Neohelicon XXIV/2 ULRICH WEISSTEI
F R O M E C S T A S Y T O A G O N Y : THE RISE A N D F A LL O F C O M P A R A T IV E L IT E R A T U R E
"F_,in e d e r s u c h t s i c h e n d l i c h s e l b s t w a s a u s " Goethe ~ " C h a c u n n ' a p l u s q u q t r e t r a n c h e r [ . ... . ] c e q u e l u i p a r a g t d ~ p l a c ~ ou supcrllu pour ab outir son propr portrait". Pichoi~Rousseau 2
S e v e r a l y e a r s a g o , I p r o m i s e d n e v e r a g a i n to g o p u b l i c w i t h m v i e w s o n C o m p a r a t i v e L i t e r a tu tu r e , t h e s c h o l a r l y a n d a c a d e
ic dis-
c i p l i n e w i t h w h i c h I h a v e b e e n a s s o c i a t e d fo fo r n e a r l y h a l f a c e n t u r y and w ith who se fortunes I have con cerned m ys elf in an irregular s e r ie s o f p u b l i c a t i o n s r a n g i n g f r o m s u r v e y s o f th e e n t i r e f i e l d t h i s t o r ic ic a l ,
ethod olog ical, organizational and cu rricular discu ssion
ii h r u n g i n d i e V e r g l e i c h e n o f v a r i o u s k i n d s . I n a d d i t i o n t o m y E i n f ii de Literaturw issenscha ft,
an essay meant to be a supplementary
c h a p t e r th e r e o P a n d a b o o k l e n g t h R e v i e w o f R e s e a r c h c o v e r i n g a p p r o x i m a t e l y o n e d e c a d e , 5 t h es e i n c l u d e a n a u t o b i o g r a p h i c a l
erster Teil, 1 .96 ("Vorspiel au f dem Theater"). Faust, der Trag6die erster 2 ClaudeP ichoisandAndr~-M . Rousseau,Lalit Rousseau,Lalittdratur tdraturecompa ecompa rde(Paris: rde(Paris:Colin, Colin, 1967), p. 174. 3 Stuttgart Stuttgart:: Ko hlhamm er, 1968, and the the English-language English-language version; version; Compara(Bloomington: on: Ind itive Literature and L iterary Theory: Survey and Introduction (Bloomingt ana U niversi niversity ty Press, 1973). The w ord "theory" in in the title w as suggested b y the publisher and is not to b e taken program atical atically ly or in the sense currently attached to it. 4 "Influences and Parallels: Parallels: The Place and Function of Analogy Studies in C om piegelung: ung: Festschdfi fOr Horst Rfidiger parative Literature" in: Teilnahme und S piegel zum 65. Geburtstag, ed. Beda Allemann and Erwin Koppen (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1975), pp. 593 -609. 5 Vergleichende Literat Literaturwissenschafl: urwissenschafl: Erster Bericht, 1968-1977 (Bern: Peter Lang, 1981) 1981).. The pres present ent essay essay may b e regarded as as an im plicit apolog apologyy for m refusal to produce any sequels to to this Forschungsbericht. 0324~1652/97/$5.00 0324~1652/97/$5.00 9 Akaddmiai load 6
Akad~mlai Kiodd, Budapest John Benjamins B. V., Amsterdam
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ULRICH ULR ICHWEISSTEIN WEISSTEIN
sketch, 6 an anat omy, omy,7 7 a pedagogical piece in a profes sion al jo ur nal, s contribut ions to two F e s t s c h r i f t e n 9 and the text of a keynote nal,s address add ress given on th thee occa occasion sion of the the University of o f Bol ogn a's ninehundr edth anniversary, ~ Toda y stil stilll a skeptic skeptic but mindfu l of the popular inj unct ion "never say n ever", I return to the battlefield strewn with the corp(u)ses countless Introductions, handbooks, manual s, p r e c i s and prognostications issued during the Hundred Years' War waged between orthodox I and libera liberall factions factions within the institut ion of Compar ative Literature. Especially in the final stages of this bloody struggle which, at long last, seems to be on the point of exhausting itself,, some of the third- and fourth-generation rebels have loudl itself proclaim ed the death death of th this is great great Pan and have confi dentl y predicted that "slowly but certainly a new paradi gm is com ing to pree "Vergleich und Vergleichgesellt sich gem: Aus dem Leben eines Komparatisten" in: specialissue o f a r c a d i a on the occasionof occasion of Horst Rfidiger's Rfidiger's 75th birthday, ed. Erwin Koppenand Koppenand Rfidige yon Tiedemann Berlin: Berlin:de de Gruyter, 1983),pp. 147156. 7 "D'o/l venons-nous? venons-nous ?Que sommes-nous? sommes-nous?O6 O6 allons-nous?: al lons-nous?: The Permanent Crisis of Compa Comparative rativeLiterature". C a n a d i a n R e v i e w o f C o m p a r a t i v e L i t e r a t u r e 1 1 (1984), pp. 167-192. s "Introducti "Introduction on o GraduateStudies in Comparative ComparativeLiterature Literatureat Indiana University: A Descriptionand Descriptionand an Auto-Critique".A C L A N (American (AmericanComparative ComparativeLitLiterature AssociationNewslet AssociationNewsletter) ter) 9/1, (1979 (1979), ), pp. 42-53. 9 "Komparatistik:Alte Alte Methode oder Neue Wissenschaft?:Grunds~tzliches Wissenschaft?:Grunds~tzlichesans ans ic is is m : Festschriftfor Anlass einer italienischen italienischenReise" Reise" in: L i t e r a r y T h e o r y a n d C r itit ic Rer~ Wellek zum 80. Geburtstag, ed. Joseph Strelka (Bern: Peter Lang, 1984), I, 631-656, and "Assessing "Ass essing the Assessors: Asses sors: An Anatomy of Comparative Literatur te r a Handbooks" in: S e n s u s c o m m u n i s : C o n t e m p o r a r y T r e n d s i n C o m p a r a t i v e L i te t u r e , e d . Janos Riesz et al. (Tfibingen: ( Tfibingen:Narr, Narr, 1986), pp. 97-113. 97- 113. io "Lasciate ogni speranza: s peranza: a letterature comparata alla ricerca ricer ca di definizioni p e r d u t e " i n : B o lo l o g n a, a , l a c u l t u r a i ta t a l i a n a e l e l e t t e r a t u r e s t r a n i e r e m o d e r n e , ed. Vita Fortunali (Ravenna:Longo, (Ravenna: Longo, 1992), II, 43-57. The original English version of this t e r a t u r e 37 (1988), piece appeared in the t he Y e a r b o o k o f C o m p a r a t i v e a n d G e n e r a l L i te pp. 98-108. " A r ec ec en en t c o n f e s s i o n f o by Professor Maria Moog-Grfin Moog-Grfinewald ewald n a letter addressed to the membersof membersof DGAVLcontains DGAVLcontains he characteristi characteristiccsentence: sentence:"Ich "Ich selbst vemete nach win vor die Position, Posi tion, dass Allgemeineund Vergleichende Vergl eichendeLiteraturwissenschaft wissensc haft n erster ersterLinie Linie einePhilolog Philologie, ie, m ganzeneine ganzeneine literaturwissenschaftliche Disziplinist".
RISE RIS EANDFALLOF FALLOF COMPARATIV LITERATURE
9
vail in the human sciences [...] which rejects the historicism and nati onal ism, and even the inst itutions of literature, literature, as these we re envi sage d by the prev ious paradigm". 2 And, writi ng in a sim ilar vein, Susan Bassnett, author of one of the most recent Introductions, vigorously claims that "Comparative Literature [...] has had its day"./3 Gi ve n this downri ght anarchic situation, it makes little sense to expect, or undertake, the construction of a new edifice out of what are, by now, mere "fragments [...] shored against [the] ruins m4 of what was once a stately mansion. s But perhaps this is ju st anot her case of ""the the Empero r is is dead - long live the Emper or", for, as history teache teachess us, while an Emperor's lifespan is is clearly limited and the Emperor, as a person, will never return, inst itut ions have way of weathering storms. Indeed, as Wilhelm Pinder has shown seven ty years ago, the historical flux is characteriz characterized, ed, amo ng other things,, by a "Gleichzeitigkeit de things dess Ungleichzeit igen" (contemporaneousne ss of the non-contemporary) 6mat ched , as H. P. H. T ee si ng has shrewdly observed, observed, by an equivalent "Ungleichze itigkei t des Gleichzeitigen" (non-contemporane ousness of the contemp contemporary).17 orary).17
~ I am quot quoting ingfrom from an unpublishedposition unpublishedpositionpaper, paper, co-anthoredby co-anthoredby Claus Chiever Chiever and Clifford Cli fford Flanigan, that was read at a meeting meetingof of the ACLAheld in i n March 198 at the Universit University yof Michigan in Ann Arbor. The paper is an advanced draft of o f the preface to an aborted abort ed revision revisionof of the collectionComparative Literature: Method and Perspective, ed. Newton P. Stallknecht Stallknechtand and Horst Frenz (Carbondale:University (Carbondale:Universityof Southern Illinois Press, 19 1961 61 and 1972respective respectively) ly) hat was aborted 13 Comparative Literature: A Critical [sic] Introduction (Oxford: Blackwell, 1993), p. 161. 4 This is a referenceto T. S. Eliot's Eliot' s "The " The WasteLand", 1. 430. It I t is against such defeatist notions that Ren~Wellek fulminates n his contribution contr ibution o the Festschrift for A. Owen Ow en Aldridge, "The New New Nihilism Nihilis m n Literary Studies". See Aesthetics and the Literature ofldeas, ed. Franfois Franf ois Jost and Melvin J. J. Friedman (Newark, (Newark, Del.: The Univ. of Delaware Press, 1990), pp. 77-85. 77- 85. is The parallel suggest suggested ed by "stately mansion"is that with Edgar Allan Allan Poe's Poe 's famous short story, "The Fall of the House of Usher". 6 Das D as Problem der Generation in der Kunstgeschichte Europas (Berlin: (Berlin:FrankFrankfurter Verlagsanstalt,1926) 7 This Thi s compl complement ementary aryconcept concept was was introduced i ntroducedby by H. P. H. Teesing in his book Das Problem der Perioden in der Literaturgeschichte (Groningen: (Groningen:Wolters, Wolters, 194 1948). 8).
