Comparative Literature is both the past and the future of literary
studies. Its history is intimately linked to the political
upheavals of modernity: from colonial empire-building in the
nineteenth century, via the Jewish diaspora of the twentieth
century, to the postcolonial culture wars of the twenty-first
century, attempts at 'comparison' have defined the international
agenda of literature. But what is comparative literature? Ambitious
readers looking to stretch themselves are usually intrigued by the
concept, but uncertain of its implications. And rightly so, in many
ways: even the professionals cannot agree on a single term, calling
it comparative in English, compared in French, and comparing in
German. The very term itself, when approached comparatively, opens
up a Pandora's box of cultural differences. Yet this, in a
nutshell, is the whole point of comparative literature. To look at
literature comparatively is to realize just how much can be learned
by looking over the horizon of one's own culture; it is to discover
not only more about other literatures, but also about one's own;
and it is to participate in the great utopian dream of
understanding the way nations and languages interact. In an age
that is paradoxically defined by migration and border crossing on
the one hand, and by a retreat into monolingualism and
monoculturalism on the other, the cross-cultural agenda of
comparative literature has become increasingly central to the
future of the Humanities. We are all, in fact, comparatists,
constantly making connections across languages, cultures, and
genres as we read. The question is whether we realise it. This Very
Short Introduction tells the story of Comparative Literature as an
agent of international relations, from the point of view both of
scholarship and of cultural history more generally. Outlining the
complex history and competing theories of comparative literature,
Ben Hutchinson offers an accessible means of entry into a
notoriously slippery subject, and shows how comparative literature
can be like a Rorschach test, where people see in it what they want
to see. Ultimately, Hutchinson places comparative literature at the
very heart of literary criticism, for as George Steiner once noted,
'to read is to compare'. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short
Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds
of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books
are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our
expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and
enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly
readable.
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