New Spain, New Literatures

1: On Rivers and Maps: Iberian Approaches to Comparatism

3 u 1 On Rivers and Maps: Iberian Approaches to Comparatism Enric Bou For many years, scholars have studied the case of Spain, and even the entire Iberian Peninsula, as a separate entity within the confines of Europe.1 Countries such as Portugal and Castile, that were once leaders in the transformation of the Western world, opening up new and poignant ways of relationship with the Other, have become modern nations which, because of their eccentricity, are commonly depicted as failing to fulfill the requirements of the Northern European paradigm. The ways of colonialism and the access to modernity have been, for these countries, everything but an easy path. Thus, scholars (some within the context of Europe, others within the framework of globalization and colonialism) have used terms like “alternative ,” “marginal,” and “peripheral” to portray the Iberian experience.2 Though well-­ intended, this kind of approach only stresses the original sin of the accuser: “Let the one without sin cast the first stone.” Recent studies, such as John H. Elliott’s Empires of the Atlantic World (2007), teach us many lessons. For one thing, they show that colonialism and its aftermath is a convoluted history in which there are only losers, particularly among the “discovered.” When discussing general historical and cultural movements, Elliott portrays in dazzling ways the many oddities related to time and space. The complications introduced by the effects of time-lag are further amplified by the effects of fragmentation, and by the complex dialogue between center and periphery, which is the unpredictable implication in the colonizing society of its creation of parallel worlds, similar but extremely different. This mirror effect can be further developed if we turn the tables and look at just the case of Castile and Portugal —or, even better, the entire Iberian Peninsula—from such a perspective. By this I mean looking at the study of cultural issues from a multicultural and plurilinguistic perspective, which allows us to shift paradigms and challenge preconceptions. In recent years we have witnessed an unfathomable general reassessment of what it means to study culture/literature in the Iberian Peninsula, as has been suggested by several studies.3 Tensions connected with the overlapping movements of national affirmation and globalization have provoked different perspectives, new ways of look- 4 ENRIC BOU ing at old issues. What was once depicted as a backward and lagging area in Europe, has, in recent years, been looked at very differently. Issues of multiplicity and cultural difference have been revalued as something positive and as potential sources of inspiration and reformulation for the tortuous, unresolved, postcolonial narratives of former major players, such as the UK or France. Not too long ago, Joan Ramon Resina inquired in non-rhetorical terms: “What would happen if Hispanism were conceived as a supranational discipline in which the various cultures of the Iberian peninsula (including the Portuguese) could be studied in a non-hierarchical relation to each other?” (114). However, this poignant question has not yet been satisfactorily answered. Here I propose a reflection on comparative literature in the Iberian Peninsula, which takes into account this emerging drive for the redefinition of Hispanism. I will do this through the reading of two motifs, rivers and maps, as a way of presenting a different version of Comparatism, one more akin to issues of center and periphery, otherness and non hierarchical assumptions. This approach is not exactly a “humanistic geography.” Although this project owes much to that field, it is not by any means inscribed in that tradition. Rather, it is indebted to the idea of restoring and making explicit the relation between knowledge and human interests. In this article I want to emphasize a goal I have in common with geographers: “to explore how worlds, places, landscapes, meanings, and human experiences are socially constructed and help constitute specific cultural contexts” (Adams, Hoelscher, and Till XVI). In fact, what I pursue is both a reflection on Comparatism and the discussion of two practical cases, which provide lessons on how to read in a non-centripetal way. Claudio Guillén’s “Europa: ciencia e inconsciencia,” a chapter in his latest book Múltiples moradas (1998), suggests a way of “reading” Europe. He explores in a new light some concepts dear to him, such as the combination of unity and diversity , which he deems crucial in a general discussion of Comparatism. He proposes that the conceptualization of “Europe” is aware of and based on the awareness of it as a heterogeneous conglomeration of juxtaposed...