Aphorisms on Comparative Literature

In the realm of literary studies, broadly conceived, a distinction can be drawn between English and Comparative Literature.

As an academic discipline, English is concerned with the study of the English language, especially English literature (meaning literature written in the English language, including literature from nations other than England, most obviously that from the United States). But the discipline of English also extends beyond literature to fields such as rhetoric, composition, journalism, and creative writing.

Comparative literature is an academic discipline which addresses literature across national borders, across time periods, across languages, across genres, across disciplines, and across boundaries between literature and the other arts (music, painting, dance, film, etc.).

The point of doing comparative literature – the only point – is that a comparative approach reveals something that isn't evident when reading one text on its own. That is, the basis of comparative literature is that something important can be observed or argued when two or more texts are considered alongside each other – something about one of the texts, something about both of the texts, something about the tradition(s) in which they operate, something about the culture(s) from which the texts come, etc. – something that is not immediately obvious when the texts are studied in isolation.

There are several kinds of comparative literature papers:

  • Lens essays that use an abstract or philosophical idea to make sense of a specific text.
  • Theory tests that use a specific text to evaluate and potentially modify an abstract philosophical or theoretical idea.
  • Historicist papers that show how a text takes on new meaning when put in its proper context.  
  • Presentist papers that address an urgent issue in our societies by way of a relevant text.
  • Source studies which show how an author made use of his or her material.
  • Adaptation studies which show how an author changed a text for a new time and place.
  • Cultural studies which show how some common point of comparison appears differently in works from two different eras, areas, languages, or traditions.

Comparative literature papers should be directional. In a very general sense, therefore, all comparative literature papers should be “lens essays,” using one text or set of texts to unpack another.

One trap of comparative literature is the argument that two texts are similar, but different. Since this argument can be made about any set of comparable texts, it's not an argument that gets us anywhere.

Papers arguing for a difference between two or more texts must argue that the difference in the texts is significant: it signifies a larger difference in the authors of the texts, or the cultures from which they came, or the genres which they represent, etc. The same goes for similarity: an argument for a similarity between two (or more) texts should suggest that the similarity signifies a larger authorial or cultural similarity.

The argument that two texts are similar yet different (which, I'll repeat, is a terrible argument) often results in the see-saw organization of a paper that jumps back-and-forth between two texts and catalogs the similarities and differences between parallel passages. This see-saw organization is just as offensive as similar-yet-different argumentation. Maybe you can have some back and forth parallel passages at some point in a comparative paper, but an entire paper that keeps jumping back and forth is disorienting for a reader. Instead of this seesaw organization, consider treating one text in whole first and then the other text in whole second.

Don’t compare texts; compare interpretations. Do a close reading of each text; then compare close readings. That is, compare arguments about text, not the texts themselves, which will require you to complete a close reading of each text on its own terms before moving on to your comparative analysis.

In comparative literature papers, continue to focus on the intent of the author(s). It can be tempting in comparative literature to shift attention away from the intent of the author – what he or she was trying to accomplish, the steps he or she took to achieve this goal, and why – and toward the formal features of the text. Don't do that: your comparison should be a comparison of the intents of the authors - what they were each trying to accomplish, the steps each took to achieve his or her goal, and why. The authors' intents are only available, of course, through analysis of the formal features of a text, but don't allow the increased complexity of a comparative literature paper to distract you from the focus of all literary studies: the search for the author’s intent.

When writing papers of comparative literature, consider two kinds of arguments: the argument for influence and the argument for analogy. The argument for influence considers two texts together because the author of one of the texts was aware of and influenced by the other text: an author had Text A on his desk as he was writing Text B. The argument for analogy considers two texts together because one text can be used to unpack the other even if the author of the text being unpacked was not aware of and influenced by the other text: the author of Text A may never have heard of Text B, but Text B can still be used as an explanatory mechanism.

When comparing texts, consider both global comparisons and local comparisons.

Global comparisons are comparisons of two texts that consider general features (such as kind, genre, era, author, etc.) as well as the reader's experience (i.e., the reader's sense of how each text works and "what it's like" to read each text). To make global comparisons, consider creating a Venn diagram.

Local comparisons are comparisons between specific quotations, passages, or moments. To make local comparisons, create a list of parallel passages.

Because comparative literature is necessarily a complex or sophisticated mode of argumentation (in contrast to a close reading, which simply sets up a text and interprets it), it is usually necessary to include some version of a “method statement” in comparative literature papers. If a “text statement” identifies the object of interpretation, and a “thesis statement” summarizes that interpretation, a “method statement” lays out how the interpretation was conducted (or, alternately, how the argument will be presented).