Comparative literature, the combined study of similar literary works written in different languages, which stresses the points of connection between literary products of two or more cultures, as distinct from the sometimes narrow and exclusive perspective of English Literature or similar approaches based on one national canon. Advocates of comparative literature maintain that there is, despite the obvious disadvantages, much to be gained from studying literary works in translation.
The various scopes of comparative literature are further complicated by its concerns. The French School, as often pointed out, is primarily concerned with “modes of transmission,” “reception, success and influence,” “sources,” “foreign travel,” and “the image of a country in the literature of another country,” etc. The American School, on the other hand, is mostly concerned with “analogies without contact,” or “typological affinities.” The different concerns have then made scholars focus their attention on various literary problems: themes or motifs, movements or schools, genres, stylistics, forms, techniques, traditions, and other literary “relations,” which in fact are part and parcel of literary theory or criticism. Yet all concerns and all focuses are governed by the aims of study.
The aim may tend towards one’s national literature as an “influential” literature or as a genetic headspring of other literatures. The aim may also tend towards an idea of “General Literature” or “World Literature,” though the two terms have raised very much controversy as to what they really mean and are still to be debated for their use. So both, the French and the American Schools of comparative literature, are similarly searching unity in variety, though the latter with its location in a continent of more cosmopolitan culture naturally tends more towards the idea of World Literature.
For better understanding on Comparative Literature, we will look at the first parameter – Influence, on the two versions of Cinderella’s tale which is ‘Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper’ by Perrault and ‘Cinderella’ by Dahl. Even though these two versions can be recognized or categorized as fairy tales which have been adapted from the archetypal tale of Cinderella, nevertheless, both are written in different ways and styles; both have their significant meaning and implication that contribute to the development of each tale. In other words, the two versions have some sort of similarities and differences.
Throughout the tale, readers would find that Cinderella’s character is obviously different from the archetypal character where Dahl’s character seems unrounded. Here, readers are exposed to Dahl’s skill at characterization. At the beginning of the tale, Dahl has successfully manipulated the language in portraying his character as being rude, demanding and selfish, but later, in the middle and at the end of the tale, after she found that the prince is too cruel and irresponsible for his action, she is portrayed as having the sense of self-realization. Instead of marrying the prince which is typically appears in most versions, Dahl’s character is married to a simple jem maker. Because of that, for sure, this would affect the readers as they would find that Dahl’s tale is unpredictable. In other words, Cinderella’ character more or less is different from the archetypal character of Cinderella which has been appeared in Perrault’s and many other versions.
Another interesting things to discuss is about Interdisciplinary in Literature. I would like to take examples from the novel and film “The Colour Purple”. With regards to the basic turns of the plot, the film is pretty faithful to the novel. However, when it comes to the complexities of the characters, the film sells the novel short. The film presents things in a very black and white manner, while the novel is all about the various shades of gray which exist in the relationships between the characters. For the book, the first person narrative related by Celie through a series of letters cuts straight to the heart. We’re brought directly into her thoughts as she experiences incredible hardship and, every once in a while, moments of supreme joy. The characters created by Alice Walker are so rich and deep that even those who do bad things are not simplified to the point where they can be called “villains.” For the film, first and foremost, the film has the absolutely stellar central performance by Whoopi Goldberg. It’s a soulful portrayal completely lacking in vanity; one of the very best ever captured on film. Hers is surrounded by a multitude of other great performances, namely from Margaret Avery and Oprah. Also of note is the film’s beautiful cinematography, particularly during the scene which inspires the title.
On the one hand, it’s refreshing to see a film that not only focuses on the experiences of people of color, but specifically on the experiences of women of color; but on the other hand, it’s also important to look at the framework within which these experiences are portrayed. The women in this film are portrayed in a way that is nothing but sympathetic, but these portrayals come at the expense of the male characters who are shown in one of two ways: bad and cruel, or good and stupid. The relationships between men and women in the film are universally portrayed as bad, in one way or another, and stripped of the intricacy with which they were granted in Walker’s novel. The relationships in the novel are not nearly so simplistic or cut and dried, even the abusive relationship between Celie and her husband, Mister.
