Hello readers...
We have paper on the comparative Studies and translation studies in our syllabus. In that we have to study various articles on that particular subject. So in this blog i would like to talk about three articles among them.
1) Sisir Kumar Das, ‘Why Comparative Indian Literature? (ed. Dev and Das,1989)
2)Amiya Dev, "Comparative Literature in India." CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 2.4 (2000)
3) Subha Chakraborty Dasgupta, “Comparative Literature in India: An Overview of its History”, Comparative Literature & World Literature, Volume 1 Number 1 Spring 2016.
1)WHY COMPARATIVE INDIAN LITERATURE – SISIR KUMAR DAS
Some scholars experimented with the concept of Indian Literature at the turn of the century, emphasising the commonality of topics, forms, and attitudes among the various types of literature written in various Indian languages during the previous three thousand years. In two ways, it discovers the essential threads of unity. India is a country that is multilingual and multireligious. Returning to the nature of Comparative Literature as taught in India, Sisir Kumar Das' epigraph expresses the urgent concern about the linkages that exist between Indian literature. It is also the comparatist's responsibility to move away from specific regional limitations and toward an understanding of the subcontinent's literature as a whole.
"New techniques of teaching and reading were to be envisioned for a country like India, which has a history of literary traditions swinging between script and orature. Identification of these procedures as outlines that aid in the reading of literature would apply when dealing with the formal elements that go into the construction of any work in India—which "has a parallel with African conditions in terms of oral, written, and indigenous sources" (Thiongo 1993). The following issues, when speaking about literatures in the plural, refer to the direction in which these literatures tend to inhabit a geopolitical place, also known as a country, which is defined by social, religious, and linguistic limits. The value-laden terms 'national,' 'international,' and 'indigenous' prop up any text when read.
"While there may be divisions and generic distinctions, the goal of Comparative Literature is to detect these differences and read them as contours rather than straight lines. While disputing the concept of a 'Indian literature' as opposed to 'Indian literatures,' he emphasises the meanings one ascribes to the word 'Indian,' which might be a pluralistic outlook on life, where the concept of Indian literature as intrinsically comparative could be regarded. According to Das, the need for a framework to emerge when two different languages/cultures collided was unavoidable. In this regard, Das states: Arabic, Japanese with Chinese, and Indians with European literatures.
Warren Hastings, the first governor-general of India, pushed for a comparative study of the Gita and classic European literature in his introduction to Charles Wilkin's translation of the Gita (1785), according to Das. I should not be afraid,' he remarked, to set the English translation of the Mahabharata against the greatest French rendition of the most loved parts of the Iliad or Odyssey, or the first and sixth books of our own Milton, greatly as I respect the latter" (S. K. Das 22). "A handful of regional writers gained international acclaim as a result of translation. Walter Benjamin argues in The Task of the Translator that "translation does not conceal the original, but rather permits it to shine through, because translation effectively ensures the survival of a work." (Source: Bassnett 180).
Das investigates why Indian scholars in the past did not attempt to investigate such linkages between the two languages. Das has a strong understanding of this occurrence, which he attributes to myopia and a lack of a framework in which to place literatures from two linguistic roots. Das overlooks the fact that there were no proper frameworks for studying identity politics beyond the confines of language in a culture shaped by caste systems, female servitude, and LGBT oppression. Even when literature transitioned from a nation-based to an identity-based approach, it happened outside of the comparative literature discipline.
2)Comparative Literature in India: An Overview of its History.
Subha Chakraborty Dasgupta, Jadavpur University :-
Abstract:-
The essay provides an overview of Comparative Literature in India, focusing primarily on the department at Jadavpur University, where it began, and to a lesser extent the department of Modern Indian Languages and Literary Studies at the University of Delhi, where it later had a new start in its engagement with Indian literatures. The department at Jadavpur was founded on the legacy of Rabindranath Tagore's World Literature address and by a modern poet-translator. While there were early attempts to decolonize and an overall desire to enhance and foster creativity, there were also subtle efforts to decolonize and an overall attempt to promote and nurture creativity. Indian literature, as well as literature from the South, began to gain significance over time.