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S o m u c h b y w a y o f a p r ea e a m b l e ; a n d n o w o n t o th th e p r a g m a t i cs o f t h e b u s i n e s s a t h a n d . W h e n , s e v e ra r a l m o n t h s a g o , th t h e e d i t o r s o f th th i s p r e s t i g i o u s j o u r n a l a s k e d m e t o p a r t ic i c i p a te te i n a n i n q u i r y a i m e d a t d e t e r m i n i n g t h e " p l a c e o f C o p a r a t i v e L i t e r a t u r e i n t h e llii t e ra ra r y s c h o l a r sh s h i p o f o u r d a y " b y m u l l in in g o v e r q u e s t i o n s l i k e " I s t h e d i s t i n c t i o n b e t w e e n l i te t e r a r y h i s to t o r y , t h e o r y o f l it i t e r a tu tu r e a n d c r i t i c i s m o f l it i t e ra r a t u re r e c o n t i n u a b l e ? " , " W h e r e is i s t h e p la l a c e f o r th th e ' g e n e r a l ' a n d f o r t h e ' c o m p a r a t i v e ' i n it i t ?" ?" , a n d " d o t h e s e t w o r e p r e s e n t d i f f e r e n t a p p r o a c h e s t h a t c a n b e e f f e c t iv i v e i n a l th t h r e e d o m a i n s f l it it e r a r y s c h o l a r s h i p ? " ) 8 I in i n i ti t i a l ly l y b a l k e d a t s u b m i t ti ti n g y unripe t h o u g h t s o n th t h is is c o m p l e x s u b j e c t t o p u b l i c s c r u t i n y b u t u l t i m a t e l y d e c i d e d t o t a k e t h e b u l l b y i ts ts h o r n s . Though with grave mental reservations, I have, accordingly, w h e t t e d m y r ap a p ie i e r, r , k n o w i n g t ha h a t, t , e d it i t o ri ri a l " t i m e ' s w i n g e d c h a r i o t m 9 b e i n g a t y b a c k , I o u l d h a v e t ro ro u b l e d o i n g a t h o r o u g h j o b , e s p e c i a l l y i n s o f a r a s I n e i t h e r w a n t e d t o k il il l t h e a n i m a l o u t r i g h t n o r l e t it roam unchecked in the arena. With all this, and much more, in m i n d , I f in i n a l ly l y d e c i d e d t o s t ru r u c tu tu r e m y a r g u m e n t a r o u n d t h r e e c e n tral issues by r a t u re re 1 . r e c o n s i d e r i n g t h e ' n a m e a n d n a t u r e ' o f C o m p a r a t i v e L i t e ra by scrutinizing the diverse definitions to which the discipline h a d b e e n s u b j e c t e d a n d , w h i l e d o i n g s o , p l o t it it s t e m p o r a l , s p a tial and thematic fever charts; 2. briefly a n a l y z i n g t he l s t o f " p o s t m o d e r n " a n d " a n t i - p o s t o d e r n ' ~ t e n d e n c i e s t h a t is i s p r o v i d e d i n th th e o p e n i n g p a r a g r a p h f th th e l e t t e r o f i n v i t a t i o n ; a n d * Th e letter dates from N ovem ber 15, 1996 9 The reference is to A ndrew Ma rvell rvell's 's poe m "To M y Fair M istr istress", ess", wh ich includes the lines "But at m y back I alw ays hear / Tim e's winged chariot hurrying near", alluded alluded to in 1. 196f. of" he W aste Land". The psychologicalpressure psychological pressure which it exerts starkly contrasts ith the person a's stereotypical "There will be time" in the "Love Song o f J. Alfred Prufrock". 0 en t ellek's essay "T he Nam e and Nature f Com parat parative ive Liter Literatur ature" e" origi nally appeared in Com parat paratis ists tsat ork,ed. Stephen Nichols, Jr., and R ichard Vow les (Waltham, Mass.: B lais laisdell, dell, 1968) and and was repri reprinted nted i Discriminati Discriminations: ons: F urther Concepts o f Criti Criticis cis (New H aven: Yale Univ. Press, 197 0), pp. 1-36. ~ W ha t exactly the editors me an by "antipostmo dem " is hard to fathom . The
RISE AND FALL F COM COMPARATIVE PARATIVE IT ITERATURE ERATURE 3.
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le d w i t h a l o w e r reexamining t h e d i a l e c t i c o f t h e o r y ( s p e l le c a s e ) a n d m e t h o d o l o g y i n th t h e l i g h t f a s p e c i f ic i c s e t o f re re f l e c t i o n s w h i c h h o l d s a v e r y s p e c i al a l p l a c e i n tthh e l it i t e ra r a t u re re o n o m parative Literature. I n c a r r y i n g o u t th t h i s p r o g r a m , I s h a ll ll s c r u p u l o u s l y a v o i d o f f e r i n g
a c u t - a n d - d r i e d a n s w e r t o t h e f u tu t u r o I o g i c a l q u e s t io io n , f o r I a m n o s o o t h s a y e r a n d w o u l d h a t e t o b e a c c u s e d o f b e i n g a f a ls ls e p r o p h e t s e e in i n g t h r o u g h a g la l a s s d a rk r k l y . E q u a l l y a p p r e h e n s i v e o f th th e t r u m p e t o f th t h e A p o c a l y p s e s o u n d e d b y P r o f e ss ss o rs C l u e v e r a n d F I a n i g a n a n d o f J o n a t h a n C u l l e r 's ' s U t o p i a n v i s i o n o f a s c h o l a r ly ly P a r a d i s e w i s e l y r u l e d b y t h e c h a m p i o n s o f T h e o r y ( s p e l le le d w i t h a c a p i tal T), 2 1 shall sim ply spea k y m ind and let the chip s fall w he re they may. What, in effect, one may ask oneself, can be done to battle the " d e c o n s t r u c t i v e " c h a o s t h aatt t h re r e a te te n s t o c a u s e t h e d e m i s e o f o m para tive Literature as a self-suppo rting enterprise? A s will sho rtly b e s e e n , t h e p r o b l e m s , i f o n l y i n pa p a rt rt , a n o m e n c l a t u r a l o n e ; a n d the question arises whether the issue could be resolved by means o f t h e s e e m i n g l y s i m p l e tr t r ic i c k o f c h a n g i n g t h e n a m e o f t h e d i s ci ci pline without affecting its nature. Frankly, I do not think that one c a n s a f e l y d o s o , j u s t a s I a m f u l l y c o n v i n c e d t h at at , i n o u r a g e o f i n c r e a s i n g s p e c i a l iz i z a t i o n , a s u p e r - d i s c ip ip l i n e l i k e h e o r y c a n n o t s e r v e a s a c u r e -a - a l l. l . A n o t h e r f a c t o r h i c h s p e a k s a g a i n s t s u c h a p a t, t, a n d inevitably fuzzy, solution is constituted by the historical conside r a t io io n t h a t C o
p a r a t i v e L i te t e r a tu tu r e i s a
a g i c f o r m u l a , a f la la g w h i c h ,
i n t h e c o u r s e o f a c e n t u r y , h a s b e e n u n f u r l e d a ll ll o v e r t h e g l o b e b y
term does n ot figure in any o f the reference reference wo rks I have consulted but m ay w ell signify a return to odernism or the avant-garde avant-garde 2 In their intro duc tion to The Comparative Perspective on Literature: Approaches to Theor Theoryy and Practice (Ithaca: (Ithaca:Cornell Cornell Univ. Press, 1988), Clayton Koelb and Susan No akes signal "Jonathan Culler's contention [.. [...] .] that the the wh ole of wh at the French call the hum an [should be: the hum ane] ane]sciences sciences is m ore or less rapidly transformed tra nsformed in to som ething called theory, which encom passes no t only lit literary erary criticism crit icism b ut also p hilosophy, history, history, art history, usicology, architect architecture, ure, psy= psy= chology, and social and po li litical tical theory as well." (6)
1ooo 1o
,LR~C a W~SST~:
c o u n t l e ss s s a c a d e m i c un u n it i t s, s , b e t h e y d e p a rt rt m e n t s , P r o g r a m s , C o m m i t t e e s o r r e s e a r c h i n st s t it i t u te te s , n o t t o e n t i o n t h e c o u n t l e s s u n d e r g r a d u a t e a n d g ra r a d u a t e d e g r e e s g r a n te te d ,
appo intments m ade, na-
t io i o n a l a n d i n te t e r n at a t io io n a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s f o u n d e d , a n d b o o k s a n d j o u r nals launched. I n s h o r t, t , it i t i s h a r d t o i m a g i n e a n A c a d e e d e p r i v e d o f th t h is is p r o m i n e n t s i g n u m . n d s o n e a l t o g e th t h e r t o ig i g n o r e t h a t th th e r e h a v e b e e n Chairs of Co
p a r a t i v e L i te t e r a tu t u r e s in in c e 1 8 9 7 ( L y o n ) , w h e r e a s n
o n e h a s e v e r h e a rd r d o f P r o f e ss s s o r s o f L it i t e ra r a r y T h e o r y , m u c h l e ss ss o p r o f e s s o rs r s o f R u s s i a n F o r m a l i s m , F r e n c h S t r n c tu t u r a l is is m o r e r m a n R e z e p t i o n s i i s t h e t i k ? T h e r e a r e, e , to t o b e s u re re , S c h o o l s o f C r i t i c i s m , s u c h a s t h e f a m o u s K e n y o n S c h o o l o f E n g l is is h , f o u n d e d i n 1 9 4 8 b u t s u b s e q u e n t l y t r a n s fe r r e d t o I n d i a n a niversity, w here it wa r e c h r i s t e n e d T h e S c h o o l o f L e tt t t e rs r s . 3 Y e t , f r o m a n a d m i n i s t r a t iv iv e p o i n t o f v i e w t h e s e e n ti t i ti t i e s w e r e n e v e r f u l l y i n te te g r a t e d i n t o t h e U n i v e r s i t y c u r r ic i c u l u m b u t w e re r e , a n d a re r e , p r i m a r i ly ly r u n a s s u
er
sessions. S ti t i ll l l s p e a k i n g o f n a m e s : m o r e f e a si s i b le l e b u t s ti t i ll ll c u m b e r s o a n d u n s a t i s f a c t o r y i s t h e d i v i s i o n a r y t ac a c t ic ic c o n in several coun t ri r i es e s , n o t a b l y e r m a n y , w h e r e , f o r a lo lo n g t i m e , ) i s t h e t i k w a s a h i g h l y r e s p e c t e d F a c h a tt t t a ch ch e d t o P h i l o s o p h y , o f u s i n g t h e d o u b l e d e s i g nation "gene ral and com parative".
1 say "uns atisfactory " b eca use
t h e w o r d " a l lg l g e m e i n " a s u s e d in in t h e n a m e o f t h e G e r m a n C o p a r a t iv iv e L i t e r a t u r e A s s o c i a t i o n s a p p r o p r i a t e o n l y i f o n e t a k e s i t t o e a n " p e r ta t a i n i n g t o l it i t er e r ar a r y t h e o r y " r a th th e r t h a n w h a t V a n T i e g h e a n d h i s f o l l o w e r s t o o k i t t o m e a n i n th t h e i r I n t r o d u c t i o n s . ( It It w i l l b e r e m e m b e r e d t h a t t h e o s e s o f c o m p a r a t i s m i n si s i s te t e d o n i ts ts b i f u r c a t i o n i n t o l it i t td td r a t u r e c o m p a r d e a s t h e b r a n c h c o n c e r n e d w i t h " b i -
3 The New Criti Criticism cism derives it itss nam e from from John Crow e Ranso m's bo ok by that titl ti tle, e, w hich was p ublished in 1941. The Schoo l ceased to exist as a self self-contai -contained ned academic unit unit in 1992. (See the the annou ncemen of its disbanding in the Yearbook Comparative Comparati ve an d General Literature Literature 21 (1972), p. 102. 4 On e migh t ish to speculate abou t the positioning of"allgem ein" (= general) and "v ergleichend" (= com parat parative) ive) in the nam es of the G erman Com parative Literaturr erat urr Association and o f the Indiana Un iversi iversity ty Yearbook...
