Comparative Literature Studies Research Articles

The rise of a new paradigm of literary studies: The challenge of digital humanities

Digital humanities has become a heatedly discussed and even debated topic among humanities scholars. It is true that it has made a revolutionary impact on the teaching and academic research of humanities scholars, which has also raised a severe challenge to traditional humanities scholars who are not ready for the impact of this trend. But in any event, it indicates a shift of paradigm of research, which marks the rise of a new academic paradigm and reading method in humanities studies. It at least bridges the gap between science and technology and the humanities and makes humanities scholars more efficiently digitizing their research results. This is especially true in literary studies, or more specifically, comparative and world literature studies. The so-called “distant reading” is a new way of researching world literature. Comparatists could use such a distant reading method to have a general picture of the historical development and evolution of world literature. But at the same time, close reading is also important which could for literary scholars to have a deep-going research and analysis of individual literary works. Thus it is necessary for comparatists to combine the two different reading methods in comparative and world literature studies.

Thalassological Worldmaking and Literary Circularities in the Indian Ocean

Abstract Although the study of Indian Ocean literary circularities is a relatively new and dynamic field, it calls for alternative paradigms for global literary history in light of the nascent conversation between comparative world literature and oceanic studies. Following the creative work of prominent writers of the Indian Ocean (including Abdulrazak Gurnah, the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature), the concept of literary circularities is anchored in the study of multiple intersecting and networked sites of exchange, circulation, migration, and encounter in this vast oceanic space that has mediated a dynamic cross-cultural traffic across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. In response to the territorial logic of old and new comparative literature, the polysemic nature of the Indian Ocean invites the following the question: what would world literature look like when terracentric biases of the field are unsettled? In other words, how does the thalassological poetics of the Indian Ocean also remap approaches to literary categories themselves? The Indian Ocean’s literary waves and the generic wateriness they create offer a set of analytical categories as they rescale narrative as a living, moving, recombining, recycling practice of memory, connection, and connectivity.

At the Seams of Literature

The book by Magdalena Kostova - Panayotova "On the seams of literature (between East and West - borders and identities)" commented the authors, processes and phenomena in the contemporary literature. The concept of "border" is key. Through it, literary relations, themes and plots are meaningful locally - on the Balkans and glob-ally: East - West. The book offers a systematic view of the contemporary literary process, as well as specific analyzes of authors from the Balkans and the East. Contemporary literature - as authors, plots, topics, reception, market is considered in the paradigm of comparative literary studies.

Distant Theory in Comparative Literary Studies

In this paper I want to propose a hermeneutical approach that I call “distant theory”. I start from the premise that mythology, literature and art, especially antique, medieval and early modern, in order to be fully comprehended need a reconstruction of the respective visions of the world and of human nature in which they were created and read by their public. This is also true for modern and contemporary works, but while pre-modern metaphysical and anthropological systems have been acculturated and are no longer in use, current systems, belonging to the scientific “vulgate” of our days, are spontaneously endorsed and accepted by literary and art critics as valid and true. I call this unquestionable use by commentators of cosmological and psychological theories “close theory”. In contrast, in order to avoid anachronistic mismatching of works belonging to a certain historical cultural paradigm with methods deriving from other paradigms, I propose an approach in which all ontological and psychological systems, be they antique or present, should be considered mere intellectual artefacts, “master narratives”, dependent on their respective epochs. This relativistic attitude would allow a “distant approach” especially to nowadays theories, freeing the literary and art analysts of the task of having to certify themselves theories that belong to other domains.

