La hipótesis del ovillo desmadejado

Abstract

This chapter explores some of the challenges posed by a ‘comparatist’ definition of Iberian Studies. These challenges relate to the reification of the genealogy of cultural, institutional or political links that often justify Iberian literary research. They are also characterised by the tendency to idealise the Iberian context as a net of relations ‘between equals’, which contributes to hide the heterogeneity and the hierarchies between the literary units under analysis. The case of Majorcan literature and culture – an often excluded node of the Iberian ‘peninsular’ network – will be used to argue that exploring this topic from its so-called peripheral ‘others’ offers some solutions to this ‘comparatist’ definition in the contemporary context. Specifically, this chapter focuses on two different aspects of relevance to Iberian Studies: the difficulty of defining the local or regional status of Majorcan literature, and the intersection of local and global synergies in its actual configuration.