Polysystem Theory Revisited - A New Comparative Introduction

PolysystemTheory Revisited:
A New Comparative Introduction

Philippe Codde
Comparative Literature, Ghent
Abstract In recent ,ears, Itamar Even-Zohars Fol,s,stem Theor, seems to have
lost much of its appeal for stuoents of comparative literature, vhile more recent forms
of s,stemic approaches to literaturemost conspicuousl,, Fierre Bouroieus praxi-
olog, anoSiegfrieoSchmiots anoNiklas Luhmanns Constructivismare becoming
increasingl, popular. To some extent, this is oue to the misconception that the more
recent forms of s,stem theor, have superseoeo their pol,s,stemic preoecessor. This
is a misconception for tvo reasons. On the one hano, Fol,s,stem Theor, oers
stuoents of literature a framevork for a vioe-ranging ano still topical stuo, of a
variet, of cultural phenomena that are not restricteo to literature,; on the other
hano, the more recent s,stem-theoretical approaches simpl, cannot replace Fol,s,s-
temTheor,, because the, are interesteo in altogether oierent aspects of the literar,
s,stem. This critical introouction aspires to rekinole interest in Fol,s,stem Theor,
ano brie, illustrates its application from the authors current research.
1. PolysystemTheory As a Dynamic Functionalist Approach
Fol,s,stemTheor, FST, originateo in the late :q6os in the vritings of the
Israeli literar, ano cultural theorist Itamar Even-Zohar as an alternative
to the then current ahistorical, static, ano text-orienteo approaches to lit-
erature. The theor, vas further elaborateo b, other members of the Forter
Institute for Foetics ano Semiotics at Tel Aviv Universit,, such as Gioeon
Tour,, Zohar Shavit, ano Rakefet She,. Originall, oesigneo to oeal vith
Poettc Toooy .:: Spring .oo,. Cop,right .oo b, the Forter Institute for Foetics ano
Semiotics.
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92 Poetics Today 24:1
specic problems in translation theor,,
1
it soon became a comprehensive
mooel to explain the relationships among various cultural s,stems as vell
as among the oierent subs,stems of an, particular cultural s,stem. While
initiall, Even-Zohar useo the more mooest term Fol,s,stem /ypot/et, b,
the :qqos, his vork hao acquireo the status of a t/eoty ano vas subsequentl,
referreo to as such. To a large extent, this theor, is an elaboration of the
principles of Russian Iormalism ano Czech Structuralism, in particular
the vritings of Roman akobson, Boris Ejxenbaum, ano urij T,njanov
oating fromthe late :q.os,
2
vhich gave rise to vhat Even-Zohar has labeleo
Dyromtc Forcttoro/tm or Dyromtc Sttoctoto/tm.
Fol,s,stem Theor, is a forcttoro/tt approach because it sees all semiotic
phenomena as belonging to one or more s,stems
3
ano consequentl, ana-
l,zes these phenomena in terms of their functions ano mutual relations.
Iunctionalism, hovever, has often been associateo vith static s,stemthink-
ing or Structuralism, as exemplieo b, the vork of Ieroinano oe Saussure.
Such a viev obviousl, fails to take into account the insights formulateo
b, the Russian Iormalistsmost conspicuousl, T,njanovs :q: |:q.|,
theses on literar, evolution. It is therefore necessar, to oistinguish tvo sepa-
rate functionalist programs, namel,, the theor, of static s,stems ano the
theor, of o,namic s,stems Even-Zohar :qqa, :qqob: :o,. Whereas the
former approach consioers onl, the functional s,nchronic relations among
the elements of a specic static s,stem that is, one xeo in time,, the latter
attempts to formulate rules regaroing the oiachronic as vell as the s,n-
chronic relations vithin the s,stem i.e., it allovs for the s,stems evolu-
tion in time,. Iurthermore, the semiotic s,stem itself shoulo be seen as a
heterogeneous, open s,stem; it is, necessaril,, a pol,s,stema multiple
s,stem, a s,stem of various s,stems vhich intersect vith each other ano
partl, overlap, using concurrentl, oierent options, ,et functioning as one
structureo vhole, vhose members are interoepenoent Even-Zohar :qqob:
:. Ano still useo there, vhich is vh, this introouction vill not pa, too much attention to this
specic elo.
.. See akobson :q6o; Ejxenbaum, :q:a |:q.6|, :q:b |:q.q|; urij T,njanov, :q: |:q.|.
. Ior Even-Zohar :qqo,, a s,stem is the netvork of relations that can be h,pothesizeo for
a certain set of assumeo observables occurrencesphenomena,. The notion clearl, ooes
not refer to an entit, in realit,; it is merel, a functional vorking h,pothesis, oepenoent
on the relations one is prepareo to propose. This results in tvo possible oenitions of the
literar, s,stem: The netvork of relations that is h,pothesizeo to obtain betveen a number
of activities calleo literar,, ano consequentl, these activities themselves observeo via that
netvork or the complex of activities, or an, section thereof, for vhich s,stemic relations
can be h,pothesizeo to support the option of consioering themliterar, Even-Zohar :qqoc:
.8,. See also Iokkema ano Ibsch :qq.: :o:.; Iokkema :qq: :8; De Geest :qq6: 66;
ano Totos, oe Zepetnek :qq.: .:8 for oiscussions of FSTs s,stemic nature ano for other
s,stemic approaches.
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Codde

Polysystem Theory Revisited: A New Comparative Introduction 93
::,.
4
Though FST is an integrative approach that aims to be fairl, com-
prehensive in its oiscussion of the oierent subs,stems that make up the
cultural pol,s,stem, the concept of the heterogeneit, of the s,stem ensures
its oistinction from the more traoitionalano vilieotheor, of _ettgett,
vhich consioers culture a unieo, homogeneous object of stuo, see Even-
Zohar :qqa,.
5
Thus, FSTpositions itself vithin a traoition vhich combines
a functionalist-structuralist approach to semiotic phenomena vith a viev
of the cultural s,stem as a heterogeneous, o,namic entit, to be stuoieo in
its s,nchronic ano oiachronic oimensions.
Another misconception about functionalismapart from its association
vith static Structuralismis that it is solel, concerneo vith the eno proo-
uct of literar, activit,: the literar, text. Even-Zohar :qqoc: .q,, hovever,
stresses the fact that, since the mio-:q.os, Ejxenbaum ano T,njanov ois-
cusseo, anal,zeo, ano oescribeo |the literar, proouct| in terms of the intri-
cate netvork of relations that conoition it. In their vritings, literar, life
became pott oro potce/ of the intricate relations vhich govern the aggre-
gate of activities vhichmake literature o; emphasis inoriginal,.
6
Taking
its cue from Russian Iormalism, FST then focuseo on the o,namic rela-
tions that make up the literar, pol,s,stem rather than on the literar, eno
prooucts.
2. Even-Zohars Adaptation of Jakobsons Communication Scheme
An aooitional impetus for the contextualization of semiotic phenomena
specicall, communication events, vas given b, Roman akobson in his
vell-knovn communication scheme. In this scheme, the meoge that is
exchangeo betveen an oooteet ano an oooteee neeos to be consioereo in
relation to the specic cortext it refers to, to the cooe full,, or at least par-
. Because the s,stem is a structureo, fairl, autonomous vhole vhich, at the same time,
relates to other s,stems, one shoulo unoerstano b, the term ytem both the ioea of a closeo
set-of-relations, in vhich the members receive their values through their respective opposi-
tions, oro the ioea of an open structure consisting of several such concurrent nets-of-relations
Even-Zohar :qqob: :.,. In other voros, the s,stem neeos to be open ano closeo at the
same time.
. See, for example, Wellek ano Warren :q.: :.:.. for an earl, form of criticism. See also
Even-Zohar :qqa ano Bouroieu :qq6: :qq.o.
6. See also Dimic :qqo: :, vhich oiscusses the Russian Iormalists ano Frague Structuralists
evolution from s,ntactics the stuo, of the internal, intertextual relationship of language
ano literature perceiveo as immanent s,stems, to an increasing interest in emorttc, vhich
vioeneo the scope of literar, stuoies to incluoe such traoitional impurities as politics, phi-
losoph,, art histor,, ano biograph,. A thiro aspect, the stuo, of ptogmottc, vas oevelopeo
b, the Frague Structuralists ano, together vith the s,ntactic ano semantic aspects, vas full,
embraceo b, FST.
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tiall,, common to the aooresser ano aooressee, as vell as to the cortoct
that exists betveen them a ph,sical channel ano ps,chological connec-
tion betveen the aooresser ano the aooressee, enabling both of them to
enter ano sta, in communication |akobson :q6o: |,. The revolution-
ar, nature of this mooel la, in its regaroing as trtetro/ to t/e ytem those
factors that useo to be consioereo extras,stemic restraints upon commu-
nication i.e., the backgrouno against vhich communication takes place,.
A stuo, of communication, then, can no longer be restricteo to the mere
message; it necessaril, involves socio-contextual parameters of the commu-
nication situation. Even-Zohar aoapts this mooel b, replacing akobsons
categories founo belov in parentheses, vith factors that inuence socio-
semiotic, cultural events in general:
7
INSTITUTION context,
REFERTOIRE cooe,
FRODUCER senoer, CONSUMER receiver,
MARKET contact,
FRODUCT message,
The aoapteo scheme can be explaineo as follovs:
a CONSUMER ma, consume a FRODUCT proouceo b, a FRODUCER,
but in oroer for the proouct to be generateo, then properl, consumeo, a com-
mon REFERTOIRE must exist, vhose usabilit, is constraineo, oetermineo, or
controlleo b, some INSTITUTION on the one hano, ano a MARKET vhere
such a gooo can be transmitteo, on the other. Even-Zohar :qqb,
The onl, raoical change in akobsons original scheme concerns the sub-
stitution of trtttottor for cortext, vhich are tvo completel, oierent con-
cepts. The cortext in akobsons theor, pertains to elements in the outsioe
vorlo referreo to in the message, referent in another, somevhat ambigu-
ous, nomenclature akobson :q6o: ,, vhile trtttottor refers to entities
such as acaoemies, universities, ano the press. Consequentl,, Even-Zohar
ooes not so much substitute one factor for the other as leave out one fac-
tor because of its oiminisheo relevance, ano insert a completel, nevfactor
in its steao. He consioers akobsons cortext to be implieo b, the relations
betveen prooucer ano consumer via repertoire ano market Even-Zohar
:qqb,. This strateg, reects an increasing interest in the pol,s,stemic ano
institutional aspects of semiotic phenomena as vell as a restricteo interest in
the purel, mimetic function of literature. The mooel also introouces some
of the principal terminolog, of FST.
. The mooel vas rst oesigneo to oeal specicall, vith the factors at vork in the literar,
s,stem ano vas later reformulateo to incluoe all socio-semiotic events.
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3. The Repertoire
3.1. Denition
Ferhaps the central notion in Even-Zohars FST is that of tepettotte, vhich
oesignates the aggregate of rules ano materials vhich govern both the
mo/trg ano /oro/trg, or proouction ano consumption of an, given proouct
Even-Zohar :qqb; emphasis in original,. The notion largel, corresponos
to akobsons concept of cooe, except that the repertoire incluoes not onl,
the to/e for the proouction ano consumption of semiotic phenomena, but
also the motetto/ themselves inoivioual elements as vell as mooels,.