The Bible as a human and fallible book? Contrasting Karl Barth and classical Pentecostal hermeneutical perspectives

Many Pentecostals share an affinity with Karl Barth’s theology of the Word along with a high view of the Bible that Protestants share. Like some Reformed theologians, they interpret his theology as follows: the Bible is not in any objective sense the word of God but becomes the word when it means something to us through the work of the Spirit. The objective content of biblical words meant little for Barth; only the encounter with God in the text is essential. The purpose of this study is to consider the appropriateness of such affinity. The study limits the discussion to Barth’s view about the Bible’s humanness and fallibility and compares it to the Pentecostal perspective, that the Bible requires the Spirit’s inner working in the reader to become God’s revelation, implying that biblical authors point to the witness of the Spirit that entails the revelation; readers should strive to find that witness prayerfully. As a result, the related issues of the Bible’s authority and the task of exegesis are also discussed. The research uses a comparative literature study of some Barthian and Pentecostal resources. As a result, this article submits that some Pentecostals’ perception of Barth’s views is incorrect. However, some tangent planes exist between Barth’s and Pentecostal hermeneutics. The article concludes that by recognising their significant influence, Pentecostals would establish room to further the nuances their hermeneutics represent. It contributes to considering one proponent of Reformed hermeneutics, Barth, and Pentecostal hermeneutics. It expounds one aspect of Pentecostal hermeneutics about the Bible’s humanness and fallibility, that has received scant attention in the available literature.Contribution: The article contributes to the discourse about Pentecostal hermeneutics by investigating links between Karl Barth’s and classical Pentecostals’ theology of the word. It concludes that although some tangent planes exist between Barth’s and Pentecostal hermeneutics, Pentecostals regard the authority of the Bible as derived from the Spirit’s preference to use the Bible to speak to people.

Juha in Arabic and Turkish Literature A Comparative Literary Study

Varied repositories of international literature attend to Juha’s anecdotes as an aspect of collective memory and as national symbols appropriated by their cultures. The reality-mocking humorous situations and philosophical distinctiveness of the anecdotes permeated the fabric of popular culture. The stories were also incorporated into varied rhetorical forms such as novels, children’s fiction, cartoons, proverbs, and folk tales. This study accords due recognition to the importance and stability of this figure in the popular culture of Arabs and Turks, adopting Juha as a subject for study, analysis, and comparison in Arabic and Turkish literature. It comparatively investigates the literary figure of Juha in Arabic literature as a central character of the Arab and Turkish cultures. From the comparative perspective, this literary study encompasses Juha’s presence as an effective and influential character in the Arab and Turkish works of literature. It probes the circulation of anecdotes related to Juha in the literary, cultural, and social contexts of Arabs and Turks, and examines the growing employment of Juha tales in multiple literary genres. Despite the historical precedence of the Arab Juha, Nasr al-Din Khoja al-Turki’s features distinguished him from the Arab Juha in aspects including the themes of anecdotes, the places of their occurrence, the personalities who contributed to the event, and the formulation and presentation of the overall vision. The paper is arranged in three sections. Initially, it introduces the characters of Juha Al-Arabi and Nasr Al-Din Khoja Al-Turki and references Arab and Turkish sources to outline their histories. Second, it delves into the structure of anecdotes: the characters, their natures, the roles they discharge in the narrative exposition, and how they interact with events as protagonists producing linguistic signs and ideas. The paradox is familiar. This section of the paper also focuses on the locational structure of the anecdotes, the aesthetics of the place, and how it functions to advance events. The element of time is also analyzed, demonstrating the temporal aspects of the development of events and the representation of the historical stages at which the anecdotes occurred. The third section presents the similarities and differences between the Arab and Turkish anecdotes and the ways in which the accounts are represented in Arabic and Turkish literature. Finally, the paper concludes by iterating the study’s most significant results.

