Chinese tales throughout the 18th century, or “Persian” in Montesquieu's Persian Letters? Other directions may be considered, as long as they contribute to our collective reflection. Subjects should concentrate on eras prior to the 19th century colonial domination, which entailed a multiplication of exchanges. The year 1800 (approximately) will thus be taken as a terminus ad quem, beyond which binds fundamentally different issues.While new hypotheses or original topics will be favored, some already known topics deserve more thorough exploration, such as, for example, the Arabic sources of the Occitan poetic tradition of the fin'amor. Critical discussions on previous researches or re-examination of certain theses will be welcome, provided they refer back to earlier studies. Thus, the hypothesis of an Iranian source for Tristan and Iseut, suggested by Pierre Gallais, has recently been developed on a new basis by Shahla Nosrat (Tristan et Iseut et Wîs et Râmîn, 2014).Organized with the support of the research team Antiques et Modernes (LAMo) of Nantes University (research topic 6: “The Republic of Letters in a Globalized World: Exchanges, Identities, Decenterings”), our symposium proposes to map the construction of a European cultural heritage indebted to non-European contributions .Keywords: Europe and extra-European literatures – Reception – Cultural identity – cultural exchanges – the notion of “classics” Scientific committee / scientific committeeNicolas Correard (Nantes University)Lina Guo (Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou)Claudine Le Blanc (University Sorbonne Nouvelle)Emilie Picherot (Lille University / IUF)Philippe Postel (Nantes University)Nina Soleymani Majd (Sorbonne Nouvelle University)Daniel Struve (Paris Cité University)John Tolan (Nantes University) Indicative bibliography / Elements of bibliographyAhmad, Aziz, A History of Islamic Sicily (1975), New York, Columbia University Press, 1979.Asín de Palacio , Miguel, Dante and Islam, Madrid, Editorial Voluntad, 1927. Barbot, Michel, 1492: the Arab cultural heritage in Europe, Strasbourg, University of Human Sciences of Strasbourg, 1994. Bertrand, Romain, History in equal parts . Story of an East-West encounter (2011th-XNUMXth century), Paris, Seuil, XNUMX. Briffault, Robert, Rational Evolution. The Making of Humanity (1919), London, Routledge, 2019.Cerulli, Enrico, Il Libro della Scala e la questione delle fonti arabo-spagnole della Divina Commedia, Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, “Studi e Testi no 150”, 1949. Darke, Diana, Stealing from the Saracens. How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe, London, C. Hurst & Co., 2020. Spain, Michel et al., Central Asia. Cultural transfers along the Silk Road, Paris, Vendémiaire, 2016. Étiemble, René, Chinese Europe, Paris, Gallimard, “Bibliothèque des idées”, 1989. Étiemble, René, Eroticism and love, Paris, Le Livre de poche, “Biblio essais”, 1997.
Gallais, Pierre, Genesis of the Western Novel. Essays on Tristan and Isolde and its Persian Model, Paris, Tête de feuilles and Sirac editions, 1974.
Gutas, Dimitri, Greek Thought, Arabic Culture, London, Routledge, 1998. Jullien, François, Of the Universal. Of the Uniform, of the Common and of the Dialogue between Cultures, Paris, Seuil, « Points Essais », 2008. Jullien, François, There is no Cultural Identity, but We Defend the Resources of a Culture, Paris, L'Herne, « Cave canem », 2016. Libéra, Alain de, Thinking the Middle Ages, Paris, Seuil, « Points », 1991. McDonald, Christine and Suleiman, Susana Rubin, French Global. New Perspectives on Literary History, Paris, Classiques Garnier, “Literature, History, Politics”, 2014. Picherot, Émilie, The Arabic Language in Humanist Europe 1500-1550, Paris, Classiques Garnier, “Comparative Perspectives”, 2023. Sartre, Maurice, The Boat of Palmyra. When Ancient Worlds Met (2021th Century BC-1950th Century AD), Paris, Tallandier, 2014. Schwab, Raymond, The Eastern Renaissance (2022), Paris, Payot, 2023. Standaert, Nicolas, The Chinese Gazette in European Sources. Joining the Global Public in the Early and Mid-Qing Dynasty, Leiden / Boston, Brill, “Sinica Leidensia”, 1992.Statman, Alexander, A Global Enlightenment: Western Progress and Chinese Science, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, XNUMX.Wilson, NG, From Byzantium to Italy: Greek Studies in the Italian Renaissance, London, Duckworth, XNUMX. 

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