Assignment on Paper: Comparative Literature & Translation Studies

 Name: Nidhi P. Jethava 

Paper: Comparative Literature & Translation Studies

Roll No. : 13

Enrollment Number: 306920200009

Email ID: jethavanidhi8@gmail.com 

Batch: 20-22( MA SEM- 4 )

Submitted to: S. B. Gardi Department of English, Maharaja KrishnaKumarsinhji Bhavnagar University 

Comparative Literature in India 

What is Comparative Literature? 

Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study of international relations but works with languages and artistic traditions, so as to understand cultures 'from the inside'". While most frequently practised with works of different languages, comparative literature may also be performed on works of the same language if the works originate from different nations or cultures in which that language is spoken.

The characteristically intercultural and transnational field of comparative literature concerns itself with the relation between literature, broadly defined, and other spheres of human activity, including history, politics, philosophy, art, and science. Unlike other forms of literary study, comparative literature places its emphasis on the interdisciplinary analysis of social and cultural production within the "economy, political dynamics, cultural movements, historical shifts, religious differences, the urban environment, international relations, public policy, and the sciences".

Why Comparative Literature in India? 

The idea of comparative literature in India obtained an impetus from Rabindranath Tagore's lecture added at the issue whilst he turned into invited with the aid of using National Council of Education in 1907. But the concept of Comparative Literature recommended with the aid of using Das, a working towards comparatist, isn't the same as the concept expressed with the aid of using Tagore. Studying Indian literature needs a comparative approach, and this can't be substituted with the aid of using the direct utility of any approach or concept imported from outdoor the plural way of life wherein the literature is located. Hence the 'mainstream' of Comparative Literature exercise can also additionally have pointers to provide the Indian comparatist, however the undertaking of locating the approach for Comparative Literature in India - now no longer an 'Indian' Comparative Literature, for regularly sufficient we can also additionally should query the very foundation of strategies laid down with the aid of using the 'mainstream'- lies with us. This could qualify it's an educational discipline. (Dr. J.Bheemaiah)

The Beginning: 

Long before the establishment of Comparative Literature as a discipline, there were texts focusing on comparative aspects of literature in India, both from the point of view of its relation with literatures from other parts of the world—particularly Persian, Arabic and English—and from the perspec tive of inter-Indian literary studies, the multilingual context facilitating a seamless journey from and between literatures written in different languages. The idea of world literature gained ground towards  the end of the nineteenth century when in Bengal, for instance, translation activities began to be taken up on a large scale and poets talked of establishing relations with literatures of the world to promote,  as the eminent poet-translator Satyendranath Dutta in 1904 stated, “relationships of joy” (Dutta 124).  The talk by Rabindranath Tagore entitled “Visvasahitya” (meaning “world literature”), given at the National Council of Education in 1907, served as a pre-text to the establishment of the department of Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University in 1956, the same year in which the university started functioning. The National Council of Education was the parent body of the University and the Council was established by a group of intellectuals in order to bring about a system of education that would be indigenous, catering to the needs of the people and therefore different from the British system of education prevalent at the time. (Subha Chakraborty Dasgupta)

About CLAI. 

“The Comparative Literature Association of India (CLAI) is the national association for scholars and students of Comparative Literature in India. It is actively engaged in propagating the case for a more holistic study of literature and culture using the tools of comparative literary studies.

It has around 1,000 members representing various disciplines from all over India. CLAI organizes an international conference once every two years. Twelve such biennial conferences have been held so far; the last one was hosted by the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, in March, 2015. The theme was "Culture, Arts and Socio-political Movements in South Asia: Comparative Perspectives".

CLAI also organizes several academic events related to the study of Comparative Literature all through the year at various universities and institutions.

The Association was formed in 1987 when the INCLA and the CILA decided at the Jamia Millia Islamia conference that they had similar objectives and that their interests would be better served if they merged into one body.” 

Comparative literature in India

As a result of its enormous linguistic diversity, India is a land of various literature. Scholars of literature make arguments based on history, ideology, and, in some cases, politics. a unity of Indian literature or diversity and uniqueness of India's literature In India, studying literature entails an understanding of the inter literary process as well as a critical approach. View of literary interaction from a dialectical perspective. It is important to note that Indian homogeneity is based on tradition.

