Introduction :What is comparative literature today -

1. Comparative Literature
A Critical Introduction(1993)
Introduction :
What is Comparative
Literature Today ?
Susan Bassnett

2. Bhatt Riddhiben
riddhi28bhatt@gmail.com
Sem : 4
Roll no. : 15
Comparative Literature &
Translation Studies
MAHARAJA KRISHNAKUMARSINHJI BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
Panchasara Jignesh
jigneshpanchasara5758@gmail.com
Sem : 4
Roll no. : 08

4. Table of Contents
Brief sketch of
Susan Bassnett
Introduction
Analysis
Key Argument
Work Cited
01
04
02
05
03

5. Brief Sketch of
Susan Bassnett
01

6. ● Susan Edna Bassnett, FRSL (Fellow
of the Royal Society of Literature) is
a translation theorist and scholar of
comparative literature.
● She served as pro-vice-chancellor at
the University of Warwick for ten
years and taught in its Centre for
Translation and Comparative Cultural
Studies, which closed in 2009.

7. Introduction
02

8. ● There have been various definitions of comparative literature, which greatly varies
from one scholar to another, but they all agree that it is one of the most modern
literary sciences.
● Throughout the past two decades, new critical theories, such as gender-based
criticism, translation studies, deconstruction and Orientalism, have changed
approaches to literature and accordingly have had a profound impact on the work of
the comparatists.
Sooner or later, anyone who claims to be working in
comparative literature has to try and answer the inevitable
question : What is it ? The simplest answer is that
comparative literature involves the study of texts across
cultures, that it is interdisciplinary and that it is
concerned with patterns of connection in literature across
both time and space.( Bassnett, p.1)

9. ● "Everywhere there is connection, everywhere there is illustration," as Matthew
Arnold puts it. According to Susan Bassnett, everybody who is interested in
books is on the path to comparative literature.
● We come upon Boccaccio while reading Chaucer. Shakespeare's primary
materials may be traced back to Latin, French, Spanish, and Italian.
● We can see how Baudelaire's affinity for Edgar Allan Poe influenced his own
writing. Consider how many English authors learnt from the great Russian writers
of the nineteenth century.
● We may compare James Joyce's borrowing and lending to Italo Svevo. Clarice
Lispector reminds us of Jean Rhys, who in turn reminds us of Djuna Barnes and
Anais Nin.

10. Key Arguments
0
3

11. ● Comparative Literature revolves around the study of literature outside the borders
of one particular culture, the study of relations between literature on the one hand
and other areas of human expression such as philosophy on the other hand.
Critics have also related it to history as it examines the convergence (junction) of
different literatures and its historical aspects of influence, considering that
Comparative Literature is the essence of the history of literature, beyond the scope
of one culture or language
● Another arguments is there west students of 1960 claimed that comparative
literature could be put in single boundaries for comparative literature study, but she
says that there is no particular method used for claiming.
● Critics at the end of the twentieth century,in the age of postmodernism,still wrestle
with the same questions that were posed more than a century ago :

12. 1. What is the object of the study in comparative literature?
1. How can comparison be the objective of anything?
1. If individual literatures have canon, what might a
comparative canon be?
1. How can be comparatist select what to compare ?
1. Is comparative literature a discipline? Or is it simply a field
of study ?

13. The key points in Analysis
The methodology
of comparative
literature
Dynamic shifts in
comparative
literature
Crisis of
comparative
literature in the
postmodern
literature field
03
01 02

14. Analysis
What is Comparative Literature
Today?
04

15. ● A comparative analysis involves an interdisciplinary study of texts across cultures, as it
is concerned in connecting different works of literature across both time and space.
Hence, it requires moving beyond the boundaries of a single subject area to find out
how texts, authors or cultural contexts are related. Matthew Arnold propounds that no
single literature is adequately comprehended except in connection to other literatures.
“Everywhere there is connection, everywhere there is
illustration.No single event,no single literature is
adequately comprehend except in relation to other events,to
other literature.” (Arnold,1857)
● Comparative Literature is an inevitable stage in reading. To conduct a comparative
analysis you should have already read for different prominent writers, for instance:
Chaucer, Shakespeare, Baudelaire, Poe, Joyce, etc. Reading extensively means that
you will be able to move across any frontiers as noted by Goethe through which you
will be able to perceive culture differences.