The third parameter that i would like to share is about the theme. Theme can be vary from the story and can be same between two stories. We can see that from the two stories “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Death of Ivan Ilych”, both the stories share same theme – death. In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare the theme death is portrayed many times by the characters Marcutio, Romeo, and Juliet. The first instance of the theme death was in act 3 when Marcutio challenged Tybalt to a sword fight. "Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find a grave man."(Act three, scene 1, line 104.) Also as Marcutio is dying he says "Help me into some house, Benvolio, Or I shall Faint." (Act 3, scene 1, line 113.) Both these quotes show how Marcutio portrayed the theme death. Second, Romeo is the next to portray the theme death.
We can also see the theme of death in the novel "The Death of Ivan Ilych". Leo Tolstoy examines the life of a man, Ivan, who would seem to have lived an exemplary life with moderate wealth, high station, and family. By story's end, however, Ivan's life will be shown to be devoid of passion -- a life of duties, responsibilities, respect, work, and cold objectivity to everything and everyone around Ivan. It is not until Ivan is on his death bed in his final moments that he realizes what will become the major theme of the story: that the personal relationships we forge are more important in life than who we are or what we own.
This point of the story is indirectly brought out in the very beginning when Ivan's colleagues, and supposedly his friends, learn of his death. The narrator states in paragraph 5:
“So on receiving the news of Ivan Ilych's death the first thought of each of the gentlemen in that private room was of the changesand promotions it might occasion among themselves or their acquaintances”.
Next, we will look at last parameter on Comparative Literature – Translation. Transalation is the interpreting of the meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an equivalent text, likewise called a "translation," that communicates the same message in another language. The text to be translated is called the "source text," and the language that it is to be translated into is called the "target language"; the final product is sometimes called the "target text."
Transferring of culture specific terms from one culture to another and understanding them by the target audience in the target culture is dependent on having familiarity with the source culture and traditions. Although more and more concepts are shared and understood between different cultures, there are still many culture specific terms and expressions which reflect the morals and values of a particular culture and have no true equivalent in the TL.
There are some examples from Khayyam's poem to show about translation in literary;
آنان که زپیش رفته اند ای ساقی
Those who have gone before us, oh saki
این کوزه چو من عاشق زاری بوده است
Like me this jug has been one a forlorn lover
گویند بهشت و حورعین خواهد بود
There will be a Paradise with lovely houris some say,
ازآمدنم نبود گردون را سود
My entrance has been of no benefit to this world,
گر ما می و معشوق گزیدیم چه باک
Why should it matter if we have chosen wine and woman?
ما لعبتکانیم و فلک لعبت باز
We are puppets, and the Heavenly Master is our puppeteer;
ساقي غم فرداي حريفان چه خوري پيش آر پياله را كه شب مي گذرد
And Lo! The phantom Caravan has reach’d The Nothing it set out from Oh, make haste!
(Translated By Edward J. Fitzgerald)
Fitzgerald's translation is interesting because it seems to have lost almost every connection with its Persian source in the process of its appropriation, and one wonders how English readers could appreciate it as non-English, oriental poetry, and what would happen if they were better informed of what Khayyam presented in his quatrains. The eastern literature translated into western languages has somewhat been shaped differently. It might be done intentionally or unintentionally. The equivalences such as woman, Heavenly Master, jug, lovely houris, world, and Lo are not the total and real equivalents for the terms of معشوق, فلک , کوزه, حورعین, گردون, and .ساقیIn fact these are some words that are rooted in culture and religion of eastern life or especially Iranians culture. In other words these are culture specific terms and need strategies for transferring from one language to another having two different cultures in order to be understood by target audiences.
For my conclusion, no matter what scope, concern, focus, or aim we may have, comparative literature, as its name suggests, cannot but take literature as its main object of study and cannot do without the comparative method. We may choose to compare two authors or two works or even only parts of two works, two literary schools or movements, two versions of translation or two pieces of criticism. We may concern ourself with a special genre, style, form, theme, motif, tradition, or any other topic. We may also study literature in connection with another art, with sociology, anthropology, psychoanalysis, linguistics, religion, philology, or with any other branch of human expression. We may cross the frontier of clan, nation, continent, or hemisphere; and we may also cross the boundary of one period, one dynasty, one age, one century or one bigger section of time in comparing literary works.