8
It con-
sists of those cultural items that a prooucer or consumer uses respectivel,
to create or to unoerstano ano oecooe the proouct or message,. Ior the
former items, Even-Zohar :qqb, uses the term active repertoire; in the
latter case, the consumer of culture utilizes a passive repertoire. This is
not to sa,, hovever, that there are tvo oierent kinos of repertoire at vork:
the expressions in fact refer to an active ano passive oe of the repertoire.
3.2. Cultural Repertoires As Tool Kits for Constructing Strategies of Action
Ior a better unoerstanoing of the functions of culture ano repertoires, let us
take a look at Ann Sviolers theories on this matter, to vhich Even-Zohar
explicitl, subscribes.
9
Unvilling to accept the traoitional vievexpresseo
b, Max Weber ano Talcott Farsonsthat culture shapes action b, suppl,-
ing ultimate enos or values tovaro vhich action is oirecteo, Svioler :q86:
., sets out to no a nev mooel for cultures causal role in the creation
of strategies of action. Insteao of seeing cultural values as causal factors for
action, she believes the process vorks the other va, rouno: people organize
their actions ano values to take aovantage of cultural competence ibio.:
.,. Consequentl,, if slum chiloren oo not take aovantage of opportu-
nities to assimilate to the oominant culture in conouct ano oress, acquire
the appropriate eoucational creoentials, ano settle oovn to a steao, job
ibio.,, this is rot because the, oo not value the same things as the mioole
class, but simpl, because the, lack the cultural competence or equipment
to oo so; the, are not conversant vith the rules of the game. Culture, then,
8. In an earlier article, Even-Zohar :qqob: :, oenes the repertoire as the aggregate of
lavs ano elements either single, bouno, or total mooels, that govern the proouction of texts.
If literature is seen as a s,stem, rather than as a mere collection of texts, then the literar,
repertoire is the shareo knovleoge necessar, for prooucing ano unoerstanoing, a text, as
vell as prooucing ano unoerstanoing, various other prooucts of the literar, s,stem. This
repertoire can be suboivioeo into repertoires for being a vriter, a reaoer, or a literar, agent,
all of vhich are literar, repertoires Even-Zohar :qqoc: o,.
q. Even-Zohar :qqb, refers to Sviolers notion of culture as a tool kit to support his ois-
tinction betveen active ano passive repertoires.
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becomes a set of skills ano habits ibio.,, ano one values vhatever these
skills give access to. Ones actions, hovever, are never chosen in isolation.
The, are alva,s part of vhat Svioler ibio.: .6, calls strategies of action,
namel,, the larger va,s of tr,ing to organize a life . . . vithin vhich par-
ticular choices make sense, ano for vhich particular, culturall, shapeo skills
ano habits . . . are useful. These lines of action inevitabl, follov certain
prefabricateo cultural patterns, ano it is in those patterns that culture inu-
ences action.
10
If one vants to get marrieo or bu, a house, there are certain
va,s to go about it, certain available patterns of action or proceoures that
la, out the steps to be taken. Yet, most enos vill allov for various means;
usuall,, several roaos vill leao to the same oestination, ano it is up to people
to choose vhich of the available roaos one vishes to take. Consequentl,,
culture shoulo be seen as a tool kit or repertoire . . . from vhich actors
select oiering pieces for constructing lines of action ibio.: .,.
Accoroing to Svioler, this viev involves active, sometimes skilleo users
of culture, vho consciousl, select items from the available repertoires,
rather than cultural oopes vhose means are oetermineo b, their cultural
values ibio.,. Still, this vievis somevhat problematic. Whereas in the oloer
mooel, criticizeo b, Svioler, human beings choose the goals the, vish to
achieve but not the oirection taken for cultural values oirect the course
of their action the va, a svitchman oirects the route of the train,, human
beings are renoereo equall, passive in Sviolers mooel since people vill
come to value enos for vhich their cultural equipment is vell suiteo ibio.,.
She illustrates her mooel vith the example of the ghetto kio vho opts for
group lo,alt, insteao of inoivioual achievement because he can expertl,
reao signs of frienoship ano lo,alt, . . . or . . . can recognize vith practiseo
acuit, threats to turf or oignit, ibio.,, vhile he lacks the social skills to be
an apt pla,er in the game of inoivioual achievement. Accoroing to the
traoitional mooel, then, human beings choose the eno but not the means;
in Sviolers mooel the, choose the means but not the eno.
Ferhaps a combination of the tvo mooels, vhich voulo grant human
beings the greatest oegree of freeoom, voulo be more appropriate. In this
viev, people activel, choose the enos the, vish to achieve enos vhich are,
of course, culturall, oetermineo but still chosen from a large variet, of
options,, ano in oroer to arrive at those goals, the, use culture as a tool kit
from vhich the, select the most expeoient means. Applieo to the culture
:o. Even-Zohar :qqoh: .o8, refers to a similar situation vhen he asserts that, in establisheo
cultures vith strongl, cooieo repertoires, the real vorlo, meaning in this context conoi-
tions vhich are inter-subjectivel, observable ano experienceable, is replaceo, so to speak, b,
poto/e vorlos, i.e., prefabricateo selections from the reao,-maoe repertoire available to the
culture.
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of povert, example, the ghetto ,outh voulo then select a purpose such as
becoming rich, ano voulo likel, choose to achieve this b, means of group
lo,alt, rather than through inoivioual means. Changing social circum-
stances e.g., the loss of frienos, expulsion from the group, vill probabl,
leao to an inoivioual pursuit of the eno or to attachment to another group
oepenoing on the available options,. But the eno, as vell as the means, are
chosen from aculturall, restricteoset of possible options.
An important question concerns the role of culture in the creation of
social change. Svioler oistinguishes tvo situations in vhich culture func-
tions in strikingl, oierent va,s. In the rst mooel, oealing vith settleo
lives, culture functions as a conservative force that sustains existing strate-
gies of action: cultural s,mbols reinforce an ethos, making plausible a
vorlo-viev vhich in turn justies the ethos ibio.: .8,. A culture vith
settleo lives allovs for a great variet, of these strategies. As a result, the rela-
tion betveen culture ano social action is not ver, perceptible. Conversel,,
in a societ, vith unsettleo lives, characterizeo b, social transformation,
establisheo cultural enos are jettisoneo vith apparent ease, ano ,et explicitl,
articulateo cultural mooels, such as ioeologies, pla, a poverful role in organizing
social life. . . . In such perioos, ioeologiesexplicit, articulateo, highl, organizeo
meaning s,stems both political ano religious,etoo/t/ nev st,les or strategies
of action. . . . Bursts of ioeological activism occur in perioos vhen competing
va,s of organizing action are oeveloping or contenoing for oominance. Ibio.;
emphasis in original,
In these situations of social upheaval, culture oirectl, shapes action; the
chosen strategies of action clearl, reect ioeological positions. Accoroing
to Svioler ibio.: .q,, explicit culturesthose that are clearl, committeo
to an ioeolog,might vell be calleo s,stems. While not perfectl, consis-
tent, the, aspire to oer not multiple ansvers, but one unieo ansver to the
question of hov human beings shoulo live. These s,stems compete vith
other cultural mooels for the status of oominating vorloviev, ano the out-
come oepenos on the historical circumstances that accompan, the struggle
for oominance. The historical circumstances oetermine vhich |ioeolo-
gies| take root ano thrive, ano vhich vither ano oie ibio.: .8o,. Whereas
settleo cultures teno to restrain action because the, have the unoisputeo
authorit, of habit, normalit,, ano common sense, ioeologies, vhich origi-
nate in unsettleo cultures, are explicit calls for alternative mooes of action
ibio.: .8:,.
Sviolers viev of the nature of repertoires is full, enoorseo b, Even-Zohar,
vith substantive ano unmistakable echoes. Her oenition of the cultural
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repertoire as a tool kit for the creation of strategies of action corresponos to
vhat Even-Zohar oubs the active repertoire.
11
In Sviolers terminolog,,
the potce use of the repertoire can, then, be oeneo as a tool kit of skills
from vhich people construct their conceptual strategies, i.e., those strate-
gies vith vhich the, unoerstano the vorlo Even-Zohar :qqb,. More-
over, Sviolers oiscussion of the battle betveen ioeologies that originate in
unsettleo livesano vhose outcome is oetermineo b, historical circum-
stancesnos its parallel inEven-Zohars oiscussionof the intra- ano inter-
s,stemic competition betveen various cultural repertoires jocke,ing for
position as vill be oiscusseo later,.
3.3. The Structure of the Repertoire
The repertoire functions at tvo oistinct levels. The rst level is that of
the inoivioual elements of the repertoire, for vhich Even-Zohar coins the
term repertoremes or culturemes for cultural repertoires,; the secono
level is that of mooe/, vhich are the combination of e/emert - to/e - the
yrtogmottc temporal, te/ottor imposable on the proouct Even-Zohar
:qqb,. The notion of cultureme as a unit of culture seems somevhat
problematic, as it voulo be virtuall, impossible to oistinguish such units in
realit,, even though the level of culturemes is supposeol, the more concrete
level of the tvo. The term co/toteme seems a purel, h,pothetical, theoreti-
cal construct, for vhich Even-Zohar gives insucient justication.
12
Not
onl, is the concept problematic in terms of oemarcation oraving the line
betveen cultural mooel ano culture unit seems impossible,, but the acqui-
sition of culture also happens through clusters rather than via inoivioual
units, ano FST therefore focuses on the functions of these clusters. These
clusters or mooels provioe prooucers vith specic instructions about vhat
to oo vhen Even-Zohar :qqb, ano enable the receiver to interpret the
::. In this context, Even-Zohar :qqe, also makes a oistinction betveen culture as gooos
that is, cultural artifacts but also ioeas ano activities such as books, paintings or performances
of pla,s,ano culture as tools, namel,, a set of operating tools for the organization of life,
both on the collective ano inoivioual levels. The latter can be oivioeo into passive ano active
tools, vhich correspono to the active ano passive use of the repertoire.
:.. It is questionable vhether culturemes are ever oeciphereo or acquireo as isolateo enti-
ties. Hovever, I oo not think ve can oo either logicall, or empiricall, vithout this level.There
ma, be some use for the ioea of culturemes as oistinctive features Even-Zohar :qqb,. In
an earlier version of this article :qqoc,, Even-Zohar still hao a thiro, intermeoiate level in
the structure of the repertoire, that of yrtogm combinations of the inoivioual elements,, but
he visel, left out this level in the later version, as this trifurcation voulo blur the oistinctions
even further. Fossibl, oue to the lack of clarit, in Even-Zohars oenition of the cultureme,
Fatrick Cattr,sse :qq: ., interprets culturemes as cultural communities, vhich is obvi-
ousl, a far cr, from their intenoeo meaning.
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proouct.
13
Thus, the, constitute active ano passive repertoires. The reper-
toire ano its constitutive mooels, hovever, shoulo not be seen as non-
mooiable set|s| of commanos; though the, often ma, seem reao,-maoe
scripts, their preoictabilit, ano the leeva, accoroeo to inoivioual contribu-
tions usuall, var,, oepenoing on the interactions vith other mooels Even-
Zohar :qqb,.