16. “Comparative Literature …will make high demands on the
linguistic proficiencies of our scholars.It asks for a
widening of perspectives, a suppression of local and
provincial sentiments,not easy to achieve.”(Wellek and
Warren,1949)
● Wellek and Warren go on to state that, “Literature is one; as art and humanity are
one.”It is an idealistic vision that recurs in the aftermath of major international crises.
● The focus is no longer comparing texts and tracking patterns of influence, besides,
new theories emerged like: Structuralism, deconstructionism, semiology,
psychoanalysis, etc.
● The Eurocentric CL studies, which focused only on the ideal of universalism, the third
world schools have turned to focus on the specificity of national literatures and
directly influenced the rise of nationalism and the interest in cultural identity. The
West started to be scrutinized from without from a radical alternative perspective.
African, Indian and Caribbean comparatists have refused the denial of their cultural

17. ● The 'Myth of the Other' emerged and the concept of 'Great Literature' has become
questioned. Comparative Literature has developed globally as a result of the
mounting national consciousness of the need to move beyond the colonial legacy.
Shakespeare in India represented the representative of colonial values and thus it
is not easy to treat his literature comparatively.
● Comparative Literature, cross-cultural criticism, has lost ground in the West and it
is no longer a binary study as many comparatists are approaching many challenges
and it is being compared to translation studies, which are significantly important at
times of great cultural changes. The long unresolved debate is on whether CL is or
is not a discipline in its own right.

18. ● According to Ganesh Devy, comparative literature in India is inextricably related
to the birth of modern Indian nationalism. He observes that comparative
literature has been utilised to assert national cultural identity.
● There is no notion here that national literature and comparative literature are
irreconcilable. The argument is significant because it helps to remind us of the
roots of the word Comparative Literature in Europe, a phrase that originally
originated during a period of national conflict, when new limits were being
established.
● The issue of national culture and identity was then debated throughout Europe
and the United States.

19. Let’s Sum Up

20. What is Translation Studies' contribution to Comparative Literature?
● Translation Studies has progressed to the point that many people regard it as a
distinct field in its own right. Work in linguistics, literary studies, history, anthropology,
psychology, and sociology all contribute to Translation Studies. It makes the daring
claim that translation is not a peripheral activity, but rather a key shaping agent for
change in cultural history. Translation has historically been claimed as a sub-category
in comparative literature, although this assumption is currently being challenged.
● Scholars including such Toury, Lefevere, Hermans, Lambert, and others have
demonstrated that translation is especially important at times of tremendous cultural
upheaval. According to Evan-Zohar, substantial translation activity occurs when a
civilization is in transition. However, when a culture feels it is dominating, translation
becomes less necessary. Whereas comparative literature inside the West is moving
backwards, translation studies is gaining strength.

21. Work Cited
05

22. ● Asaad, Sondoss Al. “Summary Of Susan Bassnett's A Critical Introduction To
Comparative Literature | Sondoss Al Asaad - Academia.edu.” Summary Of Susan
Bassnett's A Critical Introduction To Comparative Literature | Sondoss Al Asaad -
Academia.edu, Www.academia.edu,
https://www.academia.edu/40176264/Summary_of_Susan_Bassnetts_A_Critical
_Introduction_to_Comparative_Literature.
● Bassnett, Susan. “Comparative Literature A Critical Introduction.” "Introduction :
What Is Comparative Literature Today ?" , 1993.
● Wellek, and Warren. Theory Of Literature , 1949.

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