In comparative literary studies, paradigms of techniques evolved from impact and analogue studies to cross-cultural literary interactions, with a focus on reception and transformation. In recent years, Comparative Literature has taken on new directions, focusing on recovering new regions of non-hierarchical literary interactions and connecting with many sectors of culture and knowledge, particularly those relating to excluded spaces.
Keywords: Decolonizing process, creativity, cross-cultural literary relations, interdisciplinarity.
The Beginnings:-
Rabindranath Tagore coined the phrase 'VishvaSahitya,' and with it, the field of comparative literature was born. Buddhadev Bose, one of the most important figures in modern Bengali poetry, did not entirely subscribe to Tagore's ideal. Baudelaire was translated by Buddhadev. Sudhindranath Dutta, recognised for his Mallarmé translations and erudition in both the Indian and Western contexts, will teach at the Comparative Literature department. Three of the department's initial five students went on to become well-known poets, and the fourth became an excellent critic of Bengali poetry. Naresh Guha, a poet, succeeded Buddhadeva Bose as Chairperson of the Department, where he remained for the next two decades.VishvaSahitya,' and with it, the field of comparative literature was born. Buddhadev Bose, one of the most important figures in modern Bengali poetry, did not entirely subscribe to Tagore's ideal. Baudelaire was translated by Buddhadev. Sudhindranath Dutta, recognised for his Mallarmé translations and erudition in both the Indian and Western contexts, will teach at the Comparative Literature department.
Three of the department's initial five students went on to become well-known poets, and the fourth became an excellent critic of Bengali poetry. Naresh Guha, a poet, succeeded Buddhadeva Bose as Chairperson of the Department, where he remained for the next two decades.In an interview given to us in his last years he emphasized the role of the department in fostering an intensely creative environment. This part of article is about the beginning od comparative literature in India.
Indian Literature as Comparative Literature:-
Comparatists working on Indian literature had to consider the interaction between the mainstream and the popular, the elite and the marginalised, and to some extent foreground intermedial perspectives as different forms coexisted in a composite manner, especially during earlier periods when textual and performative traditions coexisted.
The department is continuing to develop teaching materials on various aspects of Indian literature from a comparative perspective, beginning with language origins, manuscript cultures, performative traditions, painting, sculpture, and architecture, the history of print culture, and modernity questions. The teaching used in the department stressed the fact that Comparative Literature studies had to be interdisciplinary by necessity.
Several researchers in the department looked for continuities and interventions in the tradition that would lead to pluralist epistemologies in the study of Indian literature and culture after T.S. Satyanath developed the theory of a scripto-centric, body-centric, and phonocentric study of texts in the mediaeval period.
Centers of Comparative Literature Studies :-
In 1986, Veer Narmad South Gujarat University in Surat launched a new full-fledged Comparative Literature department, with an emphasis on Indian literatures in Western India. Dravidian University, Kuppam, established a department of Dravidian Comparative Literature and Philosophy in 1999.
The Visvanatha Kaviraja Institute of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics in Orissa has taken comparative poetics, a core field of comparative literature studies and dissertations, particularly in the South, as a central area of research.
During this time, two national Comparative Literature associations were formed, one in Jadavpur called the Indian Comparative Literature Association and the other in Delhi called the Comparative Indian Literature Association.
In 1992, the two organisations combined, forming the Comparative Literature Association of India, which now has over a thousand members. In the early years of the Association, a great number of creative authors, as well as academics and researchers, attended its conferences, each expanding the other's field of vision.
Reconfiguration of areas of comparison:-
Along with Indian literatures, Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude was included to the syllabus, along with a few other Latin American classics, before African literatures were added.
In terms of the other Area Studies components, the department now has Centres for African, Latin American, and Canadian Studies, which do research and present annual seminars.
