As I understand it, one of the primary concerns in the field of Mormon literature is the disconnect between Mormon writers (many of whom are steeped in the modern and post-modern conception of English literature) and the mainstream Mormon audience. Jusdanis' book, which I encountered in a graduate course on nation, memory and diaspora, explores the case of Greece, a country that experienced 'belated modernity,' and so experienced a similar disconnect -- -not with its own writers but with the dominant literary traditions of western Europe, traditions that it wanted to adopt in order to recreate that other western European phenomenon the nation state.

I believe that one of the primary challenges for the field of Mormon literature is that it too experiences this sense of 'belated modernity.' While there are many important differences with the Greek case that Jusdanis presents, his work has helped me identify what some of those differences might be, and, more importantly, it presents a model of how to research a field of literature that is influenced by, but on the margins of the dominant literary tradition.

Jusdanis discusses how literature became institutionalized in western European culture (which didn't happen until the advent of modernism, the middle class, and the nation) and then shows why things happened differently in Greece. While he relies on contemporary literary and cultural theory, he stays clear of jargon, explains his terms and clearly and succinctly summarizes the other theorists he brings into the discussion (either as support or to disagree with). He uses theory to help frame his historical research -- -which is exhaustive but not overpowering.

Jusdanis shows how the 'things' that institutionalized literature in Germany, France and England -- -the rise of criticism and interpretation, the emergence of print culture, the formation of a literary canon -- -couldn't be imported into Greece in quite the same way because it was a very different society, one resistant to secularism.

This comparative approach is remarkably effective. The Western European model of literature, the one most of us are familiar with, views other literatures as deficient because it has already gone through a process of aestheticization, which places an emphasis on form and aesthetics and stresses the primacy of interpretation as the proper way to 'read' texts. It is able to do so because the national identity in those countries has already formed, the nation is already in power. But in communities where national identity is not completely formed and/or where it is not in power, literature is still in the service of building community -- -thus it is generally political and didactic. Because Jusdanis so fully explains and explores the Greek case, I found it much easier to relate the theoretical concepts to actual literary practices.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in how literature helps form cultural identity. And I would especially recommend it to anyone who is interested in exploring the development of Mormon literature.

Finally, I would recommend this book because it got me over my thinking of Mormon literature as somehow deficient. While Jusdanis does discuss the limitations of non-dominant literature, he also accomplishes, at least for this reader, one of his stated goals: "My general goal is rather straightforward -- -to show that things have not always been so and can therefore be changed. In choosing to write about the construction of a national literature in a peripheral country as an example of belated modernization, I wish to demonstrate that current practices in western culture constitute not a reality but a field of contingencies to which neither our present nor future should be held hostage. Only current ideologies terrorize us into believing there are no alternatives" (xvii).

One of the central tensions to Mormon literature is the desire to both integrate into and create a tradition separate from western culture. This book helps explain why this tension exists. It is up to Mormon scholars to explore how it manifests itself in Mormon literature. For those who want to do that (and I think I'm one of them), this book is a good place to start.