Chapter 8: Conclusion

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COMPARATIVE LITERATURE: AN OVERVIEW 
Rohib Adrianto Sangia 
Abstract: Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the literature of two or more 
different linguistic, cultural or nation groups (D'haen, Domínguez, & Thomsen, 2012: 57). While 
most frequently practiced 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 among which that language is spoken. Also included in the range of inquiry are 
comparisons of different types of art; for example, a relationship of film to literature. 
Keywords: Comparative Literature, World Literature, Literature Works 
INTRODUCTION 
The terms "Comparative Literature" and "World Literature" are often used to designate a 
similar course of study and scholarship (Enani, 2005: 27). Comparative Literature is the more 
widely used term in the United States, with many universities having Comparative Literature 
departments or Comparative Literature programs. 
Comparative literature is an interdisciplinary field whose practitioners study literature 
across national borders, across time periods, across languages, across genres, across 
boundaries between literature and the other arts (music, painting, dance, film, etc.), across 
disciplines (literature and psychology, philosophy, science, history, architecture, sociology, 
politics, etc.) (Tӧtӧsy de Zepetnek, 1998: 80) (Cao, 2013: xix). Defined most broadly, 
comparative literature is the study of "literature without borders" ( nguez, Saussy, & 
Villanueva, 2014: xv). Scholarship in Comparative Literature include, for example, studying 
literacy and social status in the Americas, studying medieval epic and romance, studying the 
links of literature to folklore and mythology, studying colonial and postcolonial writings in 
different parts of the world, asking fundamental questions about definitions of literature itself. 
What scholars in Comparative Literature share is a desire to study literature beyond 
national boundaries and an interest in languages so that they can read foreign texts in their 
original form (College Entrance Examination Board, 1992: 249). Many comparatists also share 
the desire to integrate literary experience with other cultural phenomena such as historical 
change, philosophical concepts, and social movements. 
This paper eventually is going to involve in comparative assignment according to the 
option from the lecture. From all possible five options, this midterm paper assignment will be 
occupied by two questions that should be solved. The first assignment is purposed to expose 
with depth essay based on subchapter entitle 
Russia in French Letters: Milestones of a 
Discovery in Jost (1974: 62). For the second assignment, this paper will include the 

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Literary Criticism 
Page 2 
comparative analysis between Dostoevsky (2005) 
Notes from the Underground and Coetzee 
(1999) 
Disgrace that should be concern with applying American school analysis. 
RUSSIA IN FRENCH LETTERS 
In this part, there will be divided into two parts, they are the Russian literature history 
and the influence of French to Russian. 
1. Russian Literature History at Glance. 
At the beginning of the 19th century much of Western Europe viewed Russia as 
hopelessly backward--even medieval. It was considered more a part of Asia than an outpost of 
European thought (Cassedy, 2005: 51). During the first half of the century, indeed, peasants 
(called "serfs") were still treated as the property of their feudal masters and could be bought 
and sold, though they had a few more rights than slaves. Russian serfs gained their freedom 
only in 1861, two years before the American Emancipation Proclamation (Morton, 1967: 
338). 
However, the nobility of Russia had looked to the West for ideals and fashions since the 
early 18
th
Century, when Peter the Great had instituted a series of reforms aimed at 
modernizing the country. Russian aristocrats traveled extensively in Western Europe and 
adopted French as the language of polite discourse. They read French and English literature 
and philosophy, followed Western fashions, and generally considered themselves a part of 
modern Europe (Moore & Krystoforski, 2011: 155). St. Petersburg was created the new capital 
of Russia in 1721, and remained the most Westernized of Russian cities. Indeed, Dostoyevsky 
was to consider it an alien presence in the land, spiritually vacuous compared to the Old 
Russian capital of Moscow. 
The German-born czarina Catherine the Great, who reigned from 1762 to 1796, 
corresponded with Voltaire and fancied herself an Enlightenment monarch; but her plans for 
liberal reforms came to nothing, and she became better known as vainglorious autocrat 
(Gorbatov, 2006: 94). Despite the general backwardness of Russian society, its openness to the 
West (briefly interrupted by Napoleon's 1812 invasion) had profound influences on its 
literature throughout the 19th Century. The first great national author of Russia, Alexander 
Pushkin (1799-1837)--despite his celebration of Russian history and folklore--was 
profoundly influenced by such English writers as Shakespeare, Byron and Scott. Although he 
plays a role in Russian literature comparable to that of Goethe in Germany or even 
Shakespeare in England, his works were little known abroad during his lifetime. 

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