Fe3O4@date seeds powder: a sustainable nanocomposite material for wastewater treatment

This study reports synthesis and utilization of Fe3O4@date seeds powder to remove methylene blue from water. The adsorbent has been produced by a simple co-precipitation method, in which Fe3O4 nanoparticles are grown on date seeds powder. Different chemical functional groups were found on surface of the prepared bio-adsorbent. The size of the grown Fe3O4 nanoparticles was observed to be around 5 nm and confirmed their magnetic character via VSM measurement. Several non-linear adsorption isotherm models such as Langmuir, Freundlich, and Redlich-Peterson were obtained for methylene blue dye adsorption, and it was observed that the Freundlich isotherm is the best fitted model. The monolayer adsorption capacity calculated from Langmuir isotherm was 76.652 mg g−1 at 27 °C. The kinetic models (pseudo first order and pseudo second order) were also studied for methylene blue adsorption and the pseudo second order is the best fitted model in the present investigation. The methylene blue adsorption isotherm and kinetic study suggested that the current adsorption process was carried out by electrostatic interactions between the functional groups on the surface of the Fe3O4@date seeds powder and the dye, and the rate determining step was intraparticle diffusion. This entire study has been systematically explained through comparative study of literature. This study proves that the developed adsorbent is bio-degradable, inexpensive, and efficient for dye removal, which recommends increasing the production of natural bio-adsorbents in the future for water purification.

At the Eleventh Hour. The Principles of Folklore Collection in the Scholarly Oeuvre of Lajos Katona and in Hungarian Folklore Studies at the Turn of the 20th Century

Abstract In Hungary, the academic study of folklore started at the turn of the 20th century. In the period between 1889 and 1920, institutions for the study of folklore and ethnography were established. The author points out that ethnographic collections in this era were motivated by concern about the loss of folk culture phenomena owing to changes brought by modernisation. Major arguments for the establishment of the Hungarian Ethnographic Society as well as the Museum of Ethnography referred to the need to salvage endangered items of folk culture from vanishing. Folklore collections were interpreted as rescue missions aiming to save material in the penultimate moment. The author of this paper investigates the way in which an outstanding folklorist of the period, Lajos Katona (1862–1910), professor of comparative literary studies, defined the essence, purpose, and method of ethnographic/folklore collections. Katona urged on several occasions that collectors of folklore be equipped with professional guidebooks and other auxiliary materials. He played a role in the popularisation of the activities of the Folklore Fellows, furthering the establishment of a network of voluntary collectors. Empirical data collection in the field is a central notion of folklore studies, one of the most important methodological and epistemological categories of the discipline, which functions as a distinctive feature differentiating it from other fields of study. Therefore, it is of central importance to shed light upon how and why the principles of the collection and recording of folklore phenomena in oral culture have changed.

A Comparative study of prison literature in Persian and Arabic literature: The case study of “ya sahebi- al- sejen” and “fifty three people”

A Comparative study of prison literature in Persian and Arabic literature: The case study of “ya sahebi- al- sejen” and “fifty three people”

러시아-소비에트 튀르크 문학 연구의 성과와 의미

Modern Russia is the country with the largest population of Turkic peoples, except for Turkey and several countries of Central Asia. Moreover, the Russian Empire, which occupied most of the territory of the Mongol empire, inherited the cultural and literary traditions of the turkic-mongolian peoples. Therefore, it can be said that the study of turkic literature begins with an understanding of the history of Russian turkic studies. This study attempts to classify the history of Russian turkology by time, show who conducted which research, and give meaning to the results.<BR> Russian turkology 18-19 centuries. was carried out by Western European scientists (most of them Germans). Early studies of Turkic literature in the Russian Empire were mainly focused on the collection of folklore materials, research on inscriptions and turkic genealogy. However, after Radlov collected, translated and presented a huge amount of materials from the turkic oral literature of Siberia and the Urals from the middle of the 19th century, the turkology of the Russian Empire developed rapidly. In addition to Radlov, quite a few Turkic oral literary works were collected and translated by such scholars as Katanov (Khakas literature), Khudyakov (Yakut literature), Balikhanov (Kyrgyz literature) and Vervitsky (Altai literature).<BR> In the 20th century, the study of turkic literature in the Soviet Union was carried out by local turkic or russian scholars in research institutes established in the turkic republics, and much turkic folklore was collected and analyzed more carefully. In addition to the collection and analysis of individual turkic folklore, in the Soviet Union they also became an important experience in the field of general literary research, laying the foundation for the creation of methodologies for comparative literary studies by such scholars as Zhirmunsky and Meletinsky.

