P-208 Assignment

Need of Comparative Literature in Multilingual,Multicultural India

Name-Daya Vaghani

Paper- 208- Comparative Literature and Translation Studies

Roll no-06

Enrollment no-3069206420200017

Email id- dayavaghani2969@gmail.com

Batch-2020-22 (MA Sem-IV)

Submitted to- S. B. Gardi Department of English,

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

Introduction:

As India is dominated by multilingual and multicultural practises (apart from our mother tongue, we also talk in other languages), Comparative Literature is required for studying Indian literature. India is a colourful jumble or mosaic of many languages and cultures.Culture, religion, races, and ethnic groupings are all factors to consider. Comparative Indian Literature is also a comprehensive study of Indian literature.all regional literatures that transcend religious, caste, and race divides, andNumerous regional cultures, traditions, and languages The goal of this type of comparative literature is to find out what's out there.The goal of this research is to find commonalities among the diverse Indian literatures.languages. A comparative literature research is a type of coordination that looks for similarities in two or more sources of information.respects.In such study not only comparison but other methods such as description, characterization, interpretation, narration, evaluation are employed. It is independent of linguistic or political boundaries.

What is Comparative Literature?

Comparative literature is the study of inter-relationship between any two or more than two significant literary works or literatures. Literature is the expression and exchange of feelings and experiences. Comparative Literature is more so, because it is the study of literature that traverses geographical, cultural and linguistic borders, nations, time, periods, genres, forms and themes. It bridges the gap between regions and nations and strengthens the bond. It views literary texts as both being the product of a specific language and culture and as a universal phenomenon transcending national and cultural boundaries and time frames.

The concept of comparative literature originates in Hitopadesha: 1.3.71 where it is written that it is only the narrow minded people who think that this is mine and this is someone else’s, for the selfless entire universe is a family: 

अयं निजः परो वेति गणना लघु चेतसाम् |

Ayam nijam paro veti ganana laghu chetasam,

उदारचरितानां तु वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् |

Udar charitanam tu vasudhaiv kutumbakam.

Comparative Literature in began in India in 1956 with the establishment of Jadavpur University in Calcutta. Its parent body was the National Council of Education where Rabindranath Tagore made his speech on world literature or Visvasahitya which he called Comparative Literature in 1907. The term ‘litterature comparee’ was first used by Villemain, a French scholar in 1829. Friedrich Schlegel used the term ‘Universal poesie’ in 1798. Amiya Dev in Comparative Literature in India writes: “Indian Literature is not an entity but an interliterary condition in the widest possible sense of the concept which is related to Goethe's original idea of ‘weltliterature’ which means ‘world literature’, a stage when all literatures would become one. ‘Weltliterature’, the term formulated by Goethe means literature that belongs to and can be appreciated by all nations and peoples, and also which by sharing of ideas acts as mediator between different nations and helps to deepen and augment the spirit of man. The definition of comparative literature given by Bijay Kumar Dass is very simple vivid and understandable:

The simple way to define comparative literature is to say that it is a comparison between the two literatures… Comparative literature analyses the similarities and dissimilarities and parallels between two literatures. It further studies themes, modes, conventions and use of folk tales, myths in two different literatures or even more .

Tagore refers to comparative literature by the name of 'Vishvasahitya' a term used for Universalism of literature and writes: 

From narrow provincialism we must free ourselves, we must strive to see the works of each author as a whole, that whole as a part of man's universal creativity, and that universal spirit in its manifestation through world literature (Bose).

 Mathew Aronold made meaningful efforts in English world and emphasized strongly the significance of the comparative approach to literary works. He wrote in a letter in 1848, “every critic should try and possess one great literature at least besides his own and more the unlike his own, the better” (Dhawan).

Bijay Kumar Dass rightly projects the purpose of Comparative literature where everywhere one looks beyond the borders of his nation or province: 

“Comparative literature transcends the narrowness, provinciality and parochialism of national and general literatures. The complacence of regional writers are shaken when the comparatists study their writings along with the writings of other writers in different other languages.”