The various scopes of comparative literature are further complicated by its concerns. The French School, as often pointed out, is primarily concerned with “modes of transmission,” “reception, success and influence,” “sources,” “foreign travel,” and “the image of a country in the literature of another country,” etc. The American School, on the other hand, is mostly concerned with “analogies without contact,” or “typological affinities.” The different concerns have then made scholars focus their attention on various literary problems: themes or motifs, movements or schools, genres, stylistics, forms, techniques, traditions, and other literary “relations,” which in fact are part and parcel of literary theory or criticism. Yet all concerns and all focuses are governed by the aims of study.
The aim may tend towards one’s national literature as an “influential” literature or as a genetic headspring of other literatures. The aim may also tend towards an idea of “General Literature” or “World Literature,” though the two terms have raised very much controversy as to what they really mean and are still to be debated for their use. So both, the French and the American Schools of comparative literature, are similarly searching unity in variety, though the latter with its location in a continent of more cosmopolitan culture naturally tends more towards the idea of World Literature.
For better understanding on Comparative Literature, we will look at the first parameter – Influence, on the two versions of Cinderella’s tale which is ‘Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper’ by Perrault and ‘Cinderella’ by Dahl. Even though these two versions can be recognized or categorized as fairy tales which have been adapted from the archetypal tale of Cinderella, nevertheless, both are written in different ways and styles; both have their significant meaning and implication that contribute to the development of each tale. In other words, the two versions have some sort of similarities and differences.
Throughout the tale, readers would find that Cinderella’s character is obviously different from the archetypal character where Dahl’s character seems unrounded. Here, readers are exposed to Dahl’s skill at characterization. At the beginning of the tale, Dahl has successfully manipulated the language in portraying his character as being rude, demanding and selfish, but later, in the middle and at the end of the tale, after she found that the prince is too cruel and irresponsible for his action, she is portrayed as having the sense of self-realization. Instead of marrying the prince which is typically appears in most versions, Dahl’s character is married to a simple jem maker. Because of that, for sure, this would affect the readers as they would find that Dahl’s tale is unpredictable. In other words, Cinderella’ character more or less is different from the archetypal character of Cinderella which has been appeared in Perrault’s and many other versions.
Another interesting things to discuss is about Interdisciplinary in Literature. I would like to take examples from the novel and film “The Colour Purple”. With regards to the basic turns of the plot, the film is pretty faithful to the novel. However, when it comes to the complexities of the characters, the film sells the novel short. The film presents things in a very black and white manner, while the novel is all about the various shades of gray which exist in the relationships between the characters. For the book, the first person narrative related by Celie through a series of letters cuts straight to the heart. We’re brought directly into her thoughts as she experiences incredible hardship and, every once in a while, moments of supreme joy. The characters created by Alice Walker are so rich and deep that even those who do bad things are not simplified to the point where they can be called “villains.” For the film, first and foremost, the film has the absolutely stellar central performance by Whoopi Goldberg. It’s a soulful portrayal completely lacking in vanity; one of the very best ever captured on film. Hers is surrounded by a multitude of other great performances, namely from Margaret Avery and Oprah. Also of note is the film’s beautiful cinematography, particularly during the scene which inspires the title.
On the one hand, it’s refreshing to see a film that not only focuses on the experiences of people of color, but specifically on the experiences of women of color; but on the other hand, it’s also important to look at the framework within which these experiences are portrayed. The women in this film are portrayed in a way that is nothing but sympathetic, but these portrayals come at the expense of the male characters who are shown in one of two ways: bad and cruel, or good and stupid. The relationships between men and women in the film are universally portrayed as bad, in one way or another, and stripped of the intricacy with which they were granted in Walker’s novel. The relationships in the novel are not nearly so simplistic or cut and dried, even the abusive relationship between Celie and her husband, Mister.
