Nowa komparatystyka i comparatisme quand même

Abstract

The paper focuses on the current situation of the discipline of comparative literature, particularly on the condition of comparative cultural studies (so called New Comparative Literature). A general discussion on comparative literature as ‘indiscipline’, based on limitations of comparison and comparability (Rene Etiemble, George Steiner, Rene Girard, Jonathan Culler, Gayatri Ch. Spivak, Emily Apter), leads to the conclusion that a comparatisme quand meme (Alain Badiou’s concept) has been a crucial problem for the comparative literature in the last decades. In this context, the author argues that modern comparative studies, based on the idea of comparability and incomparability, can be defined not as a rigorous intellectual discipline, but rather as a discipline in statu nascendi, as a practice of translation and interpretation.