14
Users of the repertoire cantherefore combine elements from
oierent mooels as vell as make mistakes in the implementation of a mooel,
vhich, in turn, can leao to the establishment of a nev mooel. Highl, com-
petent prooucers of culture can also introouce oeviations of the normative
mooel quite consciousl,, thus creating nev options Even-Zohar :qqb,. In
those cases, the personalit, of the prooucer of the cultural artifact is often as
important as the vork itself: the ioeological content attributeo to the vork
such as the encouragement to act for freeoom, heroism, patriotism , is
often not so much oeriveo from the vork itself as from vhat one has hearo
of the vriters Even-Zohar :qqc,.
3.4. Primary versus Secondary Models
Novcomes a oistinction borroveo fromthe Tartu semioticians. Depenoing
on the nature of its mooels, the repertoire can either be pttmoty or ecorooty.
15
The latter refers to conservative repertoires; these are maoe up of mooels
that result in highl, preoictable eno prooucts. If the repertoire is regu-
larl, restructureo through the insertion of nev, unpreoictable elements, the
repertoire is innovative or primar,. In practice, this oichotom, is haro
to maintain, as the notion of mooel alva,s implies a certain oegree of
:. An example of a mooel voulo be the church veooing, vhich is reall, a set of s,ntag-
matic instructions: it tells the actors vhat to oo vhen, ano the mooel enables the observers
to interpret the event. It voulo be oicult, hovever, to sum up the various culturemes that
make up this mooel. The veooing banquet, for example, is one of the units that constitute
the veooing mooel, but the banquet is a complete cultural mooel in itself.
:. In this respect, She, :qq: ., correctl, points out that the ioea of mooeling
incluoes tvo oierent aspects vhich are often confuseo: a, tep/tcottor: in this sense, the mooel
is a oetaileo abstract pattern equall, repeateo in an, number of concrete copies |vhich ooes
not allov for inoivioual variation|, ano b, opttottor: in this sense, the mooel consists of cer-
tain exemplar, items serving as a source for imitation, vithout renoering a consistent pattern
to be full, realizeo in all its manifestations. The latter, more creative t,pe of mooeling is
closer to the notion of mooels useo b, Even-Zohar.
:. The primar,seconoar, oistinction originateo in the Tartu School. Lotman :q6, oistin-
guishes betveen semiotic s,stems that transmit primar, or simple, s,stem-internal, infor-
mation, ano seconoar, information relateo to the s,stems environment,. Trac signs are an
example of the rst kino, poetr, of the secono.The former semiotic s,stemcanbe static, vhile
the latter kino is necessaril, o,namic i.e., ever changing b, incorporating extras,stemic ele-
ments,. Even-Zohar, hovever, consioers repertoires primar, if the, regularl, incorporate
nev elements.
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preoictabilit,. Even-Zohar therefore acknovleoges that the notion is purel,
historical: It ooes not take long for an, primar, mooel, once it is aomitteo
into the center of the canonizeo s,stem, to become seconoar,, if perpetu-
ateo long enough :qqob: .:,. In that case, a process of reouction takes
place ano the mooel becomes simplieo.
16
Heterogeneous mooels are con-
sequentl, reouceo to homogeneit,.
While the creation of a cultural repertoire ma, seemthe result of a spon-
taneous, organic grovth vithin a societ,, shapeo b, the prevalent market
forces, Even-Zohar :qq, mooies this viev b, introoucing the notion of
culture planning. Culture planning takes place once an, boo,, inoivioual
or group, holoing vhatever position, starts to act for the promotion of cer-
tain elements ano for the suppression of other elements. There is an inter-
esting link vith Sviolers strategies of action in that groups involveo vith
culture planning can select certain elements from the cultural repertoire
to compose their strategies of action, but their strategies can also involve
the promotion of these items or the repertoire as a vhole. In both cases,
vhat is reall, at stake is the maintenance or attainment of pover in the
sociocultural s,stem.
4. Product, Producer, Consumer, Institution, and the Market
The other factors in Even-Zohars aoaptation of the akobsonian commu-
nication scheme neeo not be oiscusseo in great oetail, as their oenitions
oo not var, signicantl, from vhat is commonl, unoerstooo b, the terms
useo. The term ptoooct refers to an, performeo set of signs anoor materi-
als, incluoing a given behavior. As the outcome of an, action, the proo-
uct can be an utterance, a text, an artifact, an eoice, an image, or an
event Even-Zohar :qqb,. It is, in short, the concrete instance of cul-
ture ibio.,. The proouction of these cultural items alva,s oepenos on a
repertoire, though, as mentioneo before, the, are not necessaril, the result
of the strict implementation of a mooel. The prooucts of the activit, calleo
literature incluoe not onl, texts but also images, mooos, interpretations
of realit,, ano options of action ibio.,. Even textual fragments such as
are useo in oail, conversations in the form of quotations or narrateo epi-
sooes, are literar, prooucts, for texts harol, ever circulate on the market
or become canonizeoin their entiret, Even-Zohar :qqoc: ,.
The ptooocet is an inoivioual vho proouces, b, activel, operating a
:6. Even-Zohar applies the terms primar, ano seconoar, not onl, to the repertoire but
also to its constitutive mooels ano even to its eno prooucts: Frooucts of the conservative
s,stem I label seconoar, citeo in Segal :q8.: .,.
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repertoire, either repetitivel, prooucible, or nev prooucts Even-Zohar
:qqb,. The proouct can be a concrete cultural artifact, or a mooel oeriveo
from such artifacts, or even a full repertoire, if the prooucer is a ruler or an
intellectual alloveo to create nev cultural options. At the opposite pole of
the scheme is situateo the coromet, vho is quite simpl, an inoivioual vho
hanoles a reao,-maoe proouct b, passivel, operating a repertoire ibio.,.
This involves oecooing unoerstanoing, the message or proouct b, ioenti-
f,ing relations connections, betveen the proouct ano ones knovleoge of
a repertoire ibio.,. Ever, member of a communit, is a consumer of its
cultural artifacts, even if onl, inoirectl, or fragmentaril,in ever,oa, life,
one inevitabl, consumes scores of textual or visual fragments.
The term trtttottor refers to the aggregate of factors involveo vith the
control of culture Even-Zohar :qqb,. It incluoes ministerial oces, acao-
emies, eoucational institutions, mass meoia, ano an, agent that aects the
acceptance or rejection of mooels ano norms. On the one hano, the institu-
tion acts as a conservative force the keeper of culture,; on the other hano,
it can support the creation of nev mooels or repertoires. Neeoless to sa,,
the institution is reall, an amalgam of separate agents, characterizeo b,
internal conict.Those agents vho manage to occup, the center of the insti-
tution are commonl, referreo to as the etoo/t/mert. It is these oominant
agents or institutions that oetermine the status of a cultural artifact: A text
gains a high status not because it is valuable, but because someone believes
it to be valuable ano more important, because someone has the political-
cultural pover to grant the text the status the, believe it oeserves Shavit
:qq:: .,.
A factor closel, relateo to the institution is the mot/et, vhich Even-
Zohar :qqb, oenes as the aggregate of factors involveo vith the selling
ano bu,ing of culture repertoire, i.e., vith the promotion of t,pes of con-
sumption. Like the institution, the market is an intermeoiar, betveen
social forces ano culture repertoires ibio.,, but its oecisions are geareo
tovaro shorter perioos of time. Both the institution ano the market are
social factors that oetermine vhether a repertoire is promoteo or repuoi-
ateo ano, thus, vhether a repertoire functions or fails Even-Zohar .ooo:
o:,. Because the prooucts that are marketeo neeo not necessaril, be cul-
tural artifacts see above,, the bounoaries betveen institutions ano markets
become ver, blurreo. Consequentl,, ro,al courts, literar, salons, ano even
schools coulo be seen as both institutions ano markets.
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5. The Polysystems Intra- and Subsystemic Relations
5.1. Center versus Periphery
Even-Zohars anal,sis of the socio-semiotic s,stems internal structure
that is, the intra-relations that holo betveen the oierent subs,stemsis
grafteo on T,njanovs theor, of literar, evolution, to vhich he aooeo a
s,nchronic perspective Segal :q8.: .6668,. Ior Even-Zohar, ever, cul-
tural pol,s,stem is characterizeo b, stratication. In ever, s,stem, he ois-
tinguishes a certet ocial culture as manifesteo trtet o/to in stanoaro lan-
guage, canonizeo literature, patterns of behavior of the oominating classes
|:qqob: :|, ano a pettp/ety. Both of these strata can be further suboivioeo
into oierent subs,stems or gerte see Even-Zohar :q: o,. Though it is
sometimes possible to oistinguish more than one center, in historical cases,
centers are stratieo in such a va, that chie, one eventuall, succeeos in
oominating the vhole Even-Zohar :qqof: 88,. Due to the heterogeneit,
of the cultural s,stem, there are alva,s several repertoires competing for
oominance. As the, become more prestigious or less, these repertoires can
move from the peripher, to the center ano vice versa.
5.2. Canonicity
In Even-Zohars viev, the oistinction betveen the central ano peripheral
strata corresponos to the more traoitional oistinction betveen canonizeo
ano noncanonizeo cultural phenomena. Ior the literar, s,stem in par-
ticular, the term coror refers to those literar, norms ano vorks i.e., both
mooels ano texts, vhich are accepteo as legitimate b, the oominant circles
vithin a culture ano vhose conspicuous prooucts are preserveo b, the com-
munit, to become part of its historical heritage Even-Zohar :qqob: :,.
Hovever, the concept of canonicit, is somevhat more complex in FST
than the traoitional notion, because this theor, oeals chie, vith o,namic
canonicit,:
It therefore seems imperative to clearl, oistinguish betveen tvo oierent uses of
the term canonicit,, one referring to the level of texts, the other to the level of
mooels. Ior it is one thing to introouce a text into the literar, canon, ano another
to introouce it through its mooel into some repertoire. In the rst case, vhich
ma, be calleo static canonicit,, a certain text is accepteo as a nalizeo proouct
ano inserteo into a set of sanctieo texts literature culture, vants to preserve.
In the secono case, vhich ma, be calleo o,namic canonicit,, a certain literar,
mooel manages to establish itself as a proouctive principle in the s,stemthrough
the latters repertoire. Ibio.: :q,
As canonicit, implies being situateo at the center of the cultural s,stem, the
center is markeo b, an opposition betveen constant ano changing strata,
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oue to the tvofolo nature of canonicit,. The constant stratum is that of
extant texts, vhich essentiall, belong to the past; the changing stratum
consists of mooels vhich, as guioelines for cultural proouction, are geareo
tovaro the future Shavit :qq:: ..,. Rakefet She,, hovever, is correct in
asserting that this viev of canonicit, is far too restrictive, as it is focuseo on
literar, innovation via mooels. Whereas for Even-Zohar, the constant stra-
tum in the canon or the center of the literar, s,stem, is vholl, reserveo for
inoivioual texts, She, points out that one shoulo also take into account
the existence of canonizeo repertoires or mooels that are never oepriveo of
their literar, value. These are, in other voros, canonizeo mooels, in the
sense that, unlike central ones, the, are xeo ano ourable; the, enoure in
our literar, consciousness or, at least, the, seem to be much less sensitive
to transitions of center ano peripher, She, :qqo: :,.
The problem reall, boils oovn to Even-Zohars oversimplieo equation
of coror ano certet ano his confusion betveen ptettge ano the potential to
serve as mooels for imitation in generating nev texts ibio.: :8,. Clearl,,
items can be canonizeo in the sense that the, are largel, recognizeo ano
their prestige acknovleogeo, but not central in the sense that the, oo not
meet contemporar, prevailing literar, norms nor serve as active mooels for
prooucing nev texts, ibio.,. The canonical status of these mooels is thus
not at all relateo to a central, inuential position in the literar, s,stem. An
example of such a canonizeo item voulo be the Shakespearean sonnet. It
is obviousl, part of the canon, even at times vhen it is not fashionable
ano ooes not serve as a mooel for further text proouctionin other voros,
vhen it ooes not belong to the center of the literar, pol,s,stem.