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n a r y l i n k s b e t w e e n t w o e l em em e n t s , w h e t h e r t h e s e b e i n d i v i d u a l w o r k a n d e n o r e n t i re r e l it i t e ra r a t u r e s" s " , a n litt~rature g#n~rale as the c o m plementary branch which investigates "facts common to several literatures, considered as such, be it in their mutual interdepen(clans ans leur coi ncid ence )", d e n c e o r b y a n a l o g y (cl T h e o t h e r o p ti t i o n s f o r p o u r i n g o l d w i n e i nt nt o n e w o n o a s t i c b o t t le l e s w h i c h h a v e b e e n p r o p o s e d o v e r th t h e y e a r s f a ll l l i n to to t h r e e b a s i c c a t e g o r i e s . F i r s tl t l y , a n d t o b e re re j e c t e d o u t o f h a n d f o r b o t h l o g i c a l and methodological reasons, comes the rather eccentric position t a k e n , p e r h a p s w i th t h t o n g u e - i n - ch c h e e k , b y th th e S w i s s - A m e r i c a n s c h o l a r F r a n c o i s J o s t , w h o r e p e a te t e d l y p le l e a d e d f o r r a is i s in in g C o m p a r a t i v e L i t e r a t u r e t o th t h e s t a tu tu s o f a s u p e r - s c i e n c e a n a l o g o u s t o b u t n o q u i t e a s e g a l o a n i a c a s Jo J o n a t h a n C u l l e r 's ' s e x c e s s i v e c l a im im s . I t p r o b a b l y w o u l d n o t b e a m i s s to t o i n te t e r p re re t J o s t ' s p r o n u n c i a m e n t o s a s a n o v e r reaction to the attempts, made in several quarters, to lower our d i s c i p l i n e t o t h e l e v e l o f a m e r e Hilfswissenschaft t h a t c o u l d n o t s t a n d o n i ts ts o w n f e e t . h a t e v e r t h e c a s e , J o s t p u b l i s h e d a n a r t i c l p r o v o c a t i v e l y e n t it i t le le d " ' K o m p a r a t i s t i k ' o r ' A b s o l u t i s t i k ' ? ~ 6 a n d i n h is i s b o o k l e n g t h I n t ro r o d u c t i o n w e n t s o f a r a s to to a s s i g n t o C o p a r a t i v e L i t e r a tu t u r e t h e n o b l e r o le l e o f b e i n g n e i t h e r m o r e n o r le le s s t h a n " a p h i l o s o p h y o f l et e t t e rs r s , [ . ] a n o v e r a l l v i e w o f l i t e r a tu tu r e , [ . . ] a h u m a n i s t i c e c o l o g y , a l i t e r a r y Weltanschauung ( o r e v e n g r a n d i l o q u e n t l y ) a v i s i o n o f t h e c u l t u r a l u n iv i v e rs r s e" e " .2 .2 7 S u c h l a r g e s s e i n m a t t e r s d e f in in i t i o n a l i s c l e a r l y o u t o f w h a c k ; f o r w h a t w e n e e d i s n o t o b f u s c a t i o n b u t c l a r i fi f i c a ti t i o n o f o u r modus vivendi et operandi. T h e s e c o n d c a t e g o r y i s s y m p t o m a t i c a l l y e x e m p l i f ie ie d i n t h e w r i t ings of Renr e l le l e k , th t h e f in in a l p a r a g r a p h o f w h o s e e s s a y " T h e C o n c e p t o f C o m p a r a t i v e L i t e r a tu tu r e 2 s o p e n s w i t h t h e s u g g e s t i o n : " P o s sibly it would be best to speak simply of 'literature'" and con-
Cited from the E nglish version,by ~6 arcadia 3 (1968), pp. 229 -234.
illiam ill iam Riggan, f m Einfiihrung..., 16
7 Intro Introducti duction on to Comparative Litera Literature ture(Indianapolis: (Indianapolis:Bo Bo bbs M errill errill,, 1974)
p. 29.
2s Yearbook f Compa Comparativ rativee and General Literature2 (1953), pp. 1-5.
1 02 02
ULRICH
WE ISSTEIN
c l u d e s w i t h t h e n o t s o m o d e s t p ro ro p o s a l : " I f e h a v e t o k e e p t h e t e r m ' c o m p a r a t i v e li l i te t e r a t u re r e ' , i t w i l l s i m p l y m e a n t h e s t u d y o f l it it e r a tu t u r e , i n d e p e n d e n t l y o f li l i n g u i st s t ic i c d i s t in i n c t i o n s " ; f o r in in h i s v i e w "literature is one, as art and humanity [sic] are one; and in this c o n c e p t i o n l ie i e s t h e fu f u t u r e o f l it i t e ra ra r y s t u d i e s "
p . 5 ). ). W e l l e k ' s c a l l
f o r th t h e u n i t y o f l it i t e r at a t u r e a n d , b y e x t e n s i o n , t h a t o f li l i t e r a ry ry s t u d i e s a s w e ll ll d i d n o t g o u n h e e d e d . I t g a v e i m p e t u s , f o r e x a m p l e , t o H a r r y L e v i n ' s p r e s id i d e n t ia i a l a d d r es es s o n a t h e m e s u g g e s t e d t o h i m b y t h e o n e i r i c g r e e t i n g " e a r e h e r e t o c o p a r e t h e l it i t e r at at u r e " t h a t s e r v e d a s it i t s a n e c d o t a l p r o p e l la la n t . 9 I n s o f a r a s W e l l e k u s e s t h e t e r m o m p a r a t i v e L i t e r a tu t u r e n o t o n l y i n i ts ts p r i m a r y s e n s e N t h a t h i c h i s i n h e r e n t i n th t h e F r e n c h d e s i g n a t i o n l it i t td td r a t u r e c o m p a r d e , w h e r e t h e s i n g u l a r , l it i t e ra r a t u re re , h a s b e e n s u b s t i t u t e d f o r t h e i n t e n d e d p l u r a l - and as the label for an acade ic subject (Vergleichende Litera-
t u r w i s s e n s c h a f t ) b u t a ls l s o , id i d i o s y n c r a ti t i c a ll ll y a s a s y n o n y m f o r o r l d L i t e ra r a t u r e , u n d e r s t o o d t o b e t h e g l o b a l o u t p u t o f s i g n i f ic ic a n t b e l letristic writings, he muddled the issue by levelling the difference between method and matter. e l l e k ' s u n i f i c a t i o n f l it i t e ra r a r y s c i e n c e re r e f le le c t s a t o p i a n w i s h b y t a k i n g p o l y l i n g u a l i s m f o r g r a n te te d . F o r , w h i l e K u n s t w i s s e n s c h a f t M u s i k w i s s e n s c h a f t a re r e u n i v e r sa s a l ly ly v i e w e d a s b e i n g ono lithic a n d th t h e r e f o r e su s u i ta t a b ly l y a c c o m o d a t e d in i n s in in g l e d e p a r t m e n t s a d m i n i s te te r i n g t h e s t u d y o f orld art and world usic re spective ly, L i t e r a t u r w i s s e n s c h a f t i s o f a d i f f e r e n t i lk lk , a s i t u s t c e to g rips with the diverse Nationalliteraturen that are entrusted to the spec i a l iz i z e d p h i l o l o g i e s ? ~ T h e g r o w i n g a w a r e n e s s o f th th i s s p l i t i n t h e R o a n t i c a g e o f a w a k e n i n g n a t io i o n a l i sm s m e x p l a in i n s t h e d es e s i re re t o c l o s e
9 "C om paring the Literature", Ibid. 27 (19 68), pp. 74-74--90. 90. 0 he re are are two Ital Italian ian equivalent equivalentss of the French term. either either o f them reflect reflecting ing a differ different ent perspective perspective on the subject: lett letteratura eratura com parata, on the one hand, and letterature lett erature com parate, on the o ther ~ "L ang uag e literature" (Sprachliteratur) wo uld seem to be a better substitute substitute fo Nationalliteratur than the the term Einzelliteratur (= individual liter literature) ature) which Hu go D yserinck propagates propagates in his Koraparatis Koraparatisti tik: k: Ein e Einfiihrung (Bonn: B ouvier 1977).