Some, including the present author, believe that the Area Studies programmes resulted in a division of scarce resources and diverted attention away from some of the key challenges in comparative literature studies in India, such as the systematic amalgamation of data related to the Indian context and its analysis from comparative perspectives, and possibly the mapping of intercultural relations with other cultures.
Burns and Wordsworth were well-liked, and their romanticism was thought to be characterised by inner strength and tranquillity. The romantic poet's much-discussed 'angst' was perceived unfavourably. The love of 'health' and'serenity' dates back to the classical period and appears to be a significant value in the tradition.
While Shelley and Byron were criticised for introducing softness and emotion to Bengali poetry, they were also praised for standing up for human rights and liberty in contrast to Kipling's imperialist poetry. The paradoxical tensions commonly found in the reception of romanticism in Bengal were explained by the connection between contemporary political requirements and literary values.It's worth noting that as the independence movement gained traction, Shelley, the rebel poet, began to receive a warm reception.
In another context, the question of whether Shakespeare was imposed on Indian literature rose to prominence, and comparatists demonstrated, as did Sisir Kumar Das, that there were different Shakespeares. Shakespeare's texts may have been imposed in the classroom, but the playwright's reception at the theatre was rich and varied.
From reception studies, the focus shifted to cross-cultural reception, where reciprocity and cross-cultural exchange were investigated. One attempt, for example, was to examine the Romantic Movement from a broader perspective, attempting to untangle its multiple layers as it moved between countries, particularly between Europe and India. The birth of the Romantic movement was aided by the translation of some Sanskrit texts into German, and Romanticism returned to India in various forms in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The next major area of study was reception studies, both vertically and horizontally - one looked at components of ancient and mediaeval literature in modern writings, as well as inter and intraliterary relationships, emphasising impact and responses. While studying Vedic, Upanishadic, Buddhist, and Jaina elements in modern texts, one also looked at clusters of Buddha, Mahavira, and Nanak sermons, qissas and katha ballads across the country, early novels in various Indian literatures, and the impact of Eastern literature and thought on Western literature and vice versa.
With the introduction of the semester system, the division was abandoned in favour of more general courses such as Cross-cultural Literary Transactions, in which Rudyard Kipling's Kim and Rabindranath Tagore's Gora were studied, or Literary Transactions, in which the tradition of Reason and Rationalism in European and Indian literatures of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was studied more closely.
The department of English and Comparative Literary Studies at Saurashtra University in Rajkot took up the theme of the Indian Renaissance and translated several Indian authors into English, studied early travelogues from Western India to England, and in general published collections of nineteenth-century theoretical discourse.
The department of English and Comparative Literary Studies at Saurashtra University in Rajkot took up the theme of the Indian Renaissance and translated several Indian authors into English, studied early travelogues from Western India to England, and in general published collections of nineteenth-century theoretical discourse.
The grant went to Dibrugarh University's Department of Assamese, which released a variety of volumes on translations, collections of rare texts, and documentation of folk forms.
Jadavpur University's Comparative Literature department also obtained funding to conduct study in four areas: East-West Literary Relations, Indian Literature, Translation Studies, and Third World Literature. In Manabendra Bandyopadhyay, the department had an ardent translator who translated works from numerous so-called "third-world countries."
Oral traditions across the country had their own knowledge systems that could provide valuable and sustainable alternatives to contemporary urban modes of life and living, as well as reveal certain cultural dynamics and value systems that were constantly replenishing mainstream expressive traditions. The Centre for Advanced Studies' second priority was the connection between Indian and neighbouring countries' literatures.
The first preliminary research in this area revealed connections that suggested a continuous series of interactions between and among Asian cultures and communities since ancient times, as well as the urgent need for more work in this area in order to engage in meaningful dialogue with one another in the Asian context and to uncover different pathways of creative communications. Efforts in this direction resulted in an International Conference on South-South Dialogues, which drew a large number of Asian and European attendees. An anthology of critical essays on the socio-cultural and literary exchanges between India and Southeast Asia has been released.
