Comparative Literature

Author: Chen Dun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-05-01
Features: This book is a textbook of comparative literature, designed for undergraduate university students, and also provides valuable reference for graduate students. The book is divided into four parts. The introduction section introduces the nature, history, and basic principles of the discipline. This section incorporates existing research findings both domestically and internationally while also presenting the authors' own perspectives. For example, the book offers a broader yet comprehensive definition of comparative literature that reflects its current development, and proposes its own views on the current trends in the field. The second and third parts, namely and Part II, form an integrated whole. Early comparative literature was limited to comparative studies within the realm of literature. In recent years, interdisciplinary literary studies have demonstrated increasing vitality. Therefore, contemporary comparative literature consists of two major aspects: comparative studies within the field of literature and interdisciplinary literary studies. This book dedicates specific sections to important and widely topics for in-depth discussion. The third part is a uniquely distinctive section of the book. Since the 20th century, various cultural theories and literary theories have emerged in an ever-changing landscape, impacting literary studies and comparative literature to varying degrees. Amidst this theoretical wave, how to face reality, proactively embrace challenges, explore the direction of comparative literature's development, and scientifically and comprehensively construct a theoretical system for the discipline itself are important issues we currently confront. This book attempts to propose exploratory insights on the relationship between several important cultural theories (postmodern theory, cultural anthropology, hermeneutics, reception theory, semiotics, feminism, cultural relativism) and comparative literature, primarily highlighting their points of convergence with comparative literary research. Although this section also touches on interdisciplinary issues, it does not discuss the relationship between literature and other disciplines but rather explores the value and role of these disciplines in comparative research. Therefore, it serves to advance and deepen the understanding of the book's other relevant sections. In summary, this book aims to comprehensively and systematically introduce the discipline of comparative literature, reflecting its new achievements in development, while also exploring some theoretical and practical issues in the field. It serves as both a textbook and an academic work. At the beginning of the book, there are two prefaces written by two elderly and highly respected scholars from contemporary China—Professor Ji Xianlin of Peking University and Professor Jia Zhifang of Fudan University in Shanghai—for this book.