RISE AND FA LL OF COMPARATI COMPARATIVE VELITERATURE LITERATURE
103
t h e g a p s w i t h t h e h e l p o f a n ew e w b r a n c h o f li l i te t e r a ry ry s c i e n c e e x p r e s s l y c r e a t e d f o r t h a t p u r p o s e . T h i s , a t le l e a st s t , is i s th th e e x p l a n a t i o n p r o v i d e d b y H a n s R o b e r t Ja J a u s s, s , n o f ri r i en e n d o f C o p a r a t i v e L i te t e r a tu tu r e , w h o regards it as a Provisorium or, as he blandly puts it, as "ein Fach, d a s e r f u n d e n w e r d e n m u s s te t e , u m d a s a lt lt e b e q u e m e P a r a d i g m a d e r Nationalhistorie zu sichern, und das die Einzelliteraturen als Wesenheiten sieht, die unter autochthonen Entwicklungsgesetzen s t e h e n " ? 2 T h i s i s a tr t r e n c h a n t c r i t iq iq u e w h i c h , r i g h t l y o r r o n g l y i m p l i e s t h a t C o p a r a t i v e L i t e r a tu t u r e is is d i s p e n s i b l e a n d w i l l s o o n e o r l a t e r v a n i s h f r o m t h e e a rt rt h . o r e t o th t h e p o i n t b u t s t l l p r e c a ri ri o u s o n a c c o u n t o f t h e m e t h odological crux which results form the failure to distinguish between works produced within one language literature and those w r i t te t e n i n d i f fe f e r e n t t o n g u e s - - a d i s ti t i n c ti ti o n f i r m l y r o o t e d i n C o m p a r a t i v e L i t e r a t u r e a s o r i g in i n a l ly ly c o n c e i v e d 3 - i s t h e s h i f t o f e m p h a s i s t h a t r e su s u l t s f r o m t h e s u b s ti t i tu t u t io i o n o f th th e l a b e l C o p a r a t i v L i t e r a r y S t u d i e s f o r t h e c u s t o m a r y d e s i g n a t io i o n o f t h e f ie ie l d , s u c h a s i s d o c u m e n t e d i n t h e t it i t le l e o f S . S. S. P r a w e r ' s I n t r o d u c t i o n 4 a s w e l l as, by standard procedure, n the bulk of M arxist anuals. s Th is s o lu l u t io i o n o f t h e n o m e n c l a tu t u r a l p r o b l e m s tr t r ik ik e s m e a s b e i n g s e n s i b l e and appropriate in so far as the qualifying noun, Studies, reflects an overriding concern with method, which the by now stereotypic a l " C o p a r a t i v e L i t er e r a tu tu r e " d o e s n o t 2 " P a r a d i g m e n w e c h s e l i n d e r L i t e ra r a t u r w i s s e n s c h a f t" t " , Linguistische Berichte 3 ( 1 9 69 6 9 ) , 4 9 , a n d H u g o y s e r i n c k ' s re r e b u tt tt a l 3 T h i s w a s n o t t h e c a s e w i t h H . M . P o s n e t t , a u t h o r o Comparative Literature ( L o n d o n : K e g a n P a u l , 1 88 8 8 6 , t h e f ir i r s t b o o k c a r r y i n g t h a t ti t i tl tl e . F o r t h e e l e c t i v e N e w Z e a l a n d e r i n s is i s t e d : " N a t i o n a l l it i t e ra r a t u re re h a s b e e n d e v e l o p e d f r o m w i t h i n a s w e l l a s i n f l u e n c e d f r o m w i t h o u t ; a n d t h e c o m p a r a t i v e st s t u d y o f th t h i s in i n t e r n a l d e v e l o p e n t is is o f a r g r e a t e r i n t e r e s t t h a n t h a t o f t h e e x t e r n al a l , b e c a u s e t h e f o r m e r is is l e s s a m a t t e r o f i m i t a ti t i o n a n d m o r e a n e v o l u t i o n d i r e c tl tl y d e p e n d e n t o n s o c i a l a n d p h y s i c a l c a u s e s " ( 8 1 ) . Comparative Literary Studies: An Introduction. L o n d o n : D u c k w o r t h , 1 9 7 3
5 See, for examp le, Dion# z ~)ur ~)urig igin in,, Vergleichende Literaturforschung: Versuch eine s methodischmethodisch-theoret theoretischen ischen Grundrisses, t r . L u d w i g R i c h t e r ( B e r l i n - O s t : A k a d e m i e - V e r l a g , 1 9 7 2 ), ) , A k tu t u e ll l l e Probleme der Vergleichenden Literaturforschung,
e d . G e r h a r d Z i e g e n g e i s t ( B e r l i n - O s t : A k a d e m i e - V e d a g , 1 9 6 8 , a n d t h e c o l l e c t io io n o f e s s a y s b y M a r x i s t c o m p a r a t i s t s e d i t e d b y G e r h a r d K a i s e r . e r g l e i c h e n d e L i t e r a tu tu r f o r s c h u n g i n d e n s o z i a l i s t i s c h e n L t i n d e r n 1 9 6 3 - 1 9 7 9 ( S t u t tg tg a r t : M e t z l e r , 1 9 8 0
104 10 4
ULRICH WEISS 'rEI
In taking this course, Prawer and his colleagues from behind w h a t w a s t h e n k n o w n a s th t h e I ro r o n C u r t a in i n e m u l a t e d a li li n e f t h o u g h that originated with Benedetto Croce without, however, heeding t h e l a t t e r 's ' s w a r n in i n g . F o r in i n t h e fa fa c e o f t h e e v i d e n c e w h i c h t h e y t h e m s e l v e s b r o u g h t to t o b e a r o n th t h e i ss s s u e , th th e y u n a b a s h e d l y c o n t i n ued to spawn Introductions cast in the familiar mould, whereas their "patron saint" persistently refused to sanction Comparative L i t e r a t u r e a s a s c h o l a r l y p r e s e r v e o r a c a d e m i c b a i li li w i c k . T h u s , i n critica, C r o c e s t a t e d a n a r t i c le le p u b l i s h e d i n h i s o w n j o u r n a l , e m p h a t i c a l ly l y : " C o m p a r a t i v e L i t e r a tu tu r e u s e s t h e c o m p a r a t i v e e t h o d . y i ts t s v e r y n a t u re r e a s a s i p l e r e s e a r c h to to o l ( c o p a r i s o n ) c a n n o t l a y c l a i m t o d e l im i m i t i n g a n e n t i re r e f i e ld l d o f s p e c i a l i z a ti t i o n " .36 . 36 A n d i n a l e tt tt e r a d d r e s s e d t o h i s G e r m a n c o l l e a g u e K a r l V o s s l e r , h e o n d e r e d " h o w a s p e ci c i a lt l t y [c [ c o u ld l d ] b e m a d e o f c o m p a r a t i v e l it i t e ra ra ture", considering tha je de ernsthafte ernsthafte liter literarisc arische he Untersuchu Untersuchung, ng, jed e ersch6pfe ersch 6pfende nde kriti kritische sche Arbe Arbeit it witt Notwendig wi Notwendigkeit keit vergl vergleiche eichend nd sein mtisst mtisste, e, das heisst heiss t um die histor hi storisc ische he Situation de dess Kunstwerkes innerhalb der d er Weltliteratur wis wisse sen n miisste.
o v i n g f r o m t h e n a m e o f C o m p a r a t iv i v e L i te t e r a tu t u r e to t o i ts ts n a t u r e a l o n g p a t h s a l r e a d y s u g g e s te te d , I b e g i n b y s c a n n i n g t h e h i s t o r i c a l e v o l u t i o n o f o u r d i s c ip i p l in i n e , u s in i n g a s m y o d e l t h e t r ia ia n g u l a r s c h e by e a n s o f w h i c h t h e n in i n e t e e n th t h - c e n t u ry ry G e r m a n n o v e l i s t a n d p l a y w r i g h t G u s t a v F r e y t a g v i s u a l iz i z e d t h e s t r u c tu tu r e o f t r a g e d y i n h i s o n c e w i d e l y u s e d b o o k Die Technik das Dramas. " p y r a m i d a l e r B a u " w h i c h h e e n v i sa s a g e d c o n s is i s ts t s o f f iv i v e Teile Hi~hepun epunkt, kt, Fal Umkehr p a r t s ( a - e : Einleitung, Steigerung, Hi~h Katastrophe) a n d t h r e e Stellen o r c r is i s e s ( 1 - 3 : erregendes Moment, tragisches tragisc hes Moment and Moment de derr letzten Spannung) a r r a n g e d
36 "La litt#rature compar#e" compar#e".. La C ritica 1 (1903 (1903), ), pp. 77-80. 77- 80. ~ Let L etter ter of August August 27, 1902, in: B r ie i e fw f w e c h se s e l B e n e de d e tt tt o C - K a r l V o s s le le r (Frankfurt a.M.: Klostermann, 1955), p. 30. 8 I have used us ed the fifth, improved edition o f this book (Leipzig: Hirzel, 1886), originally published in 1863. The English equivalents of these terms are given by Marvin Carlson in his
RISE AN D
FALL
OF
COM PARA TIVE
LITERATURE
10
i n s u c h a w a y a s to t o c o n s ti t i tu t u t e a n u p w a r d m o v e m e n t ( a - I - b ) r i si si n g t o w a r d t h e a p e x ( c) c ) b u t t h e n q u i c k ly ly d e s c e n d i n g t o w a r d t h e c a t a s trophe (2-d-3-e) in accordance with the following schema:
d
T h i s i s a g r a p h w h i c h e a s i ly l y l en e n d s i t s e lf lf t o t h e p l o t t i n g o f h i s t o r ic i c a l p r o c e s s e s i n m a n y f i el e l d s, s , w h e t h e r p o l it i t i ca c a l , s o c ia ia l , e c o n o i c o r c u l t u ra r a l , i n a f i x e d a n d s e e m i n g l y t i m e l e s s p a t t e r n . I n l i t e ra ra t u r e , f o r in i n s ta t a n c e , i t c a n b e u s e d t o d e s cr c r ib ib e t h e g r o w t h o f m o v e m e n t s o n their way toward becoming dominant period styles characterized b y a r e c o g n i z a b l e s y s t e m o f n o r m s o r r e g u l a t iv i v e i d e a s, s, a s w e l l a s of th eir ine vitable decline. ~ Th is is a lso a su itable ap pro ac h for marking the major stations in the life of Comparative Literature a n d c h a r t i n g t h e c o u r s e o f i ts ts p r o g r e s s a n d s u b s e q u e n t r e g r e s s i o n . A f t e r a v e r y e x t e n d e d p r e h i s t o r y ( = E i n l e i t u n g ) e n t a il i l in in g s o m e f a l s e starts and misguided efforts, one can easily spot the e r r e g e n d e s M o m e n t in Fernand Baldensperger's seminal essay in the first istu r e C o m p a r ~ e . s u e o f th t h e R e v u e d e L i t t ~ r a tu h a t f o ll ll o w e d w a s a p r o t r a c t e d S t e i g e r u n g w h i c h , a s ta t a b le l e p l a t fo fo r m h a v i n g b e e n r e a c h e d w i t h th t h e a p p e a r a n c e o f P a u l V a n T i e g h e ' s m a n u a l , a t ta ta i n e d i t p e a k ( H i ~ h e p u n k t ) n l u s t r u m m i r a b i l i s ( 1 9 6 7 - 1 9 7 3 ) t h a t s a w th th e pub lication o f Introductions galore in several tongue s.
survey Theories o f the Theatre: A Historical and Critical Survey fr m the Greeks to the Present (Ithaca: Cornell Univ. P ress, 1984) 258f
o See W ell ek ' s defi definifi nifion on of a (li (literary terary)) pedod in W ell ek and Warren, Theory o Literature (New Y ork: Harcour Brac e, 1949), p. 277.
4~ "Litt6raturecompar~e: "Litt6raturecompar~e: e m ot et la chose". RLC 1 (1921), pp. 5-29
I06
ULRICH WE1SS WE1SSTEIN TEIN
The irreversible F a l l U m k e h r , without a visible t r a g i s c h e s M o m e n t , that set in approximately in the mid-seventies is closely l i n k e d t o th t h e m a s s i v e a p p e a r a n c e o n t h e l it i t e r a ry r y s c e n e o f n e w c r it it i c a l a n d t h e o re r e t ic i c a l m o v e m e n t s , f ir ir s t i n F r a n c e a n d s u b s e q u e n t l y t h r o u g h o u t E u r o p e a n d th t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s. s. I t w a s p r e c i s e l y t h e n t h a t t h e s o l id i d s t r u ct c t u re r e e re r e c t ed ed b y V a n T i e g h e m b e g a n t o c r u m b l e , a f t e r f i rs r s t h a v i n g b e e n w e a k e n e d b y th t h e i n je j e c ti t i o n o f fo fo r e i g n b o d i e s ( F r e m d k O r p e r ) into its architectural substance. T h u s , t o a d d u c e b u t t w o e x a m p l e s o f s u c h u n d e r m i n i n g : i n th th e first edition of their Introduction, Picho is/Rousse au includ ed a cha pter, somewhat fashionably entitled "Structuralisme litttraire" but a c t u a l l y a h o d g e p o d g e o f l o o s e l y c o n n e c t e d f e a t u r e s, s, 2 h i c h i n s u b s e q u e n t e d it i t io io n s w a s r e p l a c e d b y a c h a p t e r i n n o c u o u s l y l a b e l l e d " P o t t i q u e " . A n d , o n t h e o th t h e r s h o r e o f t h e A t l an a n t ic ic , A l a n F . N a g e l , E i n f i i h r u n g . .. .. . t o o k m e t o t a s r e v i e w i n g t h e E n g l i sh sh v e r s i o n o f b y p o s i n g t h e r h e t o ri r i c a l q u e st s t io io n : ould it be too m uch to expect mention of one or two [si ould [sic] c] of the nam es of Richards, Richar ds, Levi-Strauss, Levi-Strauss, Crane , Poulet, Bo oth, Barthes, Sebeok and Go ldmann743 These examples may well be regarded as fixating the M o m e n t th e h i s t o r y o f C o m p a r a t i v e L i t e r a t u r e i n i t d e r l e t z t e n S p a n n u n g i n th c l a s s ic i c a l p h a s e , f o r w h i l e P i c h o i s / R o u s s e a u a n d N a g e l s ti t i ll ll s e e m t o e n t e r ta t a i n t h e n o ti t i o n t h a t t h e tw tw o p a r a d i g m s , C o m p a r a t i v e L i t e r a ture and Theory, might be compatible, Peter V. Zima, writing in 1 9 9 2 , h a s m o v e d b e y o n d t h is i s h o r iz i z o n b y s i m p l y o r d ai a i n in in g , " d i e o m p a r a t i s t i k s o ll l l (t ( t )e ) e s ic i c h a u f d a s P r o g r a m m d e r f rf r f ih ih e n K r i t i s c h e n Theorie besinnen und versuchen, sozialwissenschaftliche Metho-
2 Th e ch apter is subdivided into sections entitled th#matologie, morphologie,
esth~tique de la traduction and struct structures ures perm anentes et variantes particuli}res particuli}res
respectively. 3 agel's review appeared in the Working Papers Papers o f the M innes innesota ota Center fo Advanced Studies in Language, Style and Literary Literary T heory, spring, 1974.
