The Specialism of Unspecificity: Autonomy Claims and the Authority of Modern Writers

Abstract

Autonomy is often interpreted as a historical phenomenon: in field theory and other historical narratives about literature, we see the tendency to formulate a ‘starting point’ for the autonomization of the literary field and of poetics. Drawing on the ideas of Andrew Goldstone and others, this article develops a different perspective. It shows that literary autonomy also functions as a discourse, through which authors claim a social position. This position is not one of detachment and demarcation, but one of a principled lack of any specific political or ideological attachment. Some writers, including important Dutch authors such as Multatuli and Willem Frederik Hermans, use this autonomy claim to underpin their authority.