Prodesse et delectare: The World of National Literatures and the World of Literature

Abstract

In a survey of the writing of literary histories in Europe, it is first pointed out that, in classical Antiquity and in the early Christian period from the fourth to the 12th centuries, such histories were transnational. After the Middle Ages, in which we find only catalogues of particular libraries, the rise of the European nation states in early modern times motivated the writing of national literary histories. With a concentration on the development in Britain, it is then shown that this development reached its peak in the 19th century, yet is still very strong today. In comparison, some examples of histories of European literature show that such transnational histories may also be informed primarily by the principle of prodesse in presenting either written culture or only what seems favourable for the understanding of national literary history; they may, however, also give more attention to literature and the imagination than to nations or culture and in that way foster delectare.