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d o l o g i e m i t p h i l o s o p h i s c h e r R e f l e x i o n z u k o m b i n i e r e n " (italics by the autho r, P. V. Z.), 4 as i f this w ere the u l t i m a r a t i o . Alre ady in the late eightie eighties, s, however, the fi nal leg leg of the f alli ng action, in which the writing of Introductions to Compa rativ e Literature fell into disgrace among the c o g n o s c e n t i , was reached. It was hardly by chance that precisely at that point a pair each of Amer ican and French scholars scholars brought out collections of essays b various hands and, in so doing, tacitly admitted that the time for presenting authoritative surveys of our field was, was, once and for all, gone. Thus, in the preface to their jointly edited volume Clayton Koelb and Susan Noakes frankly admitted their failure to find a common denominator: It wa wass our sense that earlier studiesdesigned o provide an introduction introduct ion o the discipline discipli ne no longer accuratelyrepresentedwhat people associated with the field are currentlydoing. currentlydoing. We felt, however,that what was needed was not n ot yet anotherprescriptive another prescriptivebook book enumerating enumerating he kind of study in which comparatist comparatist engage. More interesting and useful, it seemed to us, would w ould be a volume exemplifyingwhat exemplifying what comparatists actuallydo. actuallydo. ~ In so arguing, they put the cart before the horse; for how can one rec ognize a comparatist without reference reference to a con sen sus definition of his field? In a similar vein but, in the French tradition of Comparative Literature, s omewhat more apolo Literature, apologetica getically, lly, Pierr Pierree Brun el and Yves i s d e L i tt t t d ra r a t u r e C o m p a r d e , defined Chevrel, co-editors of a P r d c is their select ion criteria as follows: Tel qu'i qu'il, l, est, ce Preciscomp comporte ortedes lacunes,dont nous nou s sommes sommes conscients. conscients. Nous n'avons n' avons pas eu la pr6tention pr 6tention de presenter, present er, dan danss des domaines domai nes oh la recherchee est en plein expansion, antbtdes recherch antbtdes ~tat ~ tat pr~'sents, pr~'sents,des des travan t ravanx xr6cents, tant6t des aper~us sur un u n genre, genr e, ou une ~poque, tant6t des perspectives de recherche?
Komparatistik: Einfiihrung in die Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft (Tiibingen:Francke, (Tiibingen: Francke, 1992),5f. 5 The Com parative Pers pective on Literature (fn. 2t)~ 3. 6 Paris P aris:: Presses Univer Universita sitaires iresde de France, 1989,9. I have reviewedthis volume in Arcadia 26 (1991), pp. 322-326. 322 -326.
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A r g u i n g t h a t ' T u n i t 6 e s t d a n s le le m u l t i p l e " , t h e y j u s t i f i e d t h e a b d i c a t i o n f t h e i r e d i t o r ia i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t ie i e s b y s t a ti ti n g : Chaqu e auteur a eu la pleine respons responsabil abilit it~~ de son tex te, et nou s n'avo ns veill6 qu 'une uniform isati isation on [... [...]] de la pr6sentati pr6sentation on typographique. O h , w h a t a f a l li l i n g - o f f w a s t h er er e ! S u r e l y , i f n o u n i v e r s a l l y a c c e p t e d d e f i n i t io i o n o f a Fach e x i s t s , the cen ter can no long er hold and things are likely to fall apart. 7 t h e m o e n t i m m e d i a t e l y p r e c e d i n g c a ta t a s t ro ro p h e , t h e s c h o l a r l y G#nerdammerung o f o u r d i sc s c ip i p l in i n e , t h e p e r m a n e n t c r i si si s o f C o m parative Literature appears to have given way to total chaos. As the leftwing French scholar/critic Didier Naud discerned as early as 1971: "Elle poss~de la particularit6 d'etre dans la division des l e t tr tr e s l a d i s c i p l i n e o u r ~ g n e l e p l u s g r a n d c o n f u s i o n n i s m e " . 4 8 T h e s a r e h a r s h w o r d s i n d e e d ; b u t b y a c u r io i o u s t w i s t n o t u n f a i l i a r to to t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h e r , C o m p a r a t i v e L i te t e r a t u r e is i s s ti t i ll l l a li l i v e , th th o u g h p e r h a p s n o t k i c k in i n g , a n d o r e o r le le s s c o n v e n t i o n a l I n t r o d u c t i o n s a r e s t i ll ll b e i n g r i t t e n . h a t o n e m a y c a ll l l t h e s p a t i o - te te m p o r a l t h e m a t i c r a n g e o f t h e s p e c if i f i c a r e a s o f s t u d y a d m i t t e d to t o t h e in in n e r s a n c t u m o f C o p a r a t i v e L i t e r a t u r e i n i ts t s r o c k y a n d , s o m e t i m e s , tu tu r b u l e n t h i s t o r y i g h w e l l b e i m a g e d i n t h e f o r m o f a p u ls l s a ti ti n g h e a r t w i t h a r h y t h m i c a l b e a t a l t e r n a t i n g b e t w e e n systole ( c o n t r a c t io i o n ) a n diastole ( e x p a n s io i o n ) . I n t h is i s p a r t ic ic u l a r c a s e , h o w e v e r , t h e r h y t h m o f t h e s e c o m p l e e n t a r y m o v e e n t s i s d e c i d e d l y e rr r r a ti t i c, c , a s th th e e x p a n s i o n s f a r o u t number the contractions, which may be taken either as a sign of c o n t i n u a l g o o d h e a l t h o r a s a t o k e n o f i n s ta t a b i li l i ty ty . lm ost in the c r a d l e , f o r in i n s t a n c e , t h e g r o w t h o f o u r d i s c i p l in in e w a s c h e c k e d b ~ his s an allusi allusion on to a fam ous ine in in W . B. Yeats' poem "The Second Com ing" from the collection collectionMichael Robartes and the Dancerof 192 1921. 1. Qu'estst-ce ce clue clue la littdratu littdrature re compar~e? s uo ted in Bm nel/ nel/Pichois/ Pichois/Rousseau, Rousseau, Qu'e (Pads: (Pad s: Colin, 1983), 7, fro aud's revie articl articlee"L ia6rature ia6raturecompar~e: compar~e:Sur Sur quelque contradict contr adictions ions d'un anuel d'orientation". d'orientation". In: Litt#rature/Science/Iddologie, 42-48. 9 S e, orex orexampl ample, e, lVfiroslavBeker'sUvodukom lVfiroslavBeker'sUvodukomparativnuknji~evnost(Zagreb: parativnuknji~evnost(Zagreb:
Skolska Kn jiga, 1995)
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t h e r e s o l u t e c a s t in i n g o f f o f F o l k l o r e , it i t s o r i g i n a l ly ly s y m b i o t i c p a r t n e r given its full due in the earliest bibliographies. But thereafter the additions to its officially or unofficially sanctioned corpus c a m e h a r d a n d f a s t u n t il il t h e p o i n t a t w h i c h t h e p r o v e r b i a l s p o n g e w a s o a k e d a n d i n u r g e n t n e ed ed o f b e i n g s q u e e z e d d r y a g a i n w a s r e a c h e d . This rampant Imperialism of Comparative Literature ~ has an if e s t e d i ts t s e l f i n m o r e w a y s th t h a n c a n b e c o n v e n i e n t l y l is i s te te d , m u c less commented upon, in the space at my disposal. Rather than getting embroiled in yet another controversy about the applicabili ty t y o f F e m i n i s m , M a r x i s m , " C o m p a r a t i v e L i t e ra r a t u r e in in t h e P o s t C o l o n i a l W d d " o r t h e " P o l it i t ic ic s o f T r a v e l l e r s ' T a l e s " , l I s h a l t h e r ef e f o r e c o n t e n t y s e l f w i t h l is i s ti t i ng n g s o m e o f th th e m a j o r a c c r e t i o n s w i t h o u t d w e l l i n g o n a n y o f t he he n u m e r o u s o d i f i c a t io io n s a n d regurgitations. O n t h e m e t h o d o l o g i c a l s c e n e , f o r i n s t an an c e , o n e n o t e s a n i n c l u s i o n a r y t e n d e n c y w h i c h , s u p p l e m e n t i n g reception w i t h influence in a second phase, ultimately condon es, if not alw ays ap pr ov ing, p a r a l l e l s a n d a n a l o g i e s a s w e l l . A v e r i t a b l e c r o s s r o a d s w a s f i n a l l y r e a c h e d w h e n , s u b v e r t i n g t h e n o t i o n o f B e z i e h u n g , as it is p o p u l a r l y h e l d, d , b e g a n t o b e s u p p l an an t e d b y t h e p r i v i l e g i n g o f a l t e r i t y
and relationship by contrast (And (Ander erss ssei einn and Geg ensiitzli ensiitzlichkeit) chkeit) as accep table odes. T h e c h r o n o l o g i c a l r an an g e o f t h e d o m a i n t o b e a d m i n i s t e r e d b C o p a r a t i v e L i t e ra r a t u re r e g r a d u a ll ll y o u t g r e w t h e n a r r o w c o n f i n e s t o which it was initially restricted, i.e., the Modem Age beginning w i t h t h e R e n a i s s a n c e a n d , f o r a ll l l p r a c ti ti c a l p u r p o s e s , e n d i n g w i t h t h e f i n - d e - s i ~ c l e . I n d u e c o u rs r s e , it it b e g a n t o w r e n c h G r a e c o - R o m a n
0 Re gard ing his issue, see the the intertexm intertexm ally allyorient oriented ed essa by E rnest B. G il ilman, man, "Intera rt Studies and the Im perialism perialismof of Language" Poetics Today 10 (1989), pp. 5-30. sl The latter two formulati formulations ons serve as chapter headings in Susa n Bassnett's boo k (fn. 13) ~ y definition, critical approac hes hat are wh olly werkimmanent,such as the position taken by the ore dogm atic practi practiti tioners oners of the New Criticism, are not com parati parative ve n the accepted sens sense. e.
