Pascale Casanova

Translations always have their difficulties no matter how great the prose, but some languages carry more weight than others. French critic Pascale Casanova uses an innovative economic model to situate such writers as Beckett, Faulkner and Joyce on a world map of culture that exists independently of both economics and politics. Her new book from Harvard University Press, the already controversial The World Republic of Letters opposes naturalistic studies of literature to advocate literary capital as a viable, border-crossing currency, especially for smaller nations with rich traditions that are dying at the feet of the western world's literary giants. Host Charles Ruas draws her out in this interview, highlighting ideas that are sure to set the heads of academy spinning. Ms. Casanova, a scholar associated with the Center for Research in Arts and Language in Paris, is also the author of Samuel Beckett: Anatomy of a Literary Revolution and the winner of the Grand Prix des Gens de Lettres.

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