17
In fact,
the reverse of Even-Zohars viev seems to holo true: the position of can-
onizeo items vith respect to the elo of actual proouction ano reception is
not onl, oierent from that of the central ones, it ma, even be ano inoeeo
is more likel, to be, the opposite ibio.,. Canonical texts ano mooels vill
often be consioereo outoateo or hol, ano the, are therefore not likel, to
be emulateo.
:. In Even-Zohars viev, such a mooel voulo no longer be canonical as mooel, once it has
moveo from the center to the peripher, i.e., once it has ceaseo to be inuential,a notion
that clearl, ooes not correspono to the commonl, helo viev of the canon, in vhich Shake-
speare ano the Shakespearean sonnet are unooubteol, some of the main representatives even
if the, have not alva,s been part of the canon,. Though one coulo argue that the popular
genre of the novel nov occupies the center of the literar, pol,s,stemvhich vas once occu-
pieo b, the Shakespearean sonnetit obviousl, oio not push the Shakespearean sonnet out
of the coror. Literar, evolution not onl, entails the oisplacement of certain mooels from the
center ano their subsequent oisappearance; it also proceeos b, the accumulation of a rather
stable reservoir consisting of the most valueo ano most establisheo literar, items of all past
ano present generationsin other voros, b, constructing canons She, :qqo: :,.
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It might be best, then, not to use Even-Zohars ambiguous concept of
the canon. Insteao, one voulo reserve the term cororteo for those items
texts ano mooelsthat enjo, or enjo,eo cultural prestige, vhile the term
certto/ voulo refer to those texts ano mooels that, at a certain point in
time, inuence the proouction of nev texts.
18
If this terminological oistinc-
tion is uphelo, FST is, strictl, speaking, not ver, interesteo in problems of
canon formation, as inuential mooels or repertoires shoulo not be seen as
examples of o,namic canonicit, but rather of o,namic centralit,.
Moreover, FST focuses on tracing such literar,, mooels rather than
oealing vithinoivioual vorks, though, obviousl,, one canonl, conceive of a
mooel b, means of representative texts. To orava clear oistinction betveen
the inoivioual text that enjo,s cultural prestige i.e., an item of the traoi-
tional canon, ano the text as a potential set of instructions i.e., a mooel
in the o,namic canon,, Even-Zohar :qqob: :q, sometimes talks about
corortco/ texts ano cororteo mooels. While ever, text prooucer of course
vants to see his or her text become canonical accepteo as a valuable cul-
tural contribution,, the greatest achievement is to have ones text canon-
izeo, as a mooel to be folloveo.
19
In a sense, the acceptance of the mooel
also implies the perpetuation of the vriters career. If the mooel becomes
peripheral, the author neeos to look for nevmooels in oroer to remain suc-
cessful. Usuall,, hovever, authors stick to one mooel, vhose loss of prestige
entails the authors movement from the center to the peripher, of the s,s-
tem, even if the texts are valuable in themselves. Ior the o,namics in the lit-
erar, s,stemoperate through mooels, rather than through inoivioual texts.
:8. Examples of texts that are centralas texts, not as mooelsare perhaps less obvious
but not unimaginable. In that case, a specic item from the text e.g., a character or a cti-
tious location in a oetective novel, voulo be useo in other texts e.g., in a romantic novel or
a poem,. If one accepts the strict separation of the oichotomies central versus peripheral
ano canon versus noncanon, the concept of canonicit, is further complicateo b, nev pos-
sibilities oereo for categorization b, means of combinations of the four terms mentioneo.
In that case, the four possible statuses of mooels ano artifacts vithin the cultural s,stem are:
:, canonical - central: this voulo be the logical situation, vhere items or mooels that enjo,
prestige in the s,steminuence the proouction of other cultural items or mooels in the s,stem
though She, points out that this ooes not count for oloer mooels ano artifacts,; ., canoni-
cal - peripheral: here belongs the case of the Shakespearean sonnet ano other mooels ano
items that are prestigious, thoughno longer inuential; , noncanonical -central: this voulo
be the case of mooels ano artifacts that are popular ano therefore occasion much imitation,
even though the, are far from prestigious i.e., the, enjo, no critical acclaim ano are not
taught in schools or colleges,; , noncanonical -peripheral: this is the position of vorks ano
mooels that are generall, consioereo inferior, both b, other artists vho oo not use them as
mooels, ano b, critics ano institutions vho oo not grant them prestige,.
:q. As pointeo out, a more accurate formulation voulo be that a text prooucer vishes to
see the mooel, oeriveo from his or her text, become certto/ insteao of cororteo.
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5.3. Relations between Center and Periphery
It is the o,namic tensions betveenthe center anothe peripher, that guaran-
tee the viabilit, of the cultural s,stem, because the center, vhich is usuall,
prone to petrication ano automatization, neeos the reneval oereo b, ele-
ments penetrating fromthe peripher,. If, for some reason, this reneval fails
to materialize, then the repertoires useo in the center become stereot,pes
ano lose their vitalit,: the s,stemis unable to evolve, ano it collapses oue to
its inabilit, to aooress the ever-changing neeos of societ,. Consequentl,, it
is important to orava oistinction betveen the relateo concepts of change
ano instabilit,, staticit, ano stabilit,. A s,stem is not stable because
it is static, for stabilit, shoulo not be ioentieo vith petrication:
stabilit, or instabilit, of repertoire oo not reect, or necessaril, generate, sta-
bilit, or instabilit, of the s,stem. . . . A s,stem unoergoing permanent, steao,,
ano vell-controlleo change ma, aoequatel, be consioereo stable simpl, because
it perseveres. . . . Therefore, crises or catastrophes in a pol,s,stem i.e., occur-
rences vhich call for raoical change, either b, internal or external transfer,, if
the, can be controlleo b, the s,stem, are signs of a vital, rather than a oegener-
ate, s,stem. Even-Zohar :qqob: .6,
It is also important to note that the primar,seconoar, opposition ooes not
correspono to the centralperipheral opposition. A repertoire or mooel is
not primar, because it is situateo at the center of the pol,s,stem. Inoeeo,
the opposite seems to be the case. Repertoires ano mooels at the center teno
to be consolioateo ano, therefore, seconoar, in an attempt to maintain
their central position b, blocking out innovative, threatening elements,,
vhile the peripheral elements are usuall, markeo b, o,namic innovation.
But again, the overall o,namic nature of the s,stem neeos to be stresseo,
for it vill not take long before these consolioateo, seconoar, repertoires at
the center are replaceo b, nev repertoires.
The shift of peripheral elements to the center never takes place vith-
out resistance from the more prestigious elements at the center vho see
their monopol, threateneo. These central elements vill onl, allovfor such
change in the s,stem as vill enable them to maintain their oominance:
Thus, vhenever oomination is available b, perpetuation i.e., b, non-
change,, the extent of change vill be minimal to nil. On the other hano,
vhenever non-change voulo mean loss of oomination, change vill become
the leaoing principle for the s,stem Even-Zohar :qqof: 8q,. Hovever, if
the center fails to aojust to nevcircumstances vhich usuall, implies taking
over certain elements from the peripher, in a mooieo form,, the entire
center is liable to be oisplaceo: both the group ano its canonizeo reper-
toire are pusheo asioe b, some other group, vhich makes its va, to the
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center b, canonizing a oierent repertoire Even-Zohar :qqob: :,. Those
vho cling to this oisplaceo repertoire become epigones operating on the
margins of the literar, s,stem. As a result, the peripher, houses innovating
mooels ano repertoires that have not or not ,et, been able to penetrate the
core of the cultural s,stem as vell as those that useo to belong to the center
but have novbecome obsolete. The status of a certain repertoire vithin this
hierarch, is never oetermineo b, its internal characteristics; it is insteao the
struggle vithin the semiotic s,stem that results in the selection of specic
repertoires for centralization. The outcome of this struggle is inuenceo b,
the o,namics of the s,stem itself as vell as b, the socio-cultural o,namics
in general Even-Zohar :qqof: 88,. Whether specic items gain aomittance
to the center oepenos
on such parameters as the nature of stratication vhether it is ,oung or olo
establisheo,, as vell as the volume richness, of the repertoire available.
Thus, vhen the use of the home repertoire is blockeo b, some of the factors men-
tioneo above ano others,, it is interference vith another activit,, either vithin
the same culture or in a oierent one, that becomes the major means for suppl,-
ing the neeos of change. Ibio.: q.,
In other voros, s,stems in crisis, characterizeo b, some kino of social or
cultural anemia, are especiall, susceptible to change: to a reoroering of
the s,stems internal structure a migration of cultural elements betveen
center ano peripher,, or to the intrusion of foreign elements from aoja-
cent s,stems. The onl, necessar, conoition for change is that an alternative
repertoire is available, though this availabilit, can be not just a conoition
but an important generator of orastic alterations of the s,stem. This viev
of cultural s,stems in crisis being extremel, open to intrusions from vari-
ous repertoires fromvithin or vithout the s,stem, corresponos to Sviolers
assumption that, in cultures vith unsettleo lives, several ioeologies start
v,ing for position in an attempt to replace the common, central repertoires.
6. PolysystemTheory and Bourdieus Praxiological Approach
FSTs stress on the importance of mooels as prefabricateo options that con-
strain ones action vithin a specic culture, combineo vith the vievthat the
position of an, mooel vithin the hierarch, of the cultural pol,s,stemis gov-
erneo b, socioeconomic factors, such as institutions ano the market, logi-
call, enables a rapprochement betveen FST ano sociological approaches
to the socio-semiotic phenomena unoer stuo,. Hence, researchers inter-
esteo in FST have increasingl, paio attention to the vritings of the Irench
sociologist Fierre Bouroieu see, for example, most of Even-Zohars articles
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in the :qqos, De Geest :qq6, Lambert :qq, She, :qq,. In fact, Even-
Zohar :qqb, sometimes uses Bouroieus concept of /ootto as if the pol,-
s,stemic viev of cultural s,stems ano Bouroieus approach vere perfectl,
interchangeable. There are, hovever, some important oierences betveen
FST ano Bouroieus praxiolog,.
20
Iirst, Bouroieu ano Even-Zohar have
raoicall, oierent vievs on the ontological status of the literar,, s,stem:
h,pothetical versus actual ano heteronomous versus autonomous. Secono,
FSTconicts vith praxiolog, about the oeterministic nature of the habitus.
A marriage of the tvo theories seems ooomeo from the start. Bouroieu
:qq6: .o:, openl, criticizes the RussianIormalistsanoEven-Zohars sub-
sequent FSTbears the brunt of his criticismbecause the, continue espe-
ciall, T,njanov, to believe in the immanent oevelopment of |the literar,|
s,stem, ano, like Michel Ioucault, the, remain ver, close to the Saussurean
philosoph, of histor, vhen the, assert that ever,thing vhich is literar, or,
vith Ioucault, scientic, can be oetermineo onl, b, previous states of the
literar, or scientic, s,stem.
21
Ior Bouroieu, such an approach is useless
if it ooes not take into account the social positions of the authors involveo.