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l it i t e r a tu t u r e a w a y f r o m t h e c l a s s ic i c a l p h i l o lo lo g i s t s w h o , f o r t i m e i m m e morial, had been its trusted guardians, and encroached upon the t e r r i t o r y h i t h e r t o r e s e r v e d f o r M e d i e v a l i s ts ts , 3 h i l e e x t e n d i n g i t s s c h o l a r l y a c ti t i v it i t ie i e s to t o t h e t w e n t i e th t h c e n t u r y a s w e l l. l. T h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g s p a ti t i a l, l , i . e .,., g e o g r a p h i c a l , w i d e n i n g f s c o p e r e s u l t e d , f i r s t, t, i n t h e c o m p a r a t i v e t r e at a t m e n t o f W e s te t e r n l i te t e r a tu t u r e s in i n r e l a ti ti o n t o n o n Western ones -- and then, by logical extension, to the study of n o n - W e s t e r n l it i t er e r at a t u re r e s a m o n g e a c h o t h e r ? 4 n s t il il l o t h e r f r o n t s , the octopus which is Comparative Literature used its ever agile t e n t a c l e s t o h u g , b u t h o p e f u l l y n o t s m o t h e r , o r a l l i t e r a t u r e ss and ultimately turned its loving attention to the most genuinely comp a r a t i v e f a l l i n t r a - l i t e r a r y s u b j e c t s , i .e .e . , t r a n s l a t i o n . o v i n g b e y o n d t h e b o r d e r s o f t h e a lr l r e a d y v a s t p r o v i n c e o f le le t ters, it also extended its feelers to the linkages between literature a n d t h e o t h e r a rt r t s in i n t h e M u s a i o n b u t , f o r t u n a t e l y , h e l d i ts ts b r e a t h h e n i t c a m e t o c i a i m i n g j u r is i s d i c t io io n o v e r E s t h e t i c s a n d t h e w e c h i t e r al a l ly ly u n d e r s t o o d . I t f u r t h e r a d s e l s e i t ig i g e E r h e l l u n g d e r K i in i n s t l it v a n c e d t o t h e e x p l o r a ti t i o n o f t he h e t i es e s b e t w e e n l i te t e r a tu tu r e a n d t h e ( o t h e r ) m e d i a ( r a d io i o , f il i l m , T V 7 a n d , a t t h e e n d o f i ts ts l o n g d a ' s j o u r n e y , a l t o g e t h e r s h e d d in i n g w h a t e v e r o d e s t y w a s l ef e f t, t, t o o k a c r a c k a t t h e s c i e n c e s a s w e l l . T h u s , in in a h i g h l y c o n t r o v e r s i a l , d e f t 3 See especially Jean Fr Frap appi pier er's 's pioneering paper, "Litt&atures "Litt&atures m6di6vales et lin6ratur lin6 raturee compa compar6e: r6e: Probl~me Probl~mess de recherche recherche et de d e m6thode" m6thode" in the Proc eed eeding ingss of the Seco Second nd ICLA Congress (Chap (Chapel el Hill, N. C.: Univ. o f North Caroli Carolina na Press, 1959) I, pp. 25-35. In this case the pione p ioneer er is Ren~ Re n~ Efiemb Efiemble, le, the b~te noi French-style yle noire re of French-st point,, as far as the two branche s of comparacompa ralittdrature compar3e. A good case in point tive scholarship involving non-Western literatures are concerned, is the volume G~rard edited fo r the ropean Language rit riting ing in Subsaharan Africa which Albert G~rard Comparative History of Literatures in European Languages (Budapest: Akad6miai Kiad6, 1986). ~ This happened most spectac spectacula ularly rly at the Fifth ICLA Congre ss hel held d in BelB elgrade (1967), that is to say, in the count country ry where Milman Milman Perry and a nd Albert Alber t Lor Lord d had studied studi ed the Serbian oral epic. 6 The founders of Comparative Literature in France, beginni begi nning ng with Paul Van Tiegbem, Tiegb em, had shown some som e interest interest in translators translators but not in translatio translation. n. ~ At the Institut Institut ftir Anglistik of o f the Karl-Franzens-Universititt Graz, P ro rofe fess ssor or Walterr Be mh an currently Walte currently heads a "Departm "Department ent of o f Liter Literature ature and the (Other) M edia edia". ".
RISE AND
FALL
OF
COM PARATIVE
LITERATURE
11
n i t i o n o f t h e r a n g e o f o u r s c h o l a rl rl y e x p e r t is e ( " C o m p a r a t i v e L i t e r a t u r e s t h e s t u d y o f li l i te t e r at a t u re re b e y o n d t h e c o n f i n e s o f o n e p a r t i c u l a r c o u n t r y , a n d t h e s tu t u d y o f t h e r e l a t io i o n s h i p s b e t w e e n l it i t e r a tu tu r e o n t h e o n e h a n d a n d o t h e r a r e a s o f k n o w l e d g e a n d b e l ie ie f , s u c h a s t h e arts .... ph ilosop hy , h istory and the social sciences, the sciences r e l i g i o n , e tc t c ., . , o n t h e o th t h e r "S "S s ) , e n r y H . H . R e m a k o v e r s t e p p e d t h e b o u n d s a n d w a s s e v e re ly c r i c z e d b y e n t W e l le le k , w h o m t h s c h e m e s t r u c k as as o n e devised for purely practi practical cal purposes in in an A erica ericann graduate school, w here you ay have to just justify ify a thesis thesis topic topic as 'com parati parative ve li litera terature' ture' before un sym patheti patheticc colleagues resenti resenting ng incursions into into thei theirr p arti articular cular fields fields f com pe ten ce . R e g a r d i n g t he n ex t i te m o n m y a g e n d a , n a m e l y , t h e p r o i s e d a n a l y s i s o f th t h e l is i s t o f " n e w p o s s i b il i l it i t ie i e s f o r l it it e ra r y c o p a r a t i s c o m p r i s i n g " h e r m e n e u t i c s , d e c o n s t r u c ti v i s m , n e w h i s t o r ic i s m , e m p i r i c a l l i te t e r a r y s c h o l a r s h i p [ s c ], ], t h e o r y o f i n t e r p r e t a t i v e c o m u n i t ie i e s , a n d s o o n " , w h i c h , a s t h e q u a l i f i e r a t i ts ts c o n c l u s i o n i n d i c a t e s , i s d i s t in i n c t l y o f t h e r a n d o m s o r t,t , o n e c o u l d ell argu e that, g i v e n t h e p u r p o s e f t h e e d it i t o r ia i a l l et e t te t e r, r , t h is is i s a n e x c e l l e n t t a c t i c a l e i n s o f a r a s i t i s p r e c i s e l y i ts ts g r a t u i t y w h i c h t e a s e s t h e r e a d er's i n d a n d a r o u s e s i n h i m t h e c r e a ti t i v e s p i ri r i t o f c o n t r a d i c t io io n . n d e r t h e s e c i r c u s t a n c e s , i t i s h a r d l y s u r p r i s i n g t h a t th th i s m i n i c a t a lo g u e s n o m i c r o c o s m n w h i c h th e acro cos m o f od em l it i t e r a r y t h e o r y , w h i c h l ie ie s a t t h e h e a r t o f t h e w h o l e e n t e r p r i s e s e t i n o t i o n b y P r o f e s s o r s S z a b o l c s i a n d V a j d a , is i s f u l ly l y r e f le le c t e d . T h e r e a r e t w o o b s e r v a ti o n s w h i ch s u g g e s t t h e m s e l v e s u p o c l o s e r i n s p e c t i o n o f th t h e l s t: t : fi f i rs r s t ly l y , th t h a t th th e l i n k s w h i c h
ak e u
this fragmentary chain are, both qualitatively and quantitatively, d i f f e r e n t ; a n d , s e c o n d l y , t h a t t h e l s t,t , e v e n i f i t c o v e r e d a ll ll t h e b a s i c elements
n th t h e s ta ta r r y s k y o f
o d e m t h e o ry , w o u l d b e d e f e c t i v e
ss "Comparative Literature: Its Definition and Function" in Stallknecht/Frenz (fn. 1 2), p. 3 9 "T he N am e and Nature of Com parati parative ve Literature" Literature" (fn. 20), p. 18.
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ULRICH WEISSTEIN
i n s o f a r a s c o u n t l e s s c o m b i n a t i o n s a n d r e c o m b i n a t i o n s o f th th e s e b u i l d ing blocks could be envisaged, thereby enhancing its eclecticism. o n c e r n i n g t h e f ir i r s t o b j e c t io io n , i t s e a s y t o s e e t h a t t h e f i v e " p o s s i b i l it i t ie ie s " a r e b y n o m e a n s e q u i v a l e n t i n s i g n i f i c a n c e a n d s c a l e b u t f o r m a h i e r a r c h y o f l ar a r ge ge , m e d i u m - s i z e d a n d s m a l l p h e n o m e n a r a n g ing all the way from a comprehensive Weltanschauung (decons t r u c ti t i o n ) t o a n o t i o n - t u r n e d - t e c h n i c a l t e r m ( i n t e r p re r e t a ti ti v e c n i t i e s ) , w i t h t w o S c h o o l s ( N e w H i s t o r i c i s m a n d E m p i r is i s c h e L i te te -
raturwissenschaft) and a technique (herm eneutics) co nstituting an intermediary layer. A s f o r t h e s e c o n d p o i n t , o n e s in in g l e e x a m p l e s h o u l d s u f f i c e t s h o w t h e r e l e v a n c e o f m y c ri r i ti t i qu qu e . I n t h e E n c y c l o p e d i a o f C o n t e m po ra ry Literary Theory, ~the m o s t c o m p r e h e n s i v e r e fe r e n ce w o r k o f i s k i n d , t h e d e s c r ip i p t io i o n o f th t h e p h e n o m e n o n c o v e r e d i n th th e e n t r y " E m p i r i c a l L i t e r a r y S c i e n c e / C o n s t ru r u c t iv i v i s t T h e o r y o f L i te te r a t u r e " reads, in part, as follows: [It] is relat related ed to o ther systemic approaches approaches.. These can be grouped into com unication theories (including (including semiotics) semiotics) and the sociolog y of literature. literature. H istorically, torical ly, the former includes includes the the approaches of the Russian F ormalists, the the Prague S chool and m ore recent polysystem theory. [...] [...] The sociology o literatur lit eraturee grou p [...] includes thecham p it itt~rai t~raireapproach, reapproach,[...] socio criticism and the ~co ~cole le bibliologique bibliologique l'institution litt~raire approach. (37) H e r e t h e p o l y s y s t e m t h e o r y is is p r es e n t e d a s p a r t o f a l a r g e r p o l y s y s t e m ; a n d w h a t a n e s t o f B a b u s c h k a s t h a t is is ! o n f u s i o a b o u n d s , b u t t h a t is i s h a r d l y s u r p ri r i si si n g ; f o r h o w c a n o n e e x p e c t booklength summa of conce pts, nam es, and terms ~ arrang ed in alp h a b e t i c a l o r d e r t o m a k e d o f o r a h i s to t o r i c al a l a n d t r u l y c r i t ic ic a l s u r v e y i n w h i c h a ll l l f e a tu t u r e s a r e s ee e e n i n re r e l a ti ti o n t o e a c h o t h e r a s f o r m i n g a g l o b a l n e t w o r k ? U n f o r t u n a te t e l y , s u c h a n e ff ff o r t h a s n o t a s y e t
o E dited by Irene R. Mak aryk, the book was published in 1993 by the U niversityy o f Toronto Press. sit 1 Th e three subdivisions subdivisions f this volum are entitled entitled "Approac hes, hes,Scholars Scholars (and) Term s" respectively. respectively.
