Admire Literature

   IMPORTANCE OF TRANSLATION FOR THE STUDY OF COMPARATIVE LITERATURE :       Masterpieces have been produced in all languages. No scholar can master all the languages to master these texts. Literary translation thus becomes indispensable for the study of comparative literature. It is only through translation that many of the literary masterpieces of one country have found a bearing   and become 'naturalised' in other countries. People have been able to share the experiences and emotions expressed in foreign works. Men of letters have always been profoundly influenced by them Source Language and Target Language  WILL TRANSLATION SPOIL THE SPIRIT OF THE ORIGINA ?      It is generally believed that translation will destroy the writer's precise balance of thought, feeling, written word and the sound. May be that they have been exaggerated. It is true that the punning of Thomas Hood or the alliteration of Swinburne may not be adequately translated in another language. Bu

  Introduction:   From the earliest periods philosophy and literature were inter-connected. The Greeks in the old period and the Romantics in the 19th century regarded literature and philosophy as indistinguishable . Again, the poets and the philosophers were regarded by the Greeks and the Romans as prophets . Only in the later generations both philosophy and literature came to be distinguished Philosophy is Abstract but Literature is Concrete Philosophy is abstract and universal but literature is concrete and particular. Philosophy is discursive (i.e. logical) whereas literature is rhetorical. Philosophy is theoretical but literature may explain the same theory with beautiful, easy examples. The 16th century critics Sir Philip Sidney makes the following observation about literature and philosophy. According to him, the end of all knowledge is the teaching of virtue . Both philosophy and history play their parts to teach virtue. History does it by actual examples from the past.

  Sociological study of literature can be brought under the scope of Comparative Literature on two valid grounds: (a) The American School of Comparative Literature, represented by H.H. Remak, extends the comparison between literature and a branch of another area of knowledge, such as sociology. (b) The second reason is that literature is also about society. An individual creates literature in a social context, linking literature with society Literature and Society Literature represents life which is a social reality. The writer is a member of the society sharing specific social values. The readers also are social beings. Therefore, the questions raised by literature, by implication, are social questions. The popular sayings like "Literature is an expression of society" and "Literature is a criticism of life” explain this point The social causes that affect the literary composition are the social origins of a writer, the nature of the writer's audience and the h

Definition of Genre 'Genre' is a French ('kind, sort’) term that denotes a recurring type of literature, which is often called 'literary form'. The genres into which works of literature have been classified at different times are very numerous and the criteria for the classification are also varied C.T. Lemon defines 'genre' as a body of literary works identified by the presence of certain well-known conventions. The term 'geneology' is often used to refer to the study of genres Genre is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time Genre, Movement and Period Genre, Movement and Period are interlinked concepts. The development of a particular genre may have links with certain movements and similarly a genre can develop in a particular period. For example, the ode and the lyric are linked mainly with the Romantic Movement. The novel and the s

Introduction v   Thematology or study of themes is a new area in the field of comparative literature. It was introduced by the famous American comparatist, Harry Levin. It was he who coined the term ‘Thematics’ or ‘Thematology’ v   Thematology is a comparative study of literary works as they relate to other literary works as far as the themes are concerned Themes and Motifs Thematology involves the study of ‘themes’ and ‘motifs’ . Both are basically different but modern literary critics use them as interchangeable terms. A motif is a recurring element in a work of art. It may be an incident or a device or a formula. For example, folklores have a common motif of a ugly woman becoming a charming princess. Another common motif is bemoaning of the bygone past in lyrics. The ‘theme’ is a recurrent element but it is related to the subject-matter to both form and content Motif vs Theme The theme is the central idea or message where as the motif constitutes the unit from which th

IMPORTANCE OF LITERERY HISTORY v   Literary history is very important for the comparatists as it treats literary works as phenomena influenced by time, place and circumstances (Closure of theaters by the Puritans in 1642 and no love poems) v   Literary history  charts their developments and experiments in writing in the hope that global discourse will be stimulated and cultures come to understand one another. It relates, compares, and categorizes the poetry, prose, drama, and reportage of authors at various periods IMPORTANCE OF LITERERY HISTORIAN v   The job of a literary historian (one who studies the history of literature) is to describe the historical process of interpretation by arranging the individual   works of art in smaller or large groups according to authorship, genre, style, etc. This arrangement or division of literary works into segments is known as periodisation v   Rene Wellek (René Wellek was a Czech-American comparative literary critic) finds fault with th

RECEPTION STUDY Ø   Influence study  is an attempt to trace the  influence  of a writer Ø   Influence Study is an attempt to trace the influence of a writer (Emitter) or for a set of writers upon another (Receiver) in the area of theme, idea, attitude, technique, etc. Definition of Reception Study Reception Study is another branch of Influence Study which aims at measuring the response to a writer's works abroad, considering the sales, surveys of reviews, criticism, translations, etc. of the particular work It is concerned mainly with the relations between a work and its ambience, which includes the authors, readers, reviewers and the social surroundings Influence and Reception Ulrich Weisstein has dedicated a separate chapter for Reception Studies under 'Influence Studies'. He distinguishes between, 'Influence' and 'Reception’. According to him 'Influence' should be used to denote the relations existing between finished literary products

  Analogy A comparison between things that have similar features, often used to help explain a principle or idea A comparison of two otherwise unlike things based on resemblance of a particular aspect   Definition of Analogical Studies   A.O. Alridge, the famous American comparatist, defines Analogy as 'resemblances in style, structure, mood or idea between works which have no other connection’. Influence Study Ø   Influence Study is an attempt to trace the influence of a writer (Emitter) or for a set of writers upon another (Receiver) in the area of theme, idea, attitude, technique, etc. Analogy or Parallel Study Ø   While Influence Study assumes a direct causal relationship between the emitter and the receiver, Analogy Study is concerned with the investigation of two authors or works without necessarily implying a direct causal relationship between them The definition refers to two kinds of analogical studies q     (i) The first is a study of certain common