Hovever, this criticism ooes Russian Iormalism ano Even-Zohar no jus-
tice, for the, sharpl, oiverge from Saussures static, homogeneous Struc-
turalism. In fact, their linkage vith Saussurian Structuralism is somevhat
bizarre, given Even-Zohars continueo interest in contextual factors ano
inters,stemic relations.
The gap betveen the tvo theories, then, voulo be fairl, eas, to brioge
if it vere not for some aooitional oierences. Whereas for Even-Zohar,
the s,stemic nature of literature is a vorking h,pothesis vhereb, to oeal
vith the h,pothesizeo relations among a set of assumeo observables, vhich
oo not necessaril, correspono to an, entit, in realit,, Bouroieu :q8: :,
oenes the s,stemof proouction ano circulation of s,mbolical gooos i.e.,
cultural prooucts, as the s,stem of oojecttce relations among oierent insti-
tutions, functionall, oeneo b, their role in the oivision of labour of pro-
ouction, reproouction, ano oiusion of s,mbolical gooos m, emphasis,.
Iielos are the social spaces vhere the agents vho contribute to the pro-
ouction of cultural vorks are situateo Bouroieu :qq:: ; m, translation,.
Moreover, these elos of s,mbolical gooos for example, the literar, elo,
are fairl, autonomous in Bouroieus viev, vhich goes oirectl, against Even-
.o. Ior earlier comparisons, see De Geest :qq6, Geloof :qq, ano She, :qq.
.:. Still, Bouroieu :qq6: .:, consioers the histor, of the novel a long eort to kill the
novelistic ano remarks that vhat happens in the elo is more ano more linkeo to a specic
histor, of the elo, ano hence it becomes more ano more oicult to oeooce it oirectl, fromthe
state of the social vorlo at the moment unoer consioeration emphasis in original,. Here,
Bouroieu comes close to ooing precisel, vhat he oeplores in Russian Iormalism ano FST.
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Zohars thesis of an open, heteronomous literar, s,stem. Consequentl,, the
relations betveen the literar, elo ano aojacent elos cultural or other, are
of minor importance for Bouroieu :qq6: :qq,:
If one realizes that each elomusic, painting, poetr,, or in another oroer, econ-
om,, linguistics, biolog,, etc.has its autonomous histor,, vhich oetermines
its specic rules ano stakes, one sees that the interpretation b, reference to the
histor, unique to the elo or to the oiscipline, is the preliminar, for an inter-
pretation vith respect to the contemporar, context, vhether one is oealing vith
other elos of cultural proouction or vith political ano economic proouction.
In keeping vith this viev, Bouroieu consistentl, treats the various elos of
s,mbolical gooos as autonomous entities ano anal,zes their internal, elo-
specic characteristics.
22
Hence, changes in the literar, elo are mainl,
inoepenoent of external changes, though the, ma, seem to oetermine
them because the, accompan, them chronologicall, ibio.: .q,. Even so,
the outcome of clashes insioe the literar, elo still oepenos on the corre-
sponoence the, have vith external clashes those vhich unfolo at the core
of the elo of pover or the social elo as a vhole, ano the support that one
group or another ma, no there ibio.: ..,. So external evolutions can
support evolutions internal to the literar, elo for example, vhen social
changes oer a nev reaoing public to nev authors, vith both the authors
ano the auoience occup,ing comparable positions in, respectivel,, the lit-
erar, ano the social hierarch,,, but an, oeterminative eects are entirel,
lacking in Bouroieus viev. In fact, if there is an, oetermination, it tenos
to vork the other va, rouno: the prooucers of cultural gooos can use their
pover, vhich oerives fromtheir capacit, to proouce a s,stematic ano criti-
cal representation of the social vorlo, in oroer to mobilize the virtual
force of the oominateo ano to help to subvert the establisheo oroer in the
elo of pover ibio.,.
A thiro ano major oierence betveen Bouroieus praxiolog, ano FST
... This is not to sa,, of course, that Bouroieu believes in the immanent oevelopment of the
literar, s,stemthis is precisel, vhat he charges Russian Iormalism vith. Ior him, rather,
the evolution of the literar, elo remains inuenceo b, s,stem-inherent impetuses, namel,,
the respective positions of the prooucers of s,mbolical gooos vithin the literar, elo as vell
as the positions the, take in their specic vorks: The science of the vork of art thus takes
as its ver, ovn object the te/ottor/tp oet.eer t.o ttoctote, the structure of objective relations
betveen positions in the elo of proouction ano among the prooucers vho occup, them,,
ano the structure of objective relations among the position-takings in the space of the vorks
Bouroieu :qq6: .; emphasis in original,. Thus, changes in the literar, elo oepeno on the
battles betveen agents ano institutions for their position in the literar, elo but also on the
positions that have alreao, been taken in literar, vorks,, vhich in their turn oetermine
the poto/e positions vithin the elo.
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involves the concept of habitus
23
ano its oeterminative nature. Bouroieu
:q8: 6, vrites:
Because subjective intentions ano unconscious oispositions |vhich constitute the
habitus| contribute to the eectiveness of the objective structures to vhich the,
are aojusteo, their interlacing tenos to guioe each agent to his natural niche
in the structure of the elo.
24
On the basis of similar statements, Dirk oe Geest :qq6: , , points out
that a merging of s,stems ano elo theor, is far from obvious; it is not at
all clear to vhat extent Bouroieus ioeas of class ano his rather oetermin-
istic viev of the habitus can be lineo up vith the perspective of the pol,-
s,stem theor, m, translation,. Similarl,, ano quite convincingl,, She,
:qq: 8, argues that Bouroieus oeterministic conception of the habitus
ooes not allovfor the heterogeneit, ano o,namics of cultural repertoric options,
nor for the leeva, for inoivioual variations vithin a given social formation . . .
or for the possibilit, that one inoivioual actor vill be able to use various reper-
toires in relation to the various gurations relevant to his habitus e.g., famil,,
occupation, ethnicit,, etc.,. What lacks in this viev is the unoerstanoing, so inte-
gral to the notion of cultural repertoires in the Fol,s,stem theor,, of the corcer-
ttoro/ nature, ano hence the relative ootoromy, of repertoric options subject to
the o,namic of mooels formation . . . ,, vhich, once establisheo, ma, not onl,
enoure be,ono the social conoitions vhich initiateo them, but also corttotror
even trtttoteother social formations.
25
With this assertion, She, obviousl, sioes vith Svioler :q86: .6,, vho
acknovleoges the usefulness of Bouroieus concept of habitusbecause
.. The habitus can be oeneo as the set of internalizeo oispositions that meoiate betveen
ones or a groups, social position ano ones practices, causing agents vho share the same
habitus to favor the same options.
.. In Bouroieus :q:: :oq:o, original text, the oeterministic nature of the habitus is even
more outspoken than in the somevhat reouctive translation: lentrelacement oes otermin-
ismes objectifs et oe la otermination subjective teno a conouire chaque agent, ft-ce au prix
oe quelques essais et erreurs, oans le lieu naturel ot /ot et pot ocorce otgr et teetc pot /o
ttoctote oo c/omp m, emphasis,. See also Koenraao Geloof s :qq: 86, assessment: Though
it be true that Bouroieu sometimes seems to hesitate as to the oegtee of oetermination implieo
in the notion of habitus, his anal,tical ptocttce invariabl, shovs that ve are oealing vith a
principle of strong oetetmtrottor vhich, accoroing to Bouroieu, lies at the basis, at the ottgtr
of social practices m, translation,.
.. Strangel, enough, Even-Zohar :qqb, himself never problematizes the possible relations
betveen the repertoire ano Bouroieus concept of the habitus: A signicant contribution to
the link betveen the sociall, generateo repertoire ano the proceoures for inoivioual inculca-
tion ano internalization is Bouroieus /ootto theor,. . . . This repertoire of mooels acquireo
ano aoopteo as vell as aoapteo, b, inoiviouals ano groups in a given milieu, ano unoer the
constraints of the prevailing s,stem relations oominating this milieu, is labeleo /ootto.
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it corresponos to the culturall, shapeo skills ano habits that are utilizeo
for the construction of strategies of action ano that inuence the goals one
vishes to achieve,et clearl, oeparts from Bouroieus oeterministic point
of viev in oening culture as a tool kit from vhich oierent agents activel,
select oesireo items. Onl, such a o,namic ano heterogeneous viev of cul-
tural repertoires can account for raoical shifts in authors repertoric selec-
tions, oespite their continueo attachment to their social group ano, there-
fore, to the shareo habitus.
Still, to oo Bouroieu justice, one has to aomit that She,s criticism is
baseo on a somevhat simplieo ano reouctive renoering of the habituss
function. Ior, in later vritings, Bouroieu :qq6: ., emphasizes that social
origin is not, as is sometimes believeo, the basis of a linear series of mechani-
cal oeterminations, vith the profession of the father oetermining the posi-
tion occupieo, ano that in turn oetermining the position-takings. Insteao,
literar, proouction oepenos upon a combination of oierent factors, such
as the social positions ano the structure of the elo vith its space of possi-
bilities ano positions taken.
26
Yet, this ooes not oiminish the oeterminative
nature of the habitus, on vhich the option chosen from the space of possi-
bilities still ultimatel, oepenos.
In spite of these raoical oierences, there are some similarities betveen
FSTs anal,sis of intras,stemic relations ano Bouroieus praxiological
anal,sis of the internal structure of the literar, elo, vhich enable a mooest
rapprochement betveen parts of the tvo theories, though never betveen
the theories in their entiret,. Both transceno the level of s,stem-internal
anal,ses: FSTb, oiscussing extras,stemic inuences onelements vithinthe
s,stem, Bouroieu b, consioering the position of the literar, elo as a vhole
in the structure of the elo of pover i.e., the position, in terms of pover ano
autonom,, of the literar, elo in comparison to the economic ano political
ones,. These approaches are obviousl, so oierent that the resemblances
can onl, holo on the level of the internal structure of the s,stem ano the
elo, respectivel,.
Both theories, then, consioer the literar, s,stem or elo a place vhere
struggles take place for the attainment or preservation of cultural prestige
orto use Bouroieus termsof cultural or s,mbolical capital. Whereas
Bouroieu focuses on the positions of authors as agents in this elo, Even-
.6. In short, the onl, va, external oeterminations are exerciseo is through the intermeoi-
ar, of specic forces ano forms of the elo, that is, after having unoergone a tettoctotottor. . . .
Economic or morphological oeterminations are onl, exerciseo through the specic struc-
ture of the elo ano the, ma, take completel, unexpecteo routes Bouroieu :qq:: :; m,
translation,.
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Zohar :qqob: :q.o, tenos to focus onthe changing positions of mooels, but
the movement of the mooel obviousl, entails the movement of the author
vho creates or uses it. Moreover, the struggles that take place vithin the
elo are, in Bouroieus :qq6: .., viev, inevitabl, conicts of oenition.
Thereb,, each part, is tr,ing to impose the ooorootte of the elo most
favourable to its interests, or . . . the best oenition of conoitions of true
membership of the elo or of titles conferring the right to the status of
vriter, artist, or scholar, emphasis in original,. FST, on the other hano,
focuses on the oisplacement of mooels vithin a given s,stemvhich causes
the s,stems perpetual ano o,namic reorganizationbut again this move-
ment of mooels necessaril, entails reoenitions of vhat is consioereo legiti-
matel, literar, or artistic, ano thus alloveo into the center. Consequentl,,
the links betveen the tvo theories are onl, present b, implication rather
than baseo on common focuses or objects of stuo,.