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been undertaken, whether individually or collectively 2This pose a grave dilem
a t h a t m a y n e v e r b e r e s o l v e d ; f o r i t i s f u t il i l e to to h o p e
f o r a la t t e r d a y
e l l e k w r i t i n g a n a u t h o r i ta ta t i v e
istory of M
em
T h e o r y ( in in h o w m a n y v o l u m e s ? ) . T h e d i f f i c u l ti ti e s t o b e o v e r c o e b y a n y o n e b r a v e e n o u g h t o fr a m e a n a n s w e r o t h e k i n d o f e d i to t o r i a l q u e s t io io n s r a i s e d a r e fu r t h e r c o p o u n d e d b y t h e u n c e r t a i n t y w h i c h s u r r o u n d s th th e m e a n i n g o f t h e e x p r e s s i o n " i n o u r d a y s " . Is Is i t
e a n t to to b e s y n o n y
ous with "c on-
t e m p o r a r y " ? A n d e x a c t ly w h a t d o e s " c o n t e m p o r a r y " m e a n ? T h i s i s , a t b e s t , a s l i p p e r y q u e s t i o n . F a c e d w i t h i t, t , t h e e d i t o r o f th t h e Encyclopedia o f f e r s t h e f o l lo lo w i n g a p o l o g y : t the core of this volume is the attemp attemp t to delineate the different kinds o approaches and schools since since New Critici Criticism, sm, that that is, the trends, tendencies and critics who hav e comm anded attent attention ion over the past fift fiftyy years. Y et m any of these ap proaches are grounded in earlier theoretical theoretical wo rk. Fo r this this reason, a num ber of precursors appear in this volum e [...] and a num ber o f schools, such as the N eo-Aristotel eo-Aristotelians, ians, he R ussian formalists, the Prague School. (vii) C o n f r o n t e d w i t h a l l t h e s e G o r d i a n k n o t s , th th e p o o r s c h o l a r e x p e c t e d t o le le t h i s
i s d o m s h in e m i g h t w e l l s u c c u m b t o s u i c i d a l d e -
s p o n d e n c y u n l e s s , a v e r it it a bl e A l e x a n d e r o f C o m p a r a t i v e L i t e r a t u re r e , h e c o u l d b r i n g h i m s e l f t o c u t t h e m a l l, l, r e g a r d l e s s o f t h e c o n s e q u e n c e s . W h i l e w e a r e w a i t in g f o r t h e a r ri v a l o n t h e s c e n e o f such a brutal hero o f heroes w e can either side with thos e coll e a g u e s w h o b e l i e v e , w i th t h e a d m i n i s t r at o r s o f t h e A u s t r i a n S t a t e L o t t e r i e s , th th a t " e v e r y t h i n g g o e s " o r w i t h t h e d o g m a t i s t s w h o l i k e to to l e g i s l a t e w h a t w e c a n o r c a n n o t d o
ou ld
comparatists, and
e v e n w h e t h e r , a n d a t w h a t p o i n t , w e s h o u l d l iq iq u i d a t e o u r
orib un
institution.
~2 This stricture applies to all the pertinent volumes in English which I have consulted in in p reparing this essay. They include D. W . Fokkem a and E lrud K unneTheories ies of Literature in the Twentieth Century: Structuralism, Marxism, Ibsch, Theor Aesthetics of o f Reception, Reception, Semiotics(London: Semiotics(London: Hurst, 1977), Terry E agleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction (Oxford: Blackw ell, 1982), as w ell as Jeremy H awthorn's Concise Glossary Glossa ry f Contemporary Theor (London: Arnold, 1994 and 21996), another dictionary dictionary
ULRICH WEISS'rEIN
T h i s , h o w e v e r , c a n n o t b e t h e l a st st w o r d r e g a r d i n g t h e m a t t e r a t hand; for if one wishes to be serious in coping with the editorial i n q u i r y a b o u t t h e ~ t a t p r e s e n t a n d t h e fu fu t u r e p r o s p e c t s o f C o m p a r a t iv i v e L i t e ra r a t u r e , o n e i s b o u n d t o s c a n th t h e w h o l e s p e c t r u m f a c t iv iv i t i e s p r o p e r t o a d i s c i p l i n e h i c h , l ik ik e L i t e r a t u r w i s s e n s c h a f l i n g e n e r a l, l, n a t u r a l l y s u b d i v i d e s i t s e lf l f i n to t o H i s t o r y , T h e o r y , a n d C r i t ic ic i s m . " B i o g r a p h i c a l ly l y " , C o m p a r a ti t i v e L i t e r ar a r y H i s to t o r y , o r e d e s c r i p t iv iv e t h a n e v a l u a t i v e a n d m o v i n g , a t l e as a s t in i n i ti t i al a l ly ly , i n t h e s h a d o w f p o s i t iv iv i s m , c o n s t i t u t e d t h e U r g e s t a l o f l i t t # r a t u r e c o m p a r ~ e a s p r e a c h e d and practiced by Van Tieghem. In its wake, though rather belatedly, Comparative Criticism, championed by John Fletcher and J o s e p h S t r e l k a , a m o n g o t h e r s , 4 a d e i ts ts e n t r a n c e a n d e n j o y e d b r i e f v o g u e o f p o p u l a r it i t y i n s c h o l a rl r l y c ir i r c le le s . B u t i t l e f t n o p e r m a n e n t m a r k o n t h e e s t ab a b l is i s h m e n t , m a i n ly l y , o n e s u s p e c ts ts , b e c a u s e i t a d v o c a t e s f a i l e d t o d r a w a c le l e a r li l i n e o f d e m a r c a t i o n b e t w e e n c r it it i c i s m a n d t h e o r y . U n d e r s t o o d in i n p u r e ly l y p r a g m a t ic ic t e r m s , h o w e v e r , i t h a s b e e n , a n d w i l l b e , w i th t h u s f o r as as l o n g a t i m e a s s u c h c o m p a r a t i v e p a i ri r i n g s a s L e s s i n g a n d D i d e ro ro t , A . W . S c h l e g e l a n d M a d a m d e S t a ll l l , o r a t t h e w A r n o l d a n d F r a n c e s co c o D e S a n c ti ti s c o m a n d our scholarly attention. Like Comparative Literary Criticism, its sibling, Comparative L i t e ra r a r y T h e o r y , m a y b e v i e w e d f r o m v a r io i o u s p e r sp s p e c t iv iv e s . O l e v e l o f d i s c o u r s e , f o r i n s t an a n c e , it it i g h t l e g i t i m a t e l y t a k e t h e f o r m o f c o m p a r is i s o r rs r s b e t w e e n l it i t e ra r a r y th t h e o r ie ie s , o r b o d i e s o f t h e o r y , o r i g i n a t i n g i n d i f f e r e n t l a n g u a g e l i t e ra r a t u r e s. s . S u c h , a t le le a s t , i s t h e m e a n i n g a n d f u n c t i o n w .h .h k h e r n h a r d F . S c h o l z a s s i g n e d t o i t i n a b r i e f
3 Ch apterlII ofTh eoryo fLiterature(fn. 40)isen titl titled"L ed"L iterary The ory, Criti-
cism, and H istory". See Jotm Fletcher, "T he C~i ic sm of Com par paris ison: on: Th e Ap proach through Comparaa~iveLiterature Comparaa~ive Literatureand: and: ntellectualHistory" ntellectualHistory" n: Con temporary Criticism, Criticism, ed Malcolm Malcol m B radbury and avid Palmer (London: rnold, 1970), pp. 107 -129 , and Joseph Stretka, Vergleichende Literat Literaturkriti urkriti (Bern: Francke, 197 0), pp. 5-34. Sym ptomatic ptomaticall ally, y, he o fficial fficialorgan organ o f the Briti British sh Com parat parative iveLiterature LiteratureAssociaAssociation is called Comparative. Comparative.Criticism: Criticism: A Yearbook.
RISE AND FALL OF COMPARAT COMPARATIVE IVE LITERAT LITERATURE URE
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d i s q u i si s i ti t i o n e n t it i t le le d " C o m p a r i n g T h e o r i e s o f L i t e r a t u r e ? ' 5 S c h o l z w a s i n s p i re r e d t o w r i te t e th t h i s ca c a n s t ic ic p i e c e b y t h e " N e w T a s k D e s c r i p t io i o n o f t h e I C L A " m t h us u s i s s u bt b t it i t le le - w h i c h t h e E x e c u t i v e C o m i t te t e e o f th t h e A s s o c i a t io i o n , h a v i n g f r a m e d t h e te t e x t in in t h e c o u r s e o many arduous working sessions, presented to the membership at t h e In I n n s b r u c k C o n g r e s s , w h e r e it it w a s v o t e d o n a n d d u l y a p p r o v e d . I n t h e u n o f f i c ia i a l E n g l i s h v e r s i o n , t h e k e y s e n t e n c e o f th th i s f u n d a m e n t a l d e c l a r a ti t i o n o f in i n t e n ti t i o n r e a d s a s fo fo l l o w s : The Inter Internati national onal Com parative parativeLiterat Literature ure Associati Association on aims to deve lop the study of Com para parati tive veLiterature, Literature, hich includes includes the stud y of literary history literary lit erary theo ry, and and tex t interpret interpretati ation on [presum [presum ably nvolvin g literary criticism ], undertaken undertaken from an inter international national com parative parativepoint point of view:~6 view:~6 As one who participated in the deliberations, I can verify that the wording finally arrived at was a somewhat half-hearted comp r o i s e s t ru r u c k b e t w e e n t h e r e p r e s e n t a ti ti v e s o f t w o f a c t i o n s , o n e o them conservative and the other "progressive". As such, it is, not s u r p r i si s i n g l y , a m b i g u o u s - - q u i te t e a p a r t f r o m t h e f a c t t h a t it it i s a l s o incomplete, since it excludes all intermedial activities, such as the study of "Literature and the Other Arts", which, paradoxically, s e r v e d a s o n e o f th t h e m a j o r th t h e m e s o f th t h e C o n g r e s s . W h a t , i n s c ru ru t in i n i z i n g t h e a b o v e s t a te t e m e n t , s t r ik i k e s th th e r e a d e r a s t a u t o l o g i c a l a n d , a c c o r d i n g l y , a s b e i n g a b o n e o f c o n t e n t io io n i s t h e c o n c l u d i n g p h r a s e , " u n d e r t a k e n f r o m a n in i n t er e r n a ti t i o n al al c o m p a r a t i v e p o i n t o f v i e " w i t its apparently missing comma; for, semantically, "comparative" w o u l d s e e m t o i m p l y " in i n t e rn r n a t io i o n a l " , w h i l e " i n t e rn r n a t i o n a l" l" ay, b u t n e e d n o t, t , i m p l y " c o m p a r a t iv iv e " . hatever may have been the t ru r u e a i m s o f t he h e E x e c u t i v e C o m i t te t e e , re r e a d i n g b e t w e e n t h e l in in e s one comes away with the impression that here, at the expense of C o p a r a t i v e L i t e r a tu t u r e i n th t h e f a m i l i a r s e n se se , a l a n c e i s b e i n g b r o ken for Theo ry, w hether comparative or not
Yearbookk of Yearboo o f Comp Comparat arative ive and General Literature 28 (1979), pp. 26-26--30. 30.