The study of comparative literature can have a wide range of areas; however, it is done with the goal of using it as the most useful technique for examining works of art. By comparing a work to other works in different languages, one can better recognise its qualities. Second, one can consider literary merit in a balanced manner. Finally, any literature from a certain location or country cannot be examined in isolation from other literatures; it must be studied in conjunction with other literatures. The goal of comparative literary studies is to characterise the nation's spirit as expressed in its language and literature. The goal of these similarity and difference research is to develop a global structure of oneness.

The wide variation of India's cultural traditions and shared histories necessitates a comprehensive comparative approach to the country's literary studies. The goal of comparative literature, according to Gayatri Spivak, is 'Liberal Multiculturalism.' Each text has a tradition, cross-cultural influence, and is tied to other texts, just as no book or work of art lives in isolation. Any work of art that can be considered unique is always a copy of another work, as each work of art is linked to society, culture, and history, and the writer is influenced by a variety of factors.Studying Indian literature demands a comparative method where the classical or modern literature is studied under the entire Indian background as India has many languages and literatures.

Majumdar in Indian Dimensions Comparative Literature 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.

As a result, studying Indian literature in the singular is impossible, and studying Indian literature in the plural is as difficult. It is possible to comprehend Asvaghosa or Kalidasa in isolation, but when the two poets are read in relation to one another and to their times, certain characteristics emerge, such as Asvaghosa's' renunciation' themes and Buddhist tones, and Kalidasa's activistic themes and brahmanical learnings. These poets are also likened to those of the Kusana and Gupta dynasties in Indian history. Both poets owe Valmiki a debt of gratitude, and we can see that they share many ideas, idioms, and practises. This allows us to assess them more thoroughly and comprehensively.

Sanskrit and Dravidian languages are the foundations of Indian literature. Epics such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata were translated from Sanskrit into all of India's regional languages. Other important Indian classics, primarily the Veda, Upanishad, and Bhagavata, as well as Kalidasa's famous inventions, were translated from Sanskrit into regional languages. Several elements were moved from one source language to another in this fashion, using various methods.

Indian criticism started in 200 B.C. with Bharatmuni’s ―Natyasastra. He was the first critic, who had compared and contrasted the characteristics of “Rasa” or taste with the performance of drama. In the Indian context other classics of literary criticism are Anandavardhana’s Dhvani, Kuntaka’s Vakrokti, Abhinavagupta’s Rasa-Bhava theory, and Kavyadarsah of Dandin play an important role. Rasa, Alamkara, Riti, Dhvani and Vakrokti are concepts around which poetic criticism always moved. Entire Sanskrit and Prakrita literature and even the literature in modern Indian languages has been appreciated keeping these theories in mind.

Comparative literature's major goal is to comprehend the relationship between literature and human activity and dilemma. Comparative literature is the study of literature using comparison as the primary tool, with the focus on human legacy and, as a result, all aspects of human experience. Its fundamental goal is to bring the complete human experience together and accept it wholeheartedly, and as a result, all human interactions are fulfilled through a comparative approach to literatures from other locations. Comparative research aids in the dismantling of regional and cultural barriers, revealing the universality of human connections in their place.

Conclusion:

Comparative Literature gives readers a deep, long-term awareness of cultures other than their own, allowing them to grow as global citizens. As a result, we must examine our literature from within, as well as the context in which it is produced and considered, and turn to sources and resources resulting from cultural contact that predates the colonial episode, reflect on their influences, and consider their survival in 'post' colonial modernity. As a result, Indian literature is a continuous, ever-evolving, and inter-literary process in which Indian language and literature are always being re/made.

Work Cited:

A Handbook of Translation Studies. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers, 2005. 

Bose, Buddhadeva. Comparative Literature in India, "Contribution to Comparative Literature Germany and India, Calcutta: Ravindra Publication House, 1973.

Dass, Bijay Kumar. Comparative Literature, New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers, 2000.

Dev, Amiya. The Idea of Comparative Literature in India. Papyrus: Kolkata, 1984. 

 Dhawan, R.K. Comparative Literature, New Delhi : Behari Publication, 1987. 

Majumdar, Swapan. Indian Dimensions Comparative Literature - Indian Dimensions. Calcutta: Papyrus, 1987. 

Nandan, Saloni. “Need of Comparative Literature in Multilingual, Multicultural India.” International Journal of Research in All Subjects in Multi Languages , vol. 6, no. 1, 2018.