Still, some of Bouroieus claims about the literar, elo oirectl, corre-
spono to Even-Zohars vievs on the literar, s,stem. Here, for example, is
Bouroieu :qq6: ., on the o,namic nature of the elo, explaineo b,
the intrusion of nev groups of prooucers:
When a nev literar, or artistic group imposes itself on the elo, the vhole space
of positions ano the space of corresponoing possibilities, hence the vhole prob-
lematic, no themselves transformeo because of it: vith its accession to exis-
tence, that is, to oierence, the universe of possible options nos itself mooi-
eo, vith formerl, oominant proouctions, for example, being oovngraoeo to
the status of an outmooeo or classical proouct. . . . Each position-taking the-
matic, st,listic, ano so on, is oeneo objectivel, ano sometimes intentionall,,
in relation to the universe of position-takings . . . The meaning ano value of a
position-taking artistic genre, particular vork, ano so on, change automaticall,,
even vhile the aoopteo stance remains ioentical, vhen the universe of the substi-
tutable options simultaneousl, oereo to prooucers ano consumers is changeo.
The ioea expresseo in the rst sentence of the quote clearl, corresponos to
Even-Zohars oescription of hov central authors ano their repertoires are
relegateo to the peripher, ano become epigones once nev repertoric items
penetrate into the s,stem.
27
The remaining part of the quote shovs that
Bouroieus thinking is funoamentall, relateo to Structuralismano s,stemic
thinking. This provioes some aooitional suggestions that there are inoeeo
.. In this context, Bouroieu :qq:: ., also states that it is the battle betveen the keepers
ano the challengers that creates the histor, of the elo: the aging of authors, schools, or vorks
is the result of the ght betveen those vho have mooe t/ett mot/ ano vho ght to survive, ano
those vho cannot make their mark in their turn vithout relegating to the past those vho
have an interest in freezing time, in oefenoing ano conserving m, translation; emphasis in
original,.
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similarities in Bouroieus ano Even-Zohars thinking. It also renoers Bour-
oieus criticism of FST for its aoherence to some o,namic, Structuralist
tenets all the more questionable. Hovever, oespite these corresponoences,
the foregoing oiscussion oemonstrates that one shoulo treao varil, vhen
tr,ing to align Bouroieus praxiolog, ano Fol,s,stem Theor,.
7. The Polysystems Inter-Relations with Other Polysystems
7.1. Conditions for Inter-Systemic Relations
The postulateo characteristics of the pol,s,stems intra-relations also
exteno to the inter-relations betveen the pol,s,stem ano the aojacent
pol,s,stems. Ior if one generalizes the relationships among the vari-
ous subs,stems of a particular pol,s,stem, one arrives at the ioea of a
mega-pol,s,stem, consisting of various pol,s,stems belonging to oier-
ent cultures. Neeoless to sa,, these notions hurl one tovaro innit,, as ever,
subs,stemof a pol,s,stemis in itself a pol,s,stemconsisting of several pol,-
s,stemic sub,subs,stems, vhile ever, mega-pol,s,stem is the subs,stem of
a still larger entit,. A scientic equivalent voulo be the line that runs from
atoms to galaxies, fromnuclear ph,sics to astroph,sics. These s,stemic con-
stellations are alva,s changing, in line vith the boroers among as vell as
vithin s,stems. This accounts for the o,namic aspect of ever, pol,s,stem.
The interrelations can holo among oierent pol,s,stems that are part of
one ano the same culture e.g., literature ano philosoph,, as vell as those
belonging to oierent cultures or communities. The former kino rests on
the assumption that an, semiotic pol,,s,stem such as language or lit-
erature, is just a component of a larger pol,,s,stemthat of culture, to
vhichit is subjugateo ano vithvhichit is isomorphicano therefore corre-
lateo viththis greater vhole ano its other components Even-Zohar :qqob:
..,. It is important to stuo, the relations among the various components,
for their contact is a basic factor in the evolution of an, open s,stem
Yahalom :qq: 6; m, translation,. A unioirectional relationship betveen,
for example, the social situation ano the literar, repertoire can no longer be
postulateo, but onl, a mutual give-ano-take Even-Zohar :qqob: .,. Ior
the stuo, of such relationships, nonliterar, texts assume great importance:
It is useful to stuo, the contacts betveen a national literar, s,stem ano other
cultural s,stems through s,stems of nonliterar, verbal texts because, in this va,,
the concept of the oouble function ano the oouble ontological level of those
contacts becomes more apparent. This concerns a, the entr, of nev mooels of
realit, social, ioeological, political, into the literar, s,stem|;| b, the reshaping
of textual mooels in the literar, s,stem. In this context, one can conceive of s,s-
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tems of non-literar, verbal texts as provioing the literar, s,stemvith |aoaptable
realit,| mooels. These mooels are the verbal organizations of social, political,
ano ioeological mooels. Yahalom :qq: :,
Hovever, even the stuo, of literar, texts per se shoulo not be pursueo along
too restrictive lines. If one accepts the pol,s,stemh,pothesis, Even-Zohar
:qqob: :, varns, then one must also accept that the historical stuo, of
literar, pol,s,stems cannot conne itself to the so-calleo masterpieces,
even if some voulo consioer them the onl, totor oette of literar, stuoies in
the rst place.
28
Value juogments that excluoe in aovance specic vorks
from the corpus investigateo shoulo therefore be avoioeo in a pol,s,stemic
approach.This is not to sa,, hovever, that value juogments are aliento FST:
the, oo matter, but onl, as objects of investigation, for it is oue to them
that the pol,s,stem is stratieo. Iailure to incluoe noncanonizeo strata in
the anal,sis of the literar, pol,s,stem can obfuscate the o,namics behino
interference:
links betveen literatures have often gone unoetecteo even vhen the, exerciseo
a oecisive inuence on these literatures oevelopment ano nature. Links have
tenoeo to be sought onl, in the expecteo places. Yet intercultural contacts in gen-
eral, ano inter-literar, contacts in particular, are not alva,s so simple ano overt
as the, might seem, ano it is not alva,s the most famous ano central vriters
vho serve as the source for features borroveo ano aoopteo b, a target litera-
ture. More often than not, this transfer, or movement of mooels, takes place
through less renovneo vriters vho have not gaineo a central canonizeo position
ano vho vere likel, to have been quickl, forgotten after their oeaths, ,et vho
might have been extremel, popular ano vioel, reao. This ma, have been oue
partl, to the fact that the mooels such vriters teno to use are more transparent
ano oigestible, but partl,, too, it is precisel, their non-central position in the
literar, pol,s,stem vhich makes an easier penetration possible. Even-Zohar
:qqog: :6,
The objective of FST, hovever, goes be,ono the stuo, of the literar,,
pol,s,stem of one particular communit,. Its secono major aspiration is
to oeal vith the particular conoitions unoer vhich a certain literature ma, be
interfereo vith b, another literature, as a result of vhich properties are trans-
ferreo fromone pol,s,stemto another. Ior instance, if one accepts the h,pothesis
that peripheral properties are likel, to penetrate the center once the capacit, of
the center i.e., the repertoire of the center, to fulll certain functions has been
veakeneo Shklovskijs secono lav,, then there is no sense in oen,ing that the
.8. See also Even-Zohar :qqb: Iar too little research is oone on cultural texts vithout repu-
tation ano especiall, on texts vhich, though saturateo vith the traits of oe//e-/ettte, oo not
have the function of literar, texts ano are not institutionalizeo as such m, translation,.
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ver, same principle operates on the inter-s,stemic level as vell. Even-Zohar
:qqob: .,
On the inters,stemic level, this interference
29
takes place vhen the target
s,stem the receptor of nev elements, ooes not possess a sucient reper-
toire for nevl, neeoeo functions, or is preventeo from using an extant,
even a variegateo, repertoire because of the latters inaoequac, |to those
functions| Even Zohar :qqof: q,. At that point, a transfer of elements
from a foreign repertoire might occur to supplement or replace the home
repertoires.
30
This suggests that an, cultural s,stem vill tr, to preserve its viabilit,
through an internal, o,namic reshuing of its central ano peripheral ele-
ments, so as to renev the center via aooitions from the peripher,. If the
repertoires available vithin the s,stem are insucient to oeal vith the
changing sociocultural circumstances, then the s,stem vill either collapse
or open itself up for reneval via repertoires importeo fromneighboring s,s-
tems that possess the requireo options. In that case, the home s,stem vill
consioer the aojacent s,stem more complete, oevelopeo, or aoapteo
for the attainment of a certain goal, vhile consioering itself inferior
Yahalom:qq: 6; m, translation,. Because this interference betveen pol,-
s,stems often takes place via the peripheries, one neeos to pa, attention to
phenomena such as semiliterar, texts ano translateo literature, vhich are
usuall, neglecteo in literar, historiograph,.
31
Translateo literature, vhich
ma, constitute the initial channel for interference Even-Zohar :qqof:
q,, can inoeeo substantiate the ke, role pla,eo b, alternative, foreign
repertoires.
7.2. Translated Literature
What, then, is the position of translateo literature vithin the literar, pol,-
s,stem` As innovator, forces, translations can actuall, pla, an important
role in shaping the center of the literar,, pol,s,stem b, introoucing not
onl, nev mooels of realit, to replace the olo ano establisheo ones that are
.q. Interference is oeneo as a relationship, betveen literatures, vhereb, a certain litera-
ture A a source literature, ma, become a source of oirect or inoirect loans for another litera-
ture B a target literature, Even-Zohar :qqoe: ,.
o. An example of such a s,stem in crisisor oepenoent s,stemvas the Irench literar,
s,stem in the eighteenth centur,, vhich subsequentl, openeo itself up for transfers from the
English literar, s,stemYahalom:qq,. The concept of ttorfet refers to the process vhereb,
importeo gooos are integrateo into a home repertoire, ano the consequences generateo b,
this integration Even-Zohar :qqc,.
:. Due to Even-Zohars stress on the importance of translateo literature, FSThas been espe-
ciall, inuential in the elo of translation theor,see, for example, vorks b, os Lambert
ano Gioeon Tour,.
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no longer eective, but a vhole range of other features as vell, such as a
nev poetic, language, or compositional patterns ano techniques Even-
Zohar :qqoo: ,. The insertion of elements or repertoires from an aoja-
cent s,stem into a target s,stem chie, takes place in three situations: a,
vhen a pol,s,stem has not ,et been cr,stallizeo, that is to sa,, vhen a lit-
erature is ,oung, in the process of being establisheo; b, vhen a literature is
either peripheral vithin a large group of correlateo literatures, or veak,
or both; ano c, vhen there are turning points, crises, or literar, vacuums
in a literature ibio.,. This is vhat happens vhen one or several of these
factors operate in the literar, s,stem:
The o,namics vithin the pol,s,stem creates turning points, that is to sa,, his-
torical moments vhere establisheo mooels are no longer tenable for a ,ounger
generation. At such moments, even in central literatures, translateo literature
ma, assume a central position. This is all the more true vhen at a turning point
no item in the inoigenous stock is taken to be acceptable, as a result of vhich
a literar, vacuum occurs. In such a vacuum, it is eas, for foreign mooels to
inltrate, ano translateo literature ma, consequentl, assume a central position.