Kazakh-uzbek literary connections

Kazakhs are kindly disposed towards Uzbeks regarding them as brothers, andUzbeks sympathize with words “If your friend is Kazakh, then you are not left in trouble”. It is asign of brotherhood between two nations. Proclamation of the year 2018 the year of Uzbekistanon the Kazakh land as a symbol of brotherhood and rendering honors to great Kazakh poet Abay’screative work in Uzbek country are made deliberately. These significant events in literary processalso point to the dynamic development of cultural and literary intercommunication in the Turkicworld. It is known that worldview features of the nation are reflected on its art of the word. Forthis reason, it is important to study Kazakh-Uzbek literature with common historical roots in thecontext of comparative literature studies. This article examines Kazakh and Uzbek literaryrelations originating from folklore, and literary relations between them are divided intochronological periods in accordance with principles of historical development. Accordingly theaim of the article is to identify historical bases of Kazakh-Uzbek literary relations and specialaspects of their development.

Imperfect Solidarities: Tagore, Gandhi, Du Bois, and the Global Anglophone

Imperfect Solidarities: Tagore, Gandhi, Du Bois, and the Global Anglophone

From Internationalism to Postcolonialism: Literature and Cinema Between the Second and Third Worlds

From Internationalism to Postcolonialism: Literature and Cinema Between the Second and Third Worlds

PURSUING OPTIMAL RADIATION DOSE IN PEDIATRIC CARDIAC CT: A REPORT FROM UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL LEUVEN.

Computed tomography (CT) balances between high resolution and low radiation dose. Given the greater radiosensitivity of children, it is appropriate to use child-friendly CT-protocols that reduce radiation dose at acceptable image quality.This article states the radiation dose in pediatric cardiac CT-examinations at university hospital Leuven (Belgium) and compares with findings published by similar medical centers. The diagnostic accuracy was simultaneously compared, as it correlates with radiation dose. his retrospective observational study analyzed 58 CT-scans of 52 patients. The radiation dose was calculated in effective dose. The image quality was scored qualitatively with a 5-point scale. The diagnostic accuracy, a derivative representation of the image quality, was checked with findings from surgery or conventional angiography. The mean effective dose in our study population was 1.3±0.4mSv. The qualitative image quality was on average 'good', elaborated with a score of 4.0±0.2. The diagnostic accuracy was 92%. Comparative literature study provides a mean effective dose of 1.5mSv and the reported diagnostic accuracy from other centers reaches ≥90%. At our center pediatric cardiac CT-scans are obtained with good-to-excellent image quality and high diagnostic accuracy at low radiation doses. These results meet the radiation dose and diagnostic accuracy as published by comparable medical centers.

Н.В. ГОГОЛЬ И Ж.П. САРТР В ПОИСКАХ ЧЕЛОВЕКА: АНТРОПОЛОГИЯ ЭКЗИСТЕНЦИАЛИЗМА В ПОВЕСТИ «НОС» И В РОМАНЕ «ТОШНОТА»

