Cultural Transfer Reconsidered: Transnational Perspectives, Translation, Processes, Scandinavian and Postcolonial Challenges ed. by Steen Bille Jørgensen and Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink

Reviewed by: Cultural Transfer Reconsidered: Transnational Perspectives, Translation, Processes, Scandinavian and Postcolonial Challenges ed. by Steen Bille Jørgensen and Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink Adnan Mahmutović Steen Bille Jørgensen and Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink, eds. Cultural Transfer Reconsidered: Transnational Perspectives, Translation, Processes, Scandinavian and Postcolonial Challenges. Brill, Rodopi, 2021. Pp. 267. US$132.00 hardcover, US$132.00 ebook. In this fascinating collection of essays, Steen Bille Jorgensen and Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink propose a new paradigm in “(inter)cultural studies” pushing for the use of “cultural transfer” as a way of avoiding the inherent imprecision of older concepts such as “cultural relations,” “cultural exchanges,” “literary influences,” and “cultural circulations.” The aim is to connect the field to, and use advances from, linguistics, anthropology, literary theory, and translation studies (1). They follow the notion that “any cultural artifact transferred between different cultures […] undergoes a process of transformation, of re-semanticization, re-interpretation and […] re-reading” (2) and “the fundamental conviction that translation always means shifting [End Page 571] […] between two cultures” (3). Theirs is a decidedly “agent-centered approach” (3), that conceptualizes cultural relations “as fundamentally dynamic and multilateral, as well as asymmetric and […] reciprocal” (4). The more general conclusions and developments of concepts and methodologies stem from, among other things, a uniquely Scandinavian focus. The goal is not to substitute other existing and working theories but to “reconsider the complexity of relatively abstract research questions and paradigms seeking nonetheless to provide new insights through new framings and analyses” (12). This outline, or groundwork, is quite evident from the ten interconnected essays, split into three sections: “Transnational Processes of Cultural Mediation,” “Aspects of Textual Transfers,” and “Perspectives.” Though no review can do justice to such a rich repository of analyses and conclusions that have both general interdisciplinary value and specific field bound knowledge, I will briefly address each section. Part I, “Transnational Processes of Cultural Mediation,” showcases three excellent analyses that largely seek to subvert the centre-periphery dichotomy, which is typical of, for instance, Pascale Casanova’s world literary paradigm, and successfully stress the role played by individual agents. A strong critique of the supremacy of the nation in grounding World Literature Studies is much appreciated. Magnus Qvistgaard’s notion that the transfer process is one of metamorphosis, which is made through the case of Ibsen, is a particularly useful and telling example. The critique of nations as “independent containers” (44) and of the “a priori definition of the writer” is effectively shown to be lacking nuance. There is a stress on the fact that “what is at stake is never merely the fate of the objects of transfer themselves but always the concepts used in framing them” (54). While I agree that “methodological nationalism” (61) poses a problem, I do find that the argument is somewhat susceptible to devil’s advocacy because the examples and the argument itself are conditioned on resisting, stretching, challenging, and manipulating national categories (61). This could be read as a confirmation of at least a softer version of the Pascalian notion of the a priori of the nation(alism). Michel Espagne’s chapter shows cultural transfer in which Scandianavia relates to well identified centres such as France and Germany. This is a rich and persuasive outline, which still makes me wonder if cultural transfer with another semi-European centre/periphery, in fact Turkey, has become too invisible or if it is simply not on a par with these other centres. Sweden in particular has a long history of cultural transfer with the Turks, from the Ottoman Empire on, involving some enormous leaps in several spheres of social life and governance. One wonders if that national centre has become obscured by other European centres in academic discourse only, or in reality. Espagne’s emphasis on the transformation of the receiving cultures has great resonances with Petra Brooman’s “cultural transmitters” in the second chapter. Likewise, Anne-Estelle Leguy’s analysis of the practice of Impressionist painting by Norwegian and Finnish women offers a particular possibility for dialogue with Espagne’s points about Scandinavian mirroring of French culture, especially since, as the editors put it, “processes of reception...

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