Ibio.: 8,
Usuall,, hovever, translateo literature is situateo at the peripher, of the lit-
erar, s,stem, as no s,stemcanremainforever ina state of veakness or crisis.
An,va,, the transfer can be calleo successful if the center of the target s,s-
tem embraces not just the foreign text, but especiall, the mooe/ introouceo
b, this text.
Nor is translateo literature as a collection of texts or mooels, the onl,
result of interference betveen oierent pol,s,stems. Even-Zohar :qqoe:
, points out that the role ano function of literature, . . . the relations
betveen religious, political, ano other activities vithin culture ano literar,
proouctionall ma, be mooelleo in a given culture in relation to some
other s,stem. Aprerequisite is obviousl, that there is some formof contact,
if onl, inoirect, betveen the tvo s,stems.
S,stems that Even-Zohar calls oepenoent, the most conspicuous exam-
ples of vhich are minorit, literatures, are especiall, open to interference,
oirect or inoirect. In the former case, the prooucers in the target literature
are conversant vith the language of the source literature ano therefore have
oirect access to the source texts. In the latter case, the contacts are somehov
meoiateo, for instance, via translations, texts oooot the source texts, or an,
sociocultural activit, that brings the source literature to the attention of the
agents in the target s,stem. In mooern times, the mass meoia are often the
major channel for such contacts: vhereas fashions ano conventions govern-
ing the repertoire useo to be oictateo b, the ruling classes, these classes
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have been replaceo b, a variet, of milieus empovereo to oictate fashions,
such as the mass meoia ano their celebrities, highl, respecteo critics, ano
others participating in the struggle over norms in societ, Even-Zohar
:qqoh: .:o,.
7.3. Laws of Literary Interference
Largel, on the basis of his anal,ses of the Yiooish, Hebrev, ano Russian lit-
erar, pol,s,stems, Even-Zohar formulates ten general principles or lavs
of literar, interference:
Lttetotote ote recet tr rortrtetfeterce. Interference betveen literar, s,stems
is the rule rather than the exception. Therefore, a researcher is ercootogeo
to look for interference as a highl, likel, option, ano reject it onl, if a non-
interference solution can be shovn to be ttorget Even-Zohar :qqoe: 6o;
emphasis in original,.
Irtetfeterce t mot/y ort/oteto/. If the interference t mutual, it is usuall, not
of equal impact on the tvo s,stems. This principle is somevhat question-
able, hovever, as Dmitri Segal :q8.: .8,, using the example of the literar,
situation in the Soviet Union, points out ver, obvious exceptions to it.
Lttetoty trtetfeterce t rot receott/y /tr/eo .tt/ ot/et /ece/ of trtetfeterce oet.eer
commorttte. This lav is especiall, relevant to communities that are geo-
graphicall, separateo, for in that case, literar, inuence is full, conceiv-
able on its ovn Even-Zohar :qqoe: 6.,. In contiguous communities, inter-
ference vill teno to take place on oierent levels, though not necessaril, in
literature.
Cortoct .t// ooret ot /otet geretote trtetfeterce tf ro tetttrg corotttor otte.
Interference, in other voros, occurs onl, unoer favorable conoitions. Even
if a source literature is available, chauvinistic or protective attituoes vithin
the potential target literature can prevent interference from taking place,
but aojacent s,stems can never resist interference on all levels.
A ootce /ttetotote t e/ecteo oy ptettge. This means that the source litera-
ture or elements therein, is consioereo a mooel to be emulateo, oue to its
cultural poveror cultural capital, in Bouroieus terms. The s,stems cul-
tural pover can be relateo to its political or economic pover, but it is not
necessaril, so.
A ootce /ttetotote t e/ecteo oy oomtrorce. In this case, the source literature is
oominant oue to extracultural factors, such as politics or economics. This
is most conspicuous in the forceo, interference betveen the literatures of
colonialimperialist povers ano the literatures of their subjects, even if the
target s,stem is characterizeo b, resistance.
Irtetfeterce occot ./er o ytem t tr reeo of ttem orocot/oo/e .tt/tr tte/f. This
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situation, vhere a s,stem in crisis seeks alternatives in foreign s,stems, has
alreao, been oiscusseo at length.
Cortoct moy to/e p/oce .tt/ or/y ore pott of t/e totget /ttetotote, t/ey moy t/er
ptoceeo to ot/et pott. While foreign elements or repertoires are importeo into
certain sections of the s,stem usuall, situateo at the peripher,,, other sec-
tions can remain untoucheo, though the, can appropriate these importeo
elements at a later stage.
Ar opptopttoteo tepettotte ooe rot receott/y motrtotr t/e forcttor tt petfotm tr
t/e ootce /ttetotote. Once the repertoire has been appropriateo, its value
ano hence its functionis no longer oetermineo b, its role in the source
literature, but b, the internal relations ano hierarchies that holo vithin the
target s,stem. Repertoires ma, have moveo to the peripher, of the source
s,stem b, the time the, occup, the center of the target s,stem.
Apptopttottor tero to oe tmp/teo, tego/otteo, c/emotteo. Complex, pol,-
semic patterns vill teno to be reouceo vhen taken over b, another litera-
ture. Still, the opposite can also holo true, since a target literature ma,
take simplieo mooels ano elaborate upon them, vith prooucts generateo
b, them in a non-simplieo, non-regularizeo, non-schematizeo context
Even-Zohar :qqoe: .,.
Apart from its somevhat unjust equation b, Bouroieu vith static Struc-
turalism, Fol,s,stemTheor, has met vith ver, little criticism, though some
minor oeciencies vere pointeo out in this introouction. An aooitional
oovnsioe to Even-Zohars open-s,stem approach is that it arguabl, pre-
cluoes a trul, exhaustive stuo, of the phenomena unoer investigation, as so
man, factors have to be taken into accountboth vithin the s,stem itself
ano vithin aojacent or geographicall, removeo s,stems. But this cannot
be consioereo a oefect. A oetaileo stuo, of the inoivioual phenomena that
make up the s,stem simpl, lies be,ono the reach of explanator, mooels for
general cultural phenomena such as FST; this form of scrutin, is reserveo
for the more s,nchronic approaches to cultural s,stems. Nevertheless, com-
bining a pol,s,stemic approach vith textual anal,ses for the stuo, of a
specic /ttetoty s,stem, can brioge the chasm betveen the tvo approaches.
8. PST in Practice: Jewish American Literature in the
PostWorld War II Cultural Polysystem
To concluoe this oiscussion of Fol,s,stemTheor,, I vill ver, concisel, illus-
trate its important role in m, ovn research, vhich involves the stuo, of
Irench existentialism in the postWorlo War II evish American novel.
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Neeoless to sa,, the scope of this stuo, outreaches the bounoaries of the lit-
erar, s,stem as such. FST, hovever, makes it possible to anal,ze hov three
aojacent subs,stemsthe political, the religious, ano the philosophical
interfere vith the postWorlo War II American literar, s,stem. These sub-
s,stems obviousl, oo not exist in mere juxtaposition. The, are intricatel,
intertvineo, each thoroughl, aecting its neighbors.
The Holocaust, arguabl, the most important ano unsettling event in the
tventieth centur,, obviousl, hao a major impact on the American politi-
cal s,stem. Even-Zohars insistence on the role of trtttottor in ever, socio-
semiotic event see Section . of this article, makes it possible to trace hov
the Holocaust, as a specic repertoric element a so-calleo repertoreme
or cultureme,, appears in the political-institutional ano journalistic-
institutional oiscourses before, ouring, ano after Worlo War II. The ini-
tial peripheral status of the Holocaust is illustrateo b, the minimization
or blatant oisregaro of evish suering before ano ouring Worlo War II
in the oiscourses anal,zeo.
32
The American political institutions notabl,
the anti-Semitic State Department; see Ieingolo :qq: q8,, as vell as
the mass meoia, refuseo to acknovleoge the fate of the European evs.
In fact, the term Ho/ocoot, as a reference to the organizeo oestruction of
ve to six million evs, vas createo onl, in the late :qos see Young :q88:
8,. Until then, there vas not even a tetm in English to refer to the specic
events, far less a tefetert existing in the perception of the American pub-
lic. Onl, near the eno of the var, vith the liberation of the concentration
camps b, American GIs, oio the atrocities of Worlo War II receive extensive
press coverage in the Uniteo States Abzug :qqq: :q8.,. Hovever, against
all expectations, given the magnituoe of the European carnage, the meoia
attention soon oieo oovn: the Holocaust clearl, remaineo a peripheral
element in American public ano institutional oiscourses from the eno of
Worlo War II to the earl, :q6os. It took a number of oevelopments in the
earl, :q6osmost conspicuousl,, the Aoolf Eichmann trial in erusalem,
Hannah Arenots :q6, controversial coverage of the trial, ano the :q6
Arab-Israeli conictfor the Holocaust issue to establish itself at the center
of the American political s,stem Novick :qqq: :6.,.
33
.. Onl, Ittto//roc/t, one of the rst blatant violations of evish rights, receiveo extensive
meoia coverage. It vas the subject of almost one thousano eoitorials ano vas featureo on
the front page of the è. 1ot/ Tme for more than a veek. Though the atrocities increaseo in
intensit, throughout Worlo War II, none of the subsequent events in the Holocaust receiveo
the same oegree of attention in the è. 1ot/ Tme Lipstaot :q86: 8; Novick :qqq: .:..,.
. The centralit, of the Holocaust in the political s,stemshovs itself in feoeral government
funoing for the major Holocaust museums inWashington, D.C., NevYork, Los Angeles, ano
other cities Novick :qqq: .6,. In aooition, the central position of the Holocaust has pla,eo
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Recall that an, semiotic subs,stem correlates, on the one hano, vith the
larger cultural, pol,s,stem ano, on the other hano, vith the other subs,s-
tems that make up the pol,s,stem. Changes in one subs,stem vill, there-
fore, teno to aect the aojacent subs,stems. Hovever, vhen repertoric ele-
ments migrate from one s,stem to another, the positions ano the functions
of these items in the source s,stem are irrelevant for the target s,stem
Even-Zohar :qqob: .., :qqof: q,. These mechanisms are illustrateo b, the
correlation betveen the political ano the theological subs,stems in post
Worlo War II America.
The movement of the Holocaust issue from the peripher, to the cen-
ter of the political s,stem i.e., from an almost negligible to a major fac-
tor in political oecisions, creates a oramatic shift in the evish, American
religious s,stem, vhich suooenl, vitnesses the rise of raoical or oeath-of-
Goo, theolog,. Discussions of the Holocaust inthe political s,stemcentereo
on the responsibilit, of the human perpetratorsessentiall, the Nazis, but
also the inoierent Allies. In the religious s,stem, the increasing visibilit, of
the Holocaust leo to questions about the responsibilit, of Goo. This is not
to sa,, hovever, that the oeath of Goo theolog, vas a oirect result of the rise
in Holocaust avareness; Frotestant theologians, such as Thomas Altizer
ano William Hamilton, vere also proclaiming the oeath of Goo see Care,
:qqq,. But the popo/ottty of raoical theolog, ouring the :q6os can partl, be
explaineo b, the centripetal movement of the Holocaust in the political
s,stem. Ior, vhen Richaro Rubinstein incorporateo the Holocaust into his
thinking about the oeath of Goo, his occ oe coroo/e, Aftet Aoc/.tt :q66,,
catapulteo him, as vell as the Death of Goo movement, into the center of
the American theological s,stem see Roth :qqq: o,. Hovever, oespite its
instant successthe Death of Goo movement even maoe the cover of Tme
magazine in :q66raoical theolog, quickl, lost its appeal ano, b, the eno
of the :q6os, hao shifteo from the center to the peripher, of the theological
s,stem.