Статья посвящена антропологической проблематике экзистенциализма в художественной литературе. Повесть Н.В. Гоголя «Нос» и роман Ж.П. Сартра «Тошнота» рассматриваются как развернутые высказывания в заочной дискуссии с религиозным философом Р. Гвардини о сущности человеческой личности и перспективах ее сохранения в изменяющемся мире. В ходе сравнительно-сопоставительного анализа произведений демонстрируется сходство позиций каждого из их авторов в понимании человеческой личности, а также форм и способов их художественного воплощения. The article is dedicated to the study of the anthropological aspects of existentialism in fiction. “The Nose” by N. Gogol and “Nausea” by J.P. Sartre are viewed as opinions in the imaginary discussion with the German religious philosopher of the twentieth century R. Guardini on the human essence and the ways of preserving it in the changing world. The comparative analysis of the works by Gogol and Sartre revealed similarities in the authors’ concepts of human personality and the forms and methods of their artistic embodiment. Both writers talk about the human aspect, highlighting two interconnected elements. The first one is related to the definition of the foundations of human identity. Gogol’s method of searching for it consists of depriving his character of the nose, which supposedly is the focus of the human in the man. Sartre, who understands a person as pure consciousness (“nothing”), acts by analogous methods, throughout the novel, consistently freeing the consciousness of his hero from all possible influences of the objective world, in order to highlight his personality. Gogol’s and Sartre’s analysis of the topic of the face made it possible to include Guardini in their discussion. Comparison of his point of view of a Catholic priest, set forth in the form of a theoretical treatise, and the concepts of Gogol and Sartre, expressed in the artistic form, made it possible to identify in literary works the second aspect of the personality problem associated with the destruction of human identity in conditions of social life. Gogol and Sartre find in social communications the mutual substitution of the interlocutors for each other’s true personalities with deindividualized images based on the perception of the Other solely as a representative of a certain social type or group. 40 Comparative Literature Studies A particular danger for the preservation of one’s own identity is represented by a similar self-perception by a person and the construction of one’s own personality in accordance with the predicted communicative attitudes of potential interlocutors. The fairness and fundamental nature of the anthropological discoveries of Gogol and Sartre is confirmed by the traces of their influence, particularly, on the English writer J. Fowles, who belonged to the later period and another national culture.

AN ARCHETYPAL APPROACH TOWARDS THE GREAT GATSBY: THE TRANSFORMATIONAL AMERICAN DREAM THROUGH META-MEME IN THE GREAT GATSBY

The American dream is one of the most studied subjects, especially in modern American literature. Remarkably when it comes to modern American literature, F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby cannot be omitted from these studies. It is true that there are many articles and debates on The Great Gatsby, and there will be more. Nevertheless, what makes this study somewhat diverse is that Gatsby’s American dream can be reckoned as a meta-meme inspired by the ancient Greek heroes in a post-postmodernist way. The article will particularly try to show that Gatsby is a timeless hero whose one foot in the past and the other in the future. Some may find Gatsby under the name of Hercules, some under the name Odysseus, and some under the name Bruce Wayne. Gatsby cannot be limited within a limited period since the connotations that his existence stand for create an everlasting effect on any human society. That is to say, the meta-meme, which Gatsby ‘radiates’ or reflects is the thing what humankind have craved for since they existed: Power. Some may call it the American dream or the multimillionaire’s dream; some may call it a solipsist’s dream. This dream, however, one way or another, is a dream that Morpheus, the Dream God, will continue to bring to us. Although it can sometimes be a nightmare, the silhouette of the dream will always remain the same. Therefore, through a comparative study of history, literary theory, mythology and literature, this article intends to show that the American Dream persists even stronger through meta-memes at the dawn of twenty-first century.

The importance of cultural studies in comparative literature

The importance of cultural studies in comparative literature

The Effect of Braun’s Enteroenterostomy on Delayed Gastric Emptying in Binding Pancreaticogastrostomy Following Pancreaticoduodenectomy: a Comparative Study and Review of Literature

The Effect of Braun’s Enteroenterostomy on Delayed Gastric Emptying in Binding Pancreaticogastrostomy Following Pancreaticoduodenectomy: a Comparative Study and Review of Literature

Musical Scores and the Eternal Present: Theology, Time, and Tolkien by Chiara Bertoglio

