Page 41 - Potocco, Marcello, ed. 2018. Literatura v preseku družbe, družba v preseku literature. The Crossroads of Literature and Social Praxis. Zbornik povzetkov. Book of Abstracts. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem
P. 41
ez Strehovec the crossroads of literature and social praxis, ljubljana, 2018 39
Institute of New Media Art and Electronic Literature, Ljubljana
Slovenian Literary Nationalism as an Ideological State
Apparatus
To understand the political in postsocialist European countries it is
essential to consider the social position of culture which plays nu
merous important parts in these countries. What we refer to by
the term culture is primarily literature and other arts for which it
is currently essential that they perform a series of social functions
not related to either literariness or aesthetics (we are encountering
works which are no-longer-works and the concept of not-only-art).
In the paper we focus on the example of Slovenia where literary
culture (defined as the culture of authors and literary intellectuals)
enjoys a special social position (a number of institutions emphasize
the indispensable role of literature for nation’s identity) and where
literature at the same time generates extremely regressive and ir
rational rituals and ideology. In this regard, we will pay critical at
tention to the so called literary nationalism, which is interpreted
as one of the key ideological apparatuses of the Slovenian state.
Literary nationalism exploits numerous mechanisms of power for im
posing literary culture on people, especially the educational appara
tus and institutions of literary literacy, criticism, media, international
events (festivals), national ceremonies, award ceremonies, holidays.
In all of these instances it is the nation that is glorified and highlight
ed, since the story of literary nationalism starts with the syllogism:
Writers constitute the Slovenian nation.
I am a writer.
I constitute the Slovenian nation.
Literary nationalism as an ideological apparatus (an Althusserian con
cept) of the Slovenian state has of course nothing to do with literari
ness, poetics, aesthetics, or creativity, since it is interested in ideology
which it constructs from literature for the purposes of political prop
aganda. The critique of literary nationalism is thus not directed at lit
erary texts and the activity of writing; it has nothing to do with either
love or hate towards literature; it refers to institutions that make up
the literary-ideological, interpretative and propaganda context in
to which the national literary production is placed, (mis)used by this
nationalism for non-literary ends. This is a strategy of national politics
which works to form a stable national consensus and tries to neutralize
a number of its neoliberal and globalization projects and practices by
supporting the archaic national-authorship ideology and its institutions.
Institute of New Media Art and Electronic Literature, Ljubljana
Slovenian Literary Nationalism as an Ideological State
Apparatus
To understand the political in postsocialist European countries it is
essential to consider the social position of culture which plays nu
merous important parts in these countries. What we refer to by
the term culture is primarily literature and other arts for which it
is currently essential that they perform a series of social functions
not related to either literariness or aesthetics (we are encountering
works which are no-longer-works and the concept of not-only-art).
In the paper we focus on the example of Slovenia where literary
culture (defined as the culture of authors and literary intellectuals)
enjoys a special social position (a number of institutions emphasize
the indispensable role of literature for nation’s identity) and where
literature at the same time generates extremely regressive and ir
rational rituals and ideology. In this regard, we will pay critical at
tention to the so called literary nationalism, which is interpreted
as one of the key ideological apparatuses of the Slovenian state.
Literary nationalism exploits numerous mechanisms of power for im
posing literary culture on people, especially the educational appara
tus and institutions of literary literacy, criticism, media, international
events (festivals), national ceremonies, award ceremonies, holidays.
In all of these instances it is the nation that is glorified and highlight
ed, since the story of literary nationalism starts with the syllogism:
Writers constitute the Slovenian nation.
I am a writer.
I constitute the Slovenian nation.
Literary nationalism as an ideological apparatus (an Althusserian con
cept) of the Slovenian state has of course nothing to do with literari
ness, poetics, aesthetics, or creativity, since it is interested in ideology
which it constructs from literature for the purposes of political prop
aganda. The critique of literary nationalism is thus not directed at lit
erary texts and the activity of writing; it has nothing to do with either
love or hate towards literature; it refers to institutions that make up
the literary-ideological, interpretative and propaganda context in
to which the national literary production is placed, (mis)used by this
nationalism for non-literary ends. This is a strategy of national politics
which works to form a stable national consensus and tries to neutralize
a number of its neoliberal and globalization projects and practices by
supporting the archaic national-authorship ideology and its institutions.
