POLITE LITERATURE REVAMPED: PRE-NATIONAL, TRANSNATIONAL, POSTNATIONAL UNDERPINNINGS OF A 21ST CENTURY NOVEL
POLITE LITERATURE REVAMPED: PRE-NATIONAL, TRANSNATIONAL, POSTNATIONAL UNDERPINNINGS OF A 21ST CENTURY NOVEL

Summary/Abstract: I attempt to track down the transnational dimensions of literature in the current convention of the ethnic literary image, as it unfolds in one instance of the contemporary novel genre. I find it to be an issue of both storytelling and cultural conditioning. Notions of taste, beauty perception, the appreciation of style and dramatic composition come together to advertise once more the time-honoured human knowledge department of polite literature. Belles-lettres appropriates the special effects of a political meta-discourse that effectively relies on the reactionary notions of the West-East divide, clash of civilizations, etc. The academic discourse of literary image studies eventually develops a narrative that (re)produces contextual knowledge, sanctioned by its cultural use-value. For instance, it borders on notions of transnational(ism), and postnational(ism). Both of them intermingle to the extent to which they stand in for other, familiar ideas about racism, nation(alism), xenophobia, belonging, etc. A novel written by an American, in print first in French (Autobiographie érotique, 2004), later released in the U.K., and finally published in Romanian (Românul. O autobiografie erotică, 2008), The Romanian (2006) by Bruce Benderson circulates the politicized rhetoric of the E.U. utopia/liberalism, regional otherness, postnational/transnational/expat identity, economic migration, socio-cultural transnationalism, etc. My conclusion is that, in the 21st century, polite literature tries to come back with a vengeance in order to reclaim its original social clout and, possibly, gain recognition for the public service rendered to readers and to society at large.

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