SCHOOLS OF COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

Introduction :

Ø  Comparative Literature was established in France during the 19^th century as an academic discipline : France  1816

Ø  It reached America only during the 20^th 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 19^th 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