One of the projects in the inter-Asian series was a study of travelogues from Bengal to Asian countries, which resulted in the publication of an annotated bibliography that may serve as a starting point for the study of inter-literary linkages. The picture of Burma in Bengali and Oriya literature in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the subject of a second study. Travel journals and diaries were compiled, as well as newspaper articles from historic publications, literary excerpts, and photos of Burmese people in the Indian press.
Conclusion:-
It's worth noting at this point that in the twenty-first century, Comparative Literature in the United States collaborated with two other related fields of study: Translation Studies and Cultural Studies. Different topics of interliterary studies are covered by translation studies. Translation histories can be used to identify literary relationships, while examination of translation actions can reveal key characteristics of both the source and target literary and cultural systems. In terms of Cultural Studies, Comparative Literature has always been interested in several facets of the subject, the most prominent of which being literature and its relationship to various arts. Cultural Studies may also play a role in a variety of multidisciplinary courses offered by the discipline.
For example, a course at Delhi University looks at representations of human habitat systems and ecology in literature, looks for concepts and terms for such settlements, and looks at archaeological evidence and accounts of travellers from Greece, China, Persia, and Portugal to show the differences that exist at different levels of perception and ideological positions.
It is clear that Comparative Literature in the country now has a variety of goals and visions that are aligned with local and global historical demands. The discipline, like the humanities and literary studies, is concerned with concerns that would contribute to the enhancement of civilizational gestures, as well as factors that are divisive and constantly limit the number of people who participate in them.
It is doing so by identifying new non-hierarchical links and lines of connectedness, a process Kumkum Sangari referred to as "co-construction" in a recent paper, a process rooted in "subtle and complicated histories of translation, circulation, and extraction." And comparatists operate with the understanding that much work remains to be done, and that one of the key tasks of Comparative Literature today, the development of literary histories, in terms of literary relations among neighbouring regions and bigger wholes, has yet to begin. However, the core goal of some of the discipline's early builders, to cultivate and develop creativity, remains a subterranean force in all of its endeavours.
Work Cited :-
Dasgupta, Subha Chakraborty. "Comparative Literature in India: An Overview of its History." Comparative Literature & World Literature Spring 2016.
Amiya Dev, "Comparative Literature in India.": Comparative Literature and Culture
Abstract:-
Amiya Dev grounds his explanation in his work "Comparative Literature in India" on the fact that India contains multiple languages and literatures, therefore representing an a priori position and conditions of variety. As a result, he claims that referring to Indian literature in the singular is problematic. Nonetheless, Dev points out that speaking of Indian literature in the plural is problematic as well. He contends that such a categorization either ignores or obscures obvious interrelationships and affinities. His paper contrasts the unity and diversity arguments, identifying the relationship between Indian commonality and distinctions as the primary focus of comparative literature in India.
He investigates the quest for shared denominators and a probable pattern of togetherness, as well as place and localised inter-Indian reception as a component of interliterariness, and he surveys contemporary scholarly and intellectual positions on unity and variety. It is here that Dev sees Indian literature, not as a static or predetermined thing, but as an ongoing and interliterary process: Indian language and literature in constant flux.
Key Points:-
1)Comparative literature in India
2)Problem of looking Indian literature as written in single language Sanskrit.
3)Single Focus perspective is a result of both a colonial and a post- colonial perspective.
4)Gurbhagat , singh -"Differential Multulogue".
Problems with regard to the concept of mutuality.
