Comparative Literature

• Etymologically, the term means “ any literary

work that compares “. Such a comparison
could be in terms of structure, style or the
philosophic vision.
• A study in comparative literature ought to lead
us to a more comprehensive and adequate
understanding of the works and their authors.
Mainly it seeks to study interactions between
literatures written in various countries in
various languages.
• Comparative literature is a literary discipline
and ought to be recognized as the most
important academic activity of the present
era, in which the East and the West are
merging and unifying the world into a single
whole.
• Just as a national literature is the reflection of
the national history, so in the world literature,
a by-product of comparative literature, is
reflected the course of civilization.
• Although comparative literature as a distinct
body of humanities is of recent origin, literary
comparison as a critical exercise has been in
use for more than 2000 years in Europe. It
was Matthew Arnold who used the term
‘comparative literature’ for the first time in
1948.
• Speaking about the plurality of the discipline,
he says ‘ no single event, no single literature,
is adequately comprehended except in its
relation to other events or other literatures.
We must compare…the works of other ages
with those of our own age and country…to
know how others stand, and we may know
how we ourselves stand…
• The comparatists adopt various approaches in
their investigations. Some of them merely
find out identities or similarities, some only
differences and disparities, while some others
both. Such studies may not be entirely futile,
but they end to serve the true ends of
comparative literature.
• The aim of the comparatist, in our opinion,
should be to find out the implications and the
underlying identities of both similarities and
differences so that even the differences can be
given a proper place in a deeper and more
comprehensive understanding of the artist.
• An analysis of literary influence towards the
understanding of a work of literature is of
utmost importance. No work exists in
isolation. Each work of art, however unique,
can be traced back to sources; and the
influences undergo a considerable change in
the process of re-creation and in the finished
product they emerge as something quite
different and new.
• For example, the influence of great epics – the
Ramayana and the Mahabharatha on the
Indian Life. These have been store houses of
unsurpassed human experience in all its
grandeur and beauty.
• The world of epics was the embodiment of the
real world of the living organism, and of the
spiritual consequences of human life. It is not
surprising therefore that every region in the
country, adding to the growth of the traditions
of the literary translations and adaptations of
the epics, actively participated in the true
tradition of the country.
• Regional writers re-wrote these epics in their
respective languages and gave their own
interpretations to some of the episodes. The
imagination of the readers was so receptive to
the epics that these became a part of their
consciousness.
• These became a source of inspiration to the
new generations which acquired all the
knowledge incorporated in the epics of their
times. Thus we can trace a continuous flux of
contact of the public and the epics on one
hand and of writers attempting the genre on
the other.
• Influence is a significant phenomenon in the
history of literature. Influences play an
important role as links within a network of
inter-related works.
• For example, no one would deny that in
America, the transcendental writings of the
mid-19th century were greatly influenced by
the Indian philosophic and religious thought.
• It would indeed make an interesting study to
analyze the circumstances that brought
America and Indian literarily and
philosophically so close in spite of their being
geographically at antipodes. When Indian
thought entered the American consciousness,
there did not exist the modern means of
communication. It was literary tourism through
which the minds traversed all over the distance.
• Initially India attracted traders and
missionaries from America which then led to a
cultural exchange between the two countries,
resulting into a keen American interest in the
literary and philosophical heritage of India.
• Before the independence of its colonies,
America shared a common bond with India;
both the countries were yoked to the British
domination. There existed, therefore, an
indirect link between America and India.
• The British influence and dominance was
unquestionably responsible for bringing the
two segments of its empire closer to each
other. Thus India and America, before the
American war of Independence, were
politically so placed that they could not help
being drawn to each other.
• It was the American trade with east India
Company that acted as ‘via media’ for the
import of Indian thought to America. The early
trade venture with India, besides bringing tea,
spices, silk and other commodities to the
American market, opened new vistas of
knowledge – both cultural and spiritual – for
the new world.
• This explains why the Americans of the first
half of the 19th century responded to India so
enthusiastically. They were trying to discover
in Indian thought and philosophy, the spiritual
values, they felt, they had lost in the material
progress.
• It was an era of industrialization and America
was overtaken by a tide of material prosperity.
People were shocked at the loss of values. The
intellectual and spiritual facets of man were in
the process of being submerged in the rush for
easy riches. Both Western and American
scholars looked upon the East as the only
hope for their spiritual rejuvenation.
• The American idealists freely drew upon the
Hindu writings to feed their high imaginations.
The ideas of Hindu philosophy were deeply
reflected in the writings of Emerson, Alcott
and Thoreau. They were the major exponents
of Hindu thought in America.
• The Indian classics, translated into English,
were available and a good number of
Americans responded enthusiastically to
them.
• Thoreau’s philosophy made a great impact on
Gandhiji. Both practiced vegetarianism.
Gandhi read Thoreau’s essay on ‘civil
disobedience’.
• Both of them derived inspiration from Hindu
literature and civilization. Their approach to
life bears a similar outlook. Gandhi’s
experiment with truth, like those of Thoreau,
are his spiritual revelation.