“Thus Indian literature is neither a simple unity as hegemonists of the nation-state persuasion would not like it to be, nor a simple diversity as relativists or poststructuralists would like it to be. Majumdar suggests that “Indian literature is neither “one” nor “many” but rather a systemic whole where many sub-systems interact towards one in a continuous and never-ending dialectic. Such a systemic view of Indian literature predicates that we take all Indian literatures together, age by age, and view them comparatively.”( Swapan Majumdar)

Interface with Translation Studies and Cultural Studies

So it was observed by Subha Chakrabarty Das Gupta “It must be mentioned at this point that Comparative Literature in the country in the 21st century engaged with two other related fields of study, one was Translation Studies and the other Cultural Studies. Comparative Literature’s relationship with Translation Studies was not a new phenomenon for one or two departments or centres, such as the one in Hyderabad University, which was involved in doing translation studies for a considerable period. Today the university has a full-fledged Centre for Comparative Literature offering courses, and research in Translation Studies is an important area. Almost all departments or centres of Comparative Literature today have courses on Translation or Translation Studies. Both are seen as integral to the study of Comparative Literature. 

Translation Studies cover different areas of interliterary studies. Histories of translation may be used to map literary relations while analysis of acts of translation leads to the understanding of important characteristics of both the source and the target literary and cultural systems. Other dimensions of literary studies are opened up when one sees translation as rewriting. Translation practices also bring students to engage deeply with other languages and other cultures, leading to insights into the nature of the comparatist’s preoccupations. The department of Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University today has a Centre for the Translation of Indian Literatures. As for Cultural Studies, Comparative Literature had always engaged with different aspects of Cultural Studies, the most prominent being literature and its relation with the different arts. Today studies in intermediality in Comparative Literature are common. But beyond such studies courses in Comparative Literature also offer modules on Comparative Cultural Studies where key texts in the global field are juxtaposed with related texts from the Indian context. The M Phil course on the subject at Jadavpur University highlights changing marginalities, ‘sub-cultures’ and movements in relation to contemporary nationalisms and globalization, and also sexualities, gender and the politics of identity. Cultural Studies may also be a key component in different kinds of interdisciplinary courses within the discipline. For instance, a course in Delhi University takes up the theme of city and village in Indian literature and goes into representations of human habitat systems and ecology in literature, looks for concepts and terms for such settlements, goes into archaeological evidences and the accounts of travellers from Greece, China, Persia and Portugal to demonstrate the differences that exist at levels of perception and ideological positions. Again in a course on performance taught at Jadavpur University the purpose, it is stated, is to look at performance not as an art form, but as a means to study social behavior patterns to understand social processes.” 

Conclusion: 

To sum up we can say that the beginning of comparative literature in India was very interesting and that history to work of the date is also fascinating. 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. Several university departments now teach Comparative Literature as a separate M Phil program, while many others offer it in conjunction with single kinds of literature courses. The discipline, like the humanities and literary studies, is concerned with topics that will contribute to the enhancement of civilizational gestures, as well as forces that are divisive and destructive. In the beginning, it was Jadavpur university that started this program, and later on, this idea of comparative literature is spreading like anything. In Gujarat Saurashtra University has DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH & COMPARATIVE LITERATURE STUDIES. “

“The Department has organized many seminars and Workshops incollabration with various academic bodies like UGC, British Council, USEFI, SahityaAkademi, Gujarati SahityaParishad, IACS, CLAI, CIIL, Katha American Centre and Balwant Parekh Centre for General Semantics among others. Especially, its series of workshops on English Language Teaching and Testing as well as on Translation of Gujarati and Hindi creative and critical works have been quite noteworthy. These workshops on ELT and translation have brought about a remarkable change in the class-room teaching in the Saurashtra University area colleges and the translation workshops have led to the cultivation of a good number of translators in this region, who have been active in translation through the different recognized literary and research institutes” (“Department of English & Comparative Literature Studies”)

Works Cited

Comparative Literature Association of India (CLAI), http://www.clai.in/. Accessed 18 March 2022.

Bheemaiah, Dr. J. “Comparative Literature in India: Contemporary Issues.” Centre for Comparative Literature, UNIVERSITY of HYDERABAD, 2015, https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/node/60907#:~:text=The%20concept%20of%20comparative%20literature,the%20idea%20expressed%20by%20Tagore. Accessed 18 March 2022.

Dasgupta, Subha Chakraborty. “Comparative Literature in India: An Overview of its History.” p. 10.

“Department of English & Comparative Literature Studies.” Saurashtra University, https://www.saurashtrauniversity.edu/university/academic-departments/department-of-english-comparative-literature-studies/. Accessed 18 March 2022.

Majumdar, Swapan. Comparative literature : Indian dimensions. Calcutta : Papyrus, 1985.

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