The o,namics vithin these tvo subs,stems in turn explain the penetra-
tion of Irench existentialisminto the American philosophical s,stemano its
popularit, vith evish American intellectuals. Ior Irench existentialism,
vhich originateo ouring Worlo War II, is chie, concerneo vith human
responsibilit, in extreme specicall, vartime, situations Sartre :qq: ::,.
Its basic tenet is the oeath of Goo, vhich is a preconoition for human
responsibilit, Sartre :q6: 6,. The groving importance of the Holocaust
issue in the political s,stem ano the immense though short-liveo, popu-
an important role in U.S. foreign polic,, as the conict in the Mioole East vasano is
often vieveo in relation to the Holocaust mooel Berenbaum :qqo: ,.
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larit, of raoical theolog,, then, can help explain the suooen boomin Irench
existentialism in American philosophical institutions. A case in point is
the changing attituoes of the philosophical institutions tovaro ean-Faul
Sartrethe major representative of Irench existentialism in the Uniteo
Statesano Sartrean existentialism.
The change follovs the rule that, vhen nev repertoires enter a s,s-
tem, the s,stems initial reaction vill be resistance or oovnright rejection,
because the acquisition of a nevrepertoire can be painful ano risk,. Hov-
ever, if the repertoire is consioereo richer, more prestigious, it vill graou-
all, be accepteo ano move to the center of the target s,stem Even-Zohar
:qqf, :qqc,. This is precisel, vhat happeneo to the Irench existential-
ist repertoire vhen it entereo the American philosophical s,stem. Initiall,,
its reception vas extremel, negative: Sartres ioeas vere consioereo an
ephemeral philosophical reection of var-torn Europe . . . , an intellec-
tual b,proouct of the var Iulton :qqq: .8,. This negative reception vas
largel, oue to the American eoucational s,stems reluctance to support for-
eign language stuo, ibio.: .,: Sartres extremel, popularizeo version of his
existentialist philosoph,, LExttertto/tme et or /omortme :q, vas avail-
able in English b, :q Exttertto/tm,, ano this highl, reouctive account
became the basic text of Irench existentialism for scholars in the Uniteo
States.
34
In :q, hovever, Sartre hao alreao, publisheo his major contribu-
tion to philosoph,, LEtte et /e rort, vhich immeoiatel, put him on the map
in Irance Iulton :qqq: :.,. But American philosophers hao to vait until
:q6 for Hazel Barness translation Betrg oro òt/trgre,, ano this interval
accounts for the oela,eo response of the American philosophical institu-
tions to the existentialist repertoire.
35
B, the earl, :qos, the Irench existentialist repertoire starteo penetrat-
ing the American institutions: courses on Sartreanism rst appeareo in
philosoph, oepartments, papers on Sartre vere reao at meetings ano con-
ventions, ano existentialism became the topic of oiscussion in a prestigious
lecture series ibio.: 6,. The real vogue of existentialism hit the American
philosophical s,stem in the late :qos ano earl, :q6os, vhen innumerable
surve, courses brought structural changes to college philosoph, oepart-
. Sartre gave his lecture LExistentialisme est un humanisme on October .q, :q, in the
Farisian Club Maintenant. It became a cultural success vithout preceoent Cohen-Solal
:q8: .8; m, translation,. The small :q6 volume vith the same title is baseo on a series
of similar lectures ano the subsequent questions from the auoience. This volume vas such a
orastic oversimplication of Sartres philosoph, that the author later regretteo its publication.
Ior more information, see ibio.
. The major philosophical vork of Albert Camusthe secono representative of Irench
existentialism in the Uniteo Statessuereo the same fate: Le Myt/e oe Styp/e :q., vas
available in English translation T/e Myt/ of Styp/o, as late as :q.
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ments ano articles on existentialism proliferateo ibio.: ::.:,.
36
Clearl,,
Irench existentialism then pervaoeo the American philosophical institu-
tions: in :q6., its central position resulteo in the founoing of the Societ,
for Fhenomenolog, ano Existential Fhilosoph, at Northvestern Universit,
ibio.: :,.
Because Irench existentialism also, ano importantl,, manifesteo itself in
literatureSartre ano Camus vere men of letters as vell as philosophers
there is in aooition the interference betveen the Irench ano American lit-
erar, s,stems. Sartres ano Camuss literar, vorks vere more reaoil, avail-
able to American scholars than their philosophical vorks for tvo reasons:
rst, scholars in Irench oepartments vere able to reao the Irench originals,
ano secono, the relevant major novels, pla,s, ano stories vere translateo
after an average of onl, . ,ears as opposeo to the : ,ears for the philo-
sophical vorks,.
37
As a result, Irench existentialisms single most impor-
tant port of entr, into America inthe mio-:qos vas theYale Irenchoepart-
ment Iulton :qqq: ..,.
This links up vith the important role of translateo literature in introouc-
ing nev repertoires into a foreign target s,stem. Such transfers of foreign
elements take place specicall, in cultures vith unsettleo lives Svioler
:q86: .8, vhen there arise turning points, crises, or literar, vacuums in
a literature Even-Zohar :qqoo: ,. At those moments, foreign mooels
inltrate the home repertoire. A culture vith unsettleo lives is an apt
oescription of the postWorlo War II American cultural s,stem, especiall,
for the evish American communit,, vhose literature is the subject of this
oiscussion. There vas a general feeling, hovever, that the American literar,
s,stem as a vhole especiall, the American novel, vas in a state of crisis,
that the center of the s,stem vas petrieo, ano that there vas no aoequate
repertoire to oeal vith the postWorlo War II situation: there is abunoant
evioence that the imagination of the contemporar, novel, particularl, in
America, has remaineo lockeo in certain stereot,peo mooes of perceiving
ano recoroing realit, that it has inheriteo from the mooern classic literar,
6. The :qos ano :q6os also vitnesseo a ooo of book-length stuoies of existentialism in
English. Some examples are Hazel Barness T/e Lttetotote of Potot/tty: A Stooy tr Homortttc
Exttertto/tm :qq,; William Barretts Ittottoro/ Mor: A Stooy tr Exttertto/ P/t/oop/y :q8,;
ames Collinss T/e Exttertto/tt: A Cttttco/ Stooy :q.,; Wilfreo Desans T/e Ttogtc Ftro/e: Ar
Eoy or t/e P/t/oop/y of }eor-Poo/ Sottte :q,; Marjorie Grenes Dteoofo/ Fteeoom: A Cttttoe of
Exttertto/tm :q8, ano Ar Irttooocttor to Exttertto/tm :qq,; Walter Kaufmanns Exttertto/-
tm ftom Dotoyec/t to Sottte :qq,; ano Robert Olsons Ar Irttooocttor to Exttertto/tm :q6.,.
. Ior Sartre, this holos for Lo òoe :q8; òoeo |:qq|,, LAge oe totor :q; Age of Reo-
or |:q|,, Le Mooc/e :q; T/e F/te |:q|,, Hot C/o :q; ò Extt |:q|,, ano Le Mot
:qq; T/e 1o// oro Ot/et Stotte |:q8|,. Camuss major vorks are LEttorget :q.; T/e Sttorget
|:q6|,, Lo Pete :q; T/e P/ogoe |:q8|,, ano Lo C/ote :q6; T/e Fo// |:q|,.
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past, but that, as stereot,pes, have novceaseo to relate meaningfull, to the
realit, of vhich ve are, or ought to be, most intensel, avare Alorioge :q66
|subtitleo T/e Cortempototy òce/ tr Cttt|: xi,.
38
Such literar, vacuums
teno to be lleo b, foreign repertoires.
Hovever, vhen introoucing nev mooels into a repertoire, the person-
alit, of the prooucers the stor, about them, is often as important as
the vork itself, for the mass meoia ano their celebrities oictate fashions
ano conventions that govern the repertoire Even-Zohar :qqoh: .:o,. Sartre
became such a celebrit, in the Uniteo States. In :q6, he visiteo the Uniteo
States for a series of lectures, vhich took himto overcrovoeo lecture rooms
at Yale ano Harvaro, ano the American meoia reacteo vith enthusiasm to
the presence of one of Irances most oistinguisheo menof letters. Articles b,
ano on Sartre ano his famous aair vith Simone oe Beauvoir, appeareo in
journals ano nevspapers as variegateo as the è.1ot/et, è.1ot/ Pot, Tme,
Vogoe, òttor, Hotpet Booot, Ltfe, At/orttc Mort//y, è.1ot/ Tme Mogotre,
Potttor Recte., ano man, others. Sartres philosophicall, inspireo pla,s
vere even performeo on Broaova,. Stories abounoeo in vhich Sartre vas
praiseo as a vartime hero for his vork in the Irench Resistance or vilieo
as a false bohemian. Often, commentators vere interesteo in the author
rather thaninhis vork Iulton:qqq: .,. As a result, Sartre anoSartrean
existentialism became a real fao in the Uniteo States.
Because of its anit, vith Worlo War II ano oeath-of-Goo theolog,,
the existentialist repertoire became popular vith evish American authors.
One of the earliest authors to embrace it vas Saul Bellov, vho vas born
in Quebec ano speaks Irench uentl,. The results shov in his novels of
:q Dorg/trg Mor, ano :q T/e Vtcttm,, vhich introouceo the mooel of
the existentialist novel into the pettp/ety of the American literar, s,stem:
the, vere publisheo b, a minor publishing house Vanguaro, ano vere not
commercial successes.
39
Nev repertoires or mooels t,picall, enter the s,s-
tem via the peripher,, ano their penetration into the center oepenos not
so much on their inherent qualities, but on the historical circumstances, on
the socio-semiotic struggles vithin the s,stem ano socio-cultural o,nam-
ics in general Even-Zohar :qqof: 88,. Thus, vith the increasing popularit,
of Irench existentialism in the American cultural s,stem, Bellov sviftl,
moveo to the center: his next novel, T/e Aocertote of Aogte Motc/ :q,,
vas publisheo b, Viking ano became a commercial success. B, the mioole
:qos, Bellovs mooel hao become so prestigious that an impressive num-
ber of evish American authors vho folloveo it entereo the center of the
8. See also Braobur, :qq.: :6o on the poor state of American vriting in the :qos.
q. Zohar Shavit :qq:, points out that texts baseo on a nev mooel are usuall, publisheo not
b, a prestigious publishing house but b, one that has not ,et, gaineo a central position.
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literar, s,stem.
40
Some maoe it into the canon, others vere soon forgotten,
but their suooen success can be explaineo b, their implementation of the
increasingl, popular existentialist repertoire.
This brief oiscussion of four aojacent subs,stems of the postWorlo
War II American cultural s,stem shoulo illustrate the vioe range of pos-
sibilities oereo to stuoents of various cultural, semiotic phenomena b,
a pol,s,stemic approach. It oemonstrates that Fol,s,stem Theor, makes
it possible to stuo, :, the o,namic interactions betveen subs,stems that
clearl, overlap ano intersect, ., the penetration into the literar, s,stem of
foreign repertoires via translateo literature, ano , the movement of reper-
toires as vell as their prooucers, vithin heterogeneous semiotic s,stems.
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