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    Schools of Comparative Literature-1

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    Schools of comparative literature

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    SCHOOLS OF COMPARATIVE LITERATURE-1

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    1 views7 pages

    Schools of Comparative Literature-1

    Uploaded by

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    Schools of comparative literature

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    of 7

    SCHOOLS OF COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

    Introduction :

    Ø Comparative Literature was established in France during the 19th


    century as an academic discipline : France 1816

    Ø It reached America only during the 20th century through the German
    scholars who migrated to America from Hitler’s Germany

    The French School :

    Ø In the French sense of Comparative Literature, it is the moral


    responsibility of every French Comparatist to trace and relate the world
    literary experience to the French literary response because , according to
    him, the French literature is the backbone of the universal literary system

    Ø Therefore, they were interested in analysing the external sources and


    influence of works. In the French School, Comparative Literature becomes
    an ancillary discipline in the field of French literary history

    Ø The French school was too narrow and relied too heavily on factual
    evidence

    Ø It argued that Comparative literature ought to involve the study of two


    elements ( two different languages)

    Ø Comparatists of the French School also distinguish between direct /


    indirect influence, literary / non-literary influence, positive / negative
    influence

    Ø Jean Marie Carre, Rene Etiemble, Paul Van Tieghem, Balden-Sperger


    are some of the famous French comparatists

    The American School :


    The other important school is that of the American comparatists from the
    land of free and mixed culture

    America is called a nation of immigrants in the words of Francois Jost. It


    is of many races but the Americans feel attached to their homeland along
    with their current American culture. In America, Comparative Literature
    was encouraged as an academic discipline in universities and institutions
    of higher learning

    The academic freedom given to the teachers promoted the multiplicity of


    literary responses and theories. A healthy tolerance in the field of literary
    appreciation was developed; and the scope of Comparative Literature was
    widened

    The eminent practitioners of the American school are H.H.Remak, Harry


    Levin, Verner Freidrich, Francois Jost, Arthur Kumar and many others

    The American School:

    The American school came as a reaction against the French school.

    It is has mainly two fields of study:

    Ø Parallelism:

    The parallels between writers and works. It gives no importance to


    influence

    Ø Intertextuality:

    Old texts turn into some sort of raw materials used for the creation of new
    ones.

    The American school, however, was completely different. It was a lot more
    liberal. Henry Remak

    According to it, anything could be compared with anything else, regardless


    even of whether that was literature or not. Interdisciplinary and universal
    Unlike the French one, the American school will even allow you to
    compare a poem with a song

    Differences between French and American Schools :

    Ø The French and the American Schools differ in many aspects

    Ø The French prefer a narrow positivist attitude and the Americans form a
    very broad approach to Comparative Literature

    Ø The French scholars created Comparative Literature as a branch of


    literary history and a study of International relations as seem in the study
    of Byron and Pushkin or Goethe and Carlyle

    Ø The French comparatists are primarily concerned with the study of


    Influence of or Reception to an author or authors abroad, i.e. with the
    study contactual relation between authors. E.g. Shelley and Bharathi

    Ø To the Americans, it is an aesthetic discipline concerned with the study


    of Analogies or Parallels in literature beyond the confines of a particular
    country

    Ø It is also a study of the relationship between literature and other arts or


    other areas of knowledge

    Ø Through the American approach is broad-based and uninhabited, there


    is a possibility that it may encourage a kind of spurious scholarship
    unless one is very well- versed in two different areas of knowledge

    Ø Scholars like Ulrich Weisstein favour a more constructive approach

    The French analogy studies are favoured by the American comparatists

    Comparatists like Van Tieghem are not against such studies provided they
    point to common trends. Another distinguished scholar, Rene Etiemble
    has given his support to analogy studies and has also demonstrated how
    well they can be done
    He has also called for a comparative study of such aspects like metrics,
    stylistics, etc. He is for a cautious approach to Parallel studies,
    enthusiastically recommended by the American comparatists, Remak and
    Rene Wellek

    He is for a parallel study of two writers belonging to the same civilization,


    though of different literatures

    The Russian School :

    Ø Yet another school is the Russian Comparatists, rooted in the


    philosophy of Communism

    Ø The Russian Comparatists believe that literature is a social property


    though is created by an individual artist

    Ø It belongs to the state which has the ultimate control over the artist

    Ø The creative artists witness the social happenings and present a


    realistic account of what they experience

    Ø The comparatists probe into such realistic considerations and assess


    the kind and variety of social realism which forms the root spirit of
    Russian Comparatists

    Ø Some of the chief components of Russian school can be mentioned as


    Victor Shlovisky, Roman Jakobson, Yury Tynyonov and Zhirmunsky. The
    Soviet approach neglects the aesthetic aspect of literature, ignores the
    spontaneity of the human mind and it refuses to give credit to the
    individual artist