Reviewed by: Musical Scores and the Eternal Present: Theology, Time, and Tolkien by Chiara Bertoglio Eileen Marie Moore Musical Scores and the Eternal Present: Theology, Time, and Tolkien, by Chiara Bertoglio. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2021. xv, 192 pp. $26.00 (softcover). ISBN 978-1-7252-9502-5. While the self-stated purpose of this book is to present music and its notation as a symbol for "a transcendent and consoling reality: the supreme beauty of God, his providence, and our final destiny as singers in His eternal symphony" (xiii), its title hints towards a fascinating intersection between apologetics, philosophy, and fantasy. A note of particular interest in the title is the mention of J.R.R. Tolkien. Part 2 dwells upon this subject, comparing Tolkien's "Ainulindalë" with the Genesis Creation story and Dante's Commedia—all three heavily laden with musical and religious themes. More intriguing to me is the concept of the eternal present as it applies to musical notation, [End Page 211] the reading and performing of music, and the appearance of musical scores in art. A score, though composed in the past, contains the potential for future performance. The musician, trained to apprehend the whole of the score at a glance and interpret its organizational structure, may refer back to what has already been played while in the process of currently performing and, simultaneously, look ahead to plan the execution of parts yet to come. This non-linear temporal state, existing in the musical score itself as well as the act of performing, may be analogous to the Eternal Present as realized by God. In developing these themes, Bertoglio offers a crash course in music theory, beginning with the history of musical notation (in Western music) and traveling through the works of composers, artists, and theoreticians who examine how music captures time and allows the performer (more so than the listener) to experience the whole and its parts simultaneously. Thoroughly cited and sourced and not given to unfounded supposition, this book provides for the curious reader ample points of departure for further research. Many of the religious references and allusions seem like studies of comparative literature and may prove more generally accessible than not. Bertoglio undertakes a philosophical definition of Time and the eternal present—a noble (yet somewhat unsatisfying) undertaking hardly exhaustive of the subject matter, given such a breadth of material. Along the way, we encounter writings of St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and other Church Fathers, and of a wide range of philosophers. We consider religious and philosophical concepts such as the Trinity, Incarnation, and (from Greek thought) the organization of the heavenly bodies, contemplation and praise of God, and the beauty of music as symbolic of perfect harmony in heavenly society. All of the mysteries of Christian theology—Transfiguration, Incarnation, Passion, Eucharist—are presented as moments when chronological time intertwines with eternity. Bertoglio also takes on the thorny task of defining the origin of Evil and discord in the heavenly choir, the role of artists, musicians, and writers as sub-creators, and posits that the creation of music is a religious act, a theological undertaking, a quest for meaning. Delving into the subject of Myth (that they may speak real truths about the meaning of life even though lacking hard facts like a chronicle) brings us to J.R.R. Tolkien. "[C. S.] Lewis, Tolkien and Hugo Dyson had a famous night stroll …" (146). Tolkien saw creation myths as narratives woven by humans as a "fragment of the true light" (150). This concept was new to C. S. Lewis despite its roots in writings of the Patristic era, Jewish theology, and Greek philosophy. Tolkien's emphasis on "sub-creation" (149) as the [End Page 212] process by which humans are "called to fulfil their Creator's likeness" (147) is borne out in his "Mythopoeia" and "On Fairy-stories." Bertoglio spends some time comparing Tolkien's poetry to passages from Genesis and moves on to specific musical symbolisms with which he narrates the creation of Arda. His "Ainulindalë" (Music of the Ainur, a musical myth by which the Elves express their beliefs of the origin of their world) is used as a filter...

Variation in Synchronic Development of Literature: Mutual Learning

Abstract: This paper analyzes the processes of cross-lingual, transnational, and crosscultural communication and interaction of world literary classics. The author argues that world literary classics are actually the result of the variation of the exchanges between various “ethnic” literatures. Comparative literature is essentially a discipline of scholarly study of the synchronic developments of literature and culture. Although scholars have long recognized the perspective of variation in diachronic development, there has been less attention to variation in synchronic development. The formation of world literary classics is also closely related to the synchronic development of literature. Thus, variation studies in comparative literature not only reveal the perspective of cultural innovation but also find creativity in the variation of cultural and literary communication as well as innovation in the variation of literary interpretation.