The third parameter that i would like to share is about the theme. Theme can be vary from the story and can be same between two stories. We can see that from the two stories “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Death of Ivan Ilych”, both the stories share same theme – death. In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare the theme death is portrayed many times by the characters Marcutio, Romeo, and Juliet. The first instance of the theme death was in act 3 when Marcutio challenged Tybalt to a sword fight. "Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find a grave man."(Act three, scene 1, line 104.) Also as Marcutio is dying he says "Help me into some house, Benvolio, Or I shall Faint." (Act 3, scene 1, line 113.) Both these quotes show how Marcutio portrayed the theme death. Second, Romeo is the next to portray the theme death.
We can also see the theme of death in the novel "The Death of Ivan Ilych". Leo Tolstoy examines the life of a man, Ivan, who would seem to have lived an exemplary life with moderate wealth, high station, and family. By story's end, however, Ivan's life will be shown to be devoid of passion -- a life of duties, responsibilities, respect, work, and cold objectivity to everything and everyone around Ivan. It is not until Ivan is on his death bed in his final moments that he realizes what will become the major theme of the story: that the personal relationships we forge are more important in life than who we are or what we own.
This point of the story is indirectly brought out in the very beginning when Ivan's colleagues, and supposedly his friends, learn of his death. The narrator states in paragraph 5:
“So on receiving the news of Ivan Ilych's death the first thought of each of the gentlemen in that private room was of the changesand promotions it might occasion among themselves or their acquaintances”.
Next, we will look at last parameter on Comparative Literature – Translation. Transalation is the interpreting of the meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an equivalent text, likewise called a "translation," that communicates the same message in another language. The text to be translated is called the "source text," and the language that it is to be translated into is called the "target language"; the final product is sometimes called the "target text."
Transferring of culture specific terms from one culture to another and understanding them by the target audience in the target culture is dependent on having familiarity with the source culture and traditions. Although more and more concepts are shared and understood between different cultures, there are still many culture specific terms and expressions which reflect the morals and values of a particular culture and have no true equivalent in the TL.
There are some examples from Khayyam's poem to show about translation in literary;
آنان که زپیش رفته اند ای ساقی
Those who have gone before us, oh saki
این کوزه چو من عاشق زاری بوده است
Like me this jug has been one a forlorn lover
گویند بهشت و حورعین خواهد بود
There will be a Paradise with lovely houris some say,
ازآمدنم نبود گردون را سود
My entrance has been of no benefit to this world,
گر ما می و معشوق گزیدیم چه باک
Why should it matter if we have chosen wine and woman?
ما لعبتکانیم و فلک لعبت باز
We are puppets, and the Heavenly Master is our puppeteer;
ساقي غم فرداي حريفان چه خوري پيش آر پياله را كه شب مي گذرد
And Lo! The phantom Caravan has reach’d The Nothing it set out from Oh, make haste!
(Translated By Edward J. Fitzgerald)
Fitzgerald's translation is interesting because it seems to have lost almost every connection with its Persian source in the process of its appropriation, and one wonders how English readers could appreciate it as non-English, oriental poetry, and what would happen if they were better informed of what Khayyam presented in his quatrains. The eastern literature translated into western languages has somewhat been shaped differently. It might be done intentionally or unintentionally. The equivalences such as woman, Heavenly Master, jug, lovely houris, world, and Lo are not the total and real equivalents for the terms of معشوق, فلک , کوزه, حورعین, گردون, and .ساقیIn fact these are some words that are rooted in culture and religion of eastern life or especially Iranians culture. In other words these are culture specific terms and need strategies for transferring from one language to another having two different cultures in order to be understood by target audiences.
For my conclusion, no matter what scope, concern, focus, or aim we may have, comparative literature, as its name suggests, cannot but take literature as its main object of study and cannot do without the comparative method. We may choose to compare two authors or two works or even only parts of two works, two literary schools or movements, two versions of translation or two pieces of criticism. We may concern ourself with a special genre, style, form, theme, motif, tradition, or any other topic. We may also study literature in connection with another art, with sociology, anthropology, psychoanalysis, linguistics, religion, philology, or with any other branch of human expression. We may cross the frontier of clan, nation, continent, or hemisphere; and we may also cross the boundary of one period, one dynasty, one age, one century or one bigger section of time in comparing literary works.
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