    INDIAN SCHOOL OF COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

    Ø India is a country where many languages are being spoken and good
    creative literatures are produced in all the major languages

    Ø Hence, more than any other country in the world. India needs the study
    of comparative literature
    Ø Ever since comparative literature was introduced in Jadavpur
    University, it is emerging as a strong force in India

    Ø After the French, American and Russian schools of comparative


    literature, Indian comparatists are becoming very popular

    The Beginnings :

    Ø The Indian School of Comparative Literature was established in 1956 at


    Jadavpur University by Doctor Buddhadeva Bose, a popular Bengali poet,
    novelist and critic

    Ø He established the Department of Comparative Literature in the


    Jadavpur University amidst great opposition and protest .

    Ø He also edited are reputed journal called The Jadavpur Journal of


    Comparative Literature, which carries rare articles on Comparative
    Literature

    Ø He can be called the Father of Comparative Literature in India

    Ø Originally, the Department of Comparative Literature studied the


    influence of the 19th century French symbolist poetry on Bengali poetry.
    Later, the study was extended to other areas and writers

    Ø Arrangements have been made to make elaborate researches on


    Bengali and Tamil literatures. Gradually, Comparative Literature spread to
    some North Indian and South – Indian Universities

    Ø Many Universities have introduced a paper at the Under – Graduate


    and Postgraduate levels. A few Universities like Madurai – Kamaraj
    University in the South have constituted a separate department for the
    study of Comparative Literature

    Ø Delhi University has made special provisions for comparative studies


    of literature in major Indian languages like Hindi, Bengali and Tamil
    Ø Dr. R.K.Das Gupta has taken initiatives in this field. Taking technical
    help from experts in the field, the Central University at Hyderabad has
    started teaching Comparative Literature. Moreover, researches at the
    Ph.D. level have been encouraged and undertaken in many Indian
    Universities

    Dravidian School :

    Ø Dravidian School of Comparative Literature consists of scholars in


    Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Two scholars are considered to be pioneers in
    the field of Comparative Literature in the south – V.V.S. Iyer and Dr.
    Kailasapathy

    Ø V.V.S. Iyer made an in – depth study of the Ramayana by Kambar. With


    his critical acumen and training in other languages, he compares Kambar
    with Homer, Virgil, Milton and Valmiki and establishes him as one of the
    greatest epic poets of the world. This, we can call the first step in his field

    Ø The next is the step taken by Dr. Kailasapathy of Jaffna University in


    Sri Lanka. He made a systematic study of Comparative Literature

    Ø He compared the Sangam poetry with the heroic poetry with the
    Western Literature. His Tamil Heroic Poetry published in 1966 is the
    second step. It is he who coined the term “Oppiyal Ilakkiam” in Tamil.
    Again, his book Oppiyal Ilakkiam (Comparative Literature) deals with the
    general principles of Comparative Literature. Some of his writings show
    his Marxist leanings

    Ø Other notable contributions include Thaninayaka Adigal's beautiful


    comparisons between the Sangam poetry and Tirukural with the Greek
    and Latin literature

    Ø Similarly Dr.V.S.P.Manickam compared the concept of love in Sangam


    poetry with the heroic love celebrated in Greek poetry. We can also find
    awareness and the importance of the comparative angle in the works of
    the venerated Tamil scholars like Vaiyapuri Pillai

    Madurai – Kamaraj University :


    Ø Madurai – Kamaraj University has done yeoman – service to the cause
    of Comparative Literature

    Ø It is the first University in the whole of South India to open the


    Department of English and Comparative Literature

    Ø Dr. T.P. Meenakshisundaram's lectures delivered at the Third World


    Tamil Conference (1970) and Tamil and Other Cultures, paved the way for
    the establishment of Comparative Literature

    Ø Dr.V.Sachithanandan, who had his training under the German


    Comparatists in America, submitted a paper, “ The Impact of Western
    Thought on Bharathi”. He made a detailed research comparing Whitman
    and Bharathi

    Ø Moreover, he has published a full – length study of Comparative


    Literature in Tamil. Renowned scholars are doing their best to promote
    Comparative Literature

    Principles of the Indian School of Comparative Literature :

    Ø The Indian School is like the American School of Comparative


    Literature. The scholars here take up comparison between one literature
    and the other as well as the comparison between literature and other arts
    and disciplines. India offers ample scope for comparative study with her
    rich traditions of arts and cultures

    Ø Indian comparatists try to unite Indian cultures by comparing and


    translating literatures. They help in the understanding of cultures. Indians
    take pride in their literatures. Proper comparative studies will bring out the
    qualities of each literature

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