Introducing the WReC: an Interview with Neil Lazarus, Sharae Deckard and Michael Niblett
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/va.i40.163720Keywords:
World literature, WReC, World-systems analysis, MarxismAbstract
This interview deals with the Warwick Research Collective's (WReC) theory of world-literature, which is defined as 'the literature of the capitalist world-system', through a discussion with three of the group's members: Neil Lazarus, Sharae Deckard and Michael Niblett. Over the course of the interview, we cover the disciplinary conjuncture which gave rise to the growing debate over world literature and that motivated the group to collectivise and formulate their theory; the main conceptual frameworks that inform their reading, such as world-systems analysis and Leon Trotsky's 'law of uneven and combined development; their engagement with the Brazilian theorists Roberto Schwarz and Michael Löwy; and the role of translation in their materialist conception of global literary production. The work of the WReC is one of the most sophisticated attempts to carry forward the Marxist tradition in literary criticism in order to address the changing sociocultural contours of the contemporary world. This interview seeks to clarify the collective's key propositions at the same time as it tries to problematises some areas of contestation.
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References
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SCHWARZ, Roberto. Ao vencedor as batatas. São Pau-lo: Duas Cidades, 2000 [1977].
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