Analysis:-
In this paper, he discuss an apriori placement of comparative literature in terms of features of diversity and unity in India, a country with enormous language diversity and consequently various literatures. Because I believe that in the case of India, the study of literature should include the notion of the interliterary process and a dialectical view of literary interaction, my proposal entails a special view of the discipline of comparative literature. Let me start with a quick overview of linguistic diversity: prior censuses in 1961 and 1971 reported a total of 1,652 languages, while the most recent census in 1981 documented 221 spoken languages (excluding languages with fewer than 10,000 speakers).Of course, many of the 221 language groups are small, and only the eighteen major languages named in the Indian Constitution account for the majority of the population's speakers. In addition to the eighteen languages listed in the Constitution, the Sahitya Akademi (National Academy of Letters) has recognised four additional languages for their literary significance (Assamese, Bengali, Dogri, Indian English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kankani, Kashmiri, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Panjabi, Rajasthani, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, This number of twenty-two major languages and literatures, however, is misleading because secondary school and university curriculum sometimes incorporate additional languages spoken in the vicinity of the educational institution.
Except for one recent arrival in the nineteenth century as a result of colonial Western influence, we are all aware that the so-called major Indian literatures are ancient — two of them (Sansjrit and Tamil) ancient in the sense of Antiquity, while the rest have an average age of eight to nine hundred years (Indian English). This singular focus is the outcome of both colonial and post-colonial perspectives, the latter of which is reflected in the Sahitya Akademi's motto: "Indian literature is one but written in many languages" (Radhakrishnan).
Singh recognises not only language but also cultural differences in literatures. He rejects both the French and American schools, as well as Goethe's Weltliteratur, when it comes to the history of comparative literature as a subject. Instead, he advocates for a celebration of diversity, foreshadowing Charles Bernheimer's widely debated Comparative Literature in the Age of Multiculturalism. Comparative literature, for Singh, is thus a game of differential multilogue. His emphasis on the variety of logoi is particularly intriguing since it moves us beyond the concept of dialogue, which comparative literature still confines itself to.
Jaidev's concept of oneness creates an environment for specific concerns about cultural and artistic expression, such as language overlaps, authors' and readers' bi- and multilinguality, openness to different genres, the sharing of themes based on shared social and historical experiences, an emphasis on oral and performing modes of cultural and artistic transmission, and inter-translatability.
V.K. Gokak and Sujit Mukherjee proposed the idea of a "English" archive of Indian literature roughly two decades ago, when they were discussing an Indo-English corpus of literature made up of English translations of key texts from major Indian languages (see Mukherjee). As a result, the concept of Indian literature was established, and not only that, but a history was provided for it, with different forms and techniques used at different times. Furthermore, Gokak and Mukherjee proposed that their proposition be canonised by including the Indo-English corpus into university curricula.
Das has taken a methodologically pragmatic approach: he has a team of scholars working with him (at least one for each language) who collect the initial material, which he then puts through a series of checks to provide a chronological history of literature. It contains simultaneous listings of similar events from all twenty-two recognised literatures, such as author births and deaths, dates of text composition and publication, genre classification, text dissemination, reception, literary reviews and their impact, literary society formations and debates, and so on.
In terms of the inherently and implicitly beneficial discipline of comparative literature, it's worth noting that the Gujarati poet Umashankar Joshi, a supporter of the unity approach, was the first president of the Indian National Comparative Literature Association, while Kannada writer U.R. Anantha Murthy is the current president of the Comparative Literature Association of India, as well as the president of Sahitya Akademi. The subject of comparative literature, as well as its institutional manifestations such as the national association of comparatists, represents the dual approach to the question of Indian literature that I discussed before. The Association, on the other hand, indicates a shift toward dialectic.
Conclusion:-
However, in keeping with my suggestion that the location of both theorist and theory is critical, I demonstrate the proposal's implementation here. If I had talked about Canadian diversity, for example, it would have been from the outside, from an Indian perspective. I'm not advocating for extreme relativism, but Comparative Literature has taught us not to take comparisons literally and that theory creation in literary history isn't always tenable. I propose that we begin by looking inside and gaining a deep understanding of our own circumstances. Let us first complete our individual comparative literatures before developing a comparative literature of diversity in general.
Thank you...
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