As quoted by Scholz (fn. 65), p. 29.
1 16 16
ULRICH WEISSTE IN
To wind up the argument here presented: there is still another relevant problem that was, unfortunately, slighted in the updated d e s c r i p t io i o n o f th t h e I C L ' s g o a ls l s a n d p u r p o s e s , n a m e l y th th a t o f m e t h o d o l o g y a n d i ts t s p o s i t io i o n i n r e l a t io io n t o t h e o r y a n d p r a x i s . T h i s i s t h e t o p i c t o w h i c h t h e l at at e E r w i n K o p p e n a d d r e s s e d h i m s e l f i n a p a p e r e n t i tl t l e d " H a t d i e V e r g l e i c h e n d e L i t e r a tu tu r w i s s e n s c h a f t e i n e e i g e n T h e o r i e ? " a n d r e a d a t th t h e f ir ir s t m e e t i n g o f t h e L. 7 In thi s h r e w d l y a r g u e d a n d w h o l e s o m e t h o u g h c o n s e r v a t iv i v e e s s ay ay , K o p p e n defends Comparative Literature, as a relational but unified discipline, against all attempts to split it into two halves -- emission a n d r e c e p t i o n s tu t u d ie i e s - - b y r e a ss s s i g n in i n g e a c h o f th th e s e t o t h e a c a d e m i c Fach c h a r g e d w i t h a d m i n i s t e r i n g t h e s t u d y o f a g i v e n n a t i o n a l l i t e r a t u r e .6s . 6s A n i n te t e r - d is i s c i p li l i n e li l i k e C o p a r a t i v e L i t e ra r a t u r e , o p p e n i n s is i s ts ts , u s t j u s t i f y i t s e x i s t e n c e b y f o c u s i n g o n i ts ts r o l e a s a ediatrix w i t h i n t h e p a r a m e t e r o f b in i n a r y , t e r n a r y , e t c .,. , r e la la t i o n s a n d a s a n i n t e r m e d i a r y b e t w e e n t h e o r y a n d p r a x i s. s . I t t h u s h a s a v i ta t a l , th th o u g h f r o m t h e s t a n d p o i n t o f th t h e n a t i o n a l p h i l o l o g ie i e s s u b s i d i a ry ry , f u n c t io i o n , w h i c h k e e p s i t f ro r o m c o n s t r u c t in i n g i ts ts o w n t h e o r y ( m e a n i n g : s y s t e m b u i l t u p o n " g e n e r a l a n d a b s tr t r a c t p r i n c ip i p l e s 9 o f i ts ts o w n ) . 67 Zur Theorie der Vergleichenden Literaturwissenschaft, e d . H o r s t R t i d i g e r
(Berlin: de Gruy ter, 1971), p. 41, 64. See, in this regard, the following passage from Julius Petersen's lecture " N a t i o n a l e o d e r v e r g l e i c h e n d e L i t e r a tu t u r g e s c h i c h t e ? " , Deutsche Vierteljahresschrift fiir Literaturwissensc Literaturwissenschaft haft und Geistesgeschicht Geistesgeschicht 6 (1928): " W o e s s ic i c h u m B e w e g u n g e n h a n d e lt l t , d i e j e d e s m a l v o n e i n e m p r o d u k t iv iv e n z u e i n e m r e z e p t i v e n F a k t o r h in i n f i ih ih r e n , k a n n d a s I n t e r e s s e d e r B e o b a c h t u n g n u r a u f d e r rezeptiven Seite liegen. Der produktive Faktor ist bekannt und vermag durch F e s t s t e ll l l u n g s e i n e r F e m w i r k u n g k a n m i r g e n d w e l c h e n e u e n W e s e n s z i i g e z u e n t h t i ll ll e n ; die A rt und e i s e d e r i rk r k u n g , d i e e r e n tw t w i c k e l t, t , m uB u B d a g e g e n f i ir ir d i e W e s e n s a r t d e s a u f n e h m e n d e n T e i l e s c h a r a k t e ri r i s ti t i s c h e A u f s c h l i is is s e e r b r i n g e n . " ( 4 6 ) 9 T h i s d e f i n i t i o n i s c u l l e d f r o m t h e 1 9 4 9 e d i t i o n o f Webster Webster's 's ew Colle Collegiat giat i e l d , a s s .: . : M e r r i am am ) . K o p p e n ' s s e n t i m e n t i s e c h o e d i n t h e s e c Dictionary ( S p r i n g f ie t io i o n " A v e n i r d ' u n e d i sc s c i p li l i n e " o f Y v e s C h e v r e l 's ' s b o o k L a li littdrat ttdrature ure compa r#e (Paris: " L e c o p a r a t i s m e , a -t - t - il il u n e t h 6 o r i e q u i l u i s o i t p r o p r e ? l . . . l U n e s e b l e p a s - q u e l e s c o m p a r a t i st st e s s o i e n t e n 6 t a , a c t u e l l e m e n t d e p r o p o s e r u n e t h e o r i e d e l a l i tt t t 6 r a tu t u r e . [ ] M a i s s ' i l n ' y a p a s d e t h 6 o r i e d e l ' o b j e t ~ tu tu d i6 i6 , y n a - t -i -i l u n e d u o d d ' 6 t u d e l u i -m - m ~ m e ? L e s c o m p a r a t is i s t e s p r 6 f6 f6 r o n t s a n s d o u t e p a r l e r d e m 6 t h o d e . " ( 1 1 9 )
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I n s te t e a d , b y w a y o f c o m p e n s a t i o n , i t c o m p e l s i ts t s p r a c t it i t io io n e r s t o develop flexible strategies designed in such a way as to enable t h e m t o d e a l s u c c e s s f u l l y w i t h th t h e w h o l e r a n g e o f i n t e r te te x t u a l ( a n d , b y e x t e n s i o n , i n t e r m e d i a l ) l i n k a g e s. s . P r e c i s e l y th t h a t, t, h o w e v e r , i s t h e t a s k o f m e t h o d o l o g y , u n d e r s t o o d a s a b o d y o f t e c h n iq iq u e s a n d p r o c e d u r e s s u i te t e d f o r t h e k i n d o f in i n v e s t i g a t i o n t h a t is is p r o p e r t o a g i v e n science. ~ In the case
f C o m p a r a t i v e L i t e ra ra t u r e , t h e s c i e n c e h e r e
under discussion, it goes almost without saying that the privileged r e s e a rc r c h t o o l w i ll ll b e c o m p a r i s o n ( V e r g l e i c h ) c o n c e r n e d w i t h b o t h contactual and non-contactual relations (Beziehung en). v
(Vergleichende) L i t e r a t u r w i s s e n s c h a f t i n t o a n i m a g e , th th e w h e e l w o u l d s e e m t o b e t h e m o s t s u i ta t a b l e k i n d o f i ll l l u s tr t r a t io io n , i t h l it i t e r a tu tu r e , a s t h e o b j e c t o f s tu t u d y , f o r m i n g th t h e h u b , t h e o r y t h e r im im , a n d m e t h o d o l o g y t h e s p o k e s c o n n e c t i n g t h e t w o a n d t h u s m a k i n g t p o s s i b le le f o r t h e w h e e l to spin around and propel the vehicle forward. What is wanted, t h e n , i s n o t a h i e r a r c h ic i c a l s t ru r u c t u re re p r i v i l e g i n g a n y o f t h e s e c o n ceptually separate but practically interwoven parts but the realizat io i o n , o n t h e r e s e a r c h e r ' s p a rt r t , th th a t n e i t h e r c a n f u n c t i o n w i t h o u t t h e o t he h e r s. s . P r o f e s s o r K o p p e n h a s th t h e r e fo fo r e a p o i n t w h e n r e m i n d i n g u s that literary theory is I f o n e w i s h e s t o c a s t o u r tr t r ip i p a rt r t it it e s c h e
e o
kein reines Glasperlenspiel Glasperlenspiel,, das man aus der Freude an der Ab straktion, der Ded uktion und Spekulat Spekulation ion trei treibt, bt, sondern sie w ird erst dort interessant, interessant, w sie anwendbar wird, wo si siee in M ethodologie ii iibergeht bergeht.. (57) S h i f t in i n g , w i th t h h i m , f r o m t h e s c h o l a r l y to t o th t h e p s y c h o l o g i c a l tr tr a c k , we a y w i s h t o ta t a k e in in t o a c c o u n t K o p p e n ' s e x p l a n a t i o n f o r t h e i n t e n s it i t y w i th t h w h i c h t o d a y ' s c o m p a r a ti t i s ts t s t r ai a i n th th e i r e y e s o n T h e o r y :
0 Th is de finition is a m odified version of the pertinen t entry in ebster' ebster'ss New Collegiat Co llegiatee D ict ictionary. ionary. 1 he re is no ground for changing the opinion, which I have repeatedly voiced voiced in the last tw o decades, that there there exists a vast gap, if not a total vacuum , with regard to this a ll-i portant resear research. ch.
118
ULRICH
WEISSTEIN
Bis heute leidet die die V erglei ergleichende chendeLiteraturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaftunter unter dem K omplex, sie spiele, spiele, im G runde genomm en, n den PhilosophischenFakult~ten Philosophischen Fakult~ten die Rolle des 'Zugroasten' 'Zugroasten',, den die Einheimischen it scheelen Blicken verfolgen verfolgen und (lessen iederlassung s- und Ex istenzrecht sie grunds~itzlich grunds~itzlich n F rage stellen m0chten. Diese Situati Situation onzwingt zwingt nun gleichsam die Kom parati paratisten stenaller aller H err erren en Ltinder dazu, dutch sttindige theoretische Bcmtihungen und methodische Reflexionen die A utonom ie und und Existenzberechtigung ihrcr Disziplin Disziplin imm er von ncuem unter B ewcis zu stellen. stellen. (48) T h e r e i s , su s u r e l y , m o r e t h a n a g r a i n o f tr t r u th th i n t h e s e r e m a r k s . T o t h e e x t e n t t h a t su c h b e h a v i o r m a y b e c a l l e d p a t h o l o g i c a l , it b r i n g s t o m i n d t h e c ru r u e l b a r b w h i c h t h e A u s t r i a n s a t ir i r is is t, s a i d t o h a v e a i m e d a t p s y c h o - a n a l y s i s : th th a t i
Karl K raus is
t he d i s e a s e w h i c h
i t p r e t e n d s t o c u r e . B u t t o b e f a i r, r, a n d t o r e d r e s s t h e b a l a n c e , o n e u s t a d m i t t ha t w h e r e t h e T h e o r y f r e a k s h a v e d o n e t o o m u c h , t h e e t h o d o l o g y f r e a k s, s , f e w a n d f a r b e t w e e n , h a v e d o n e t o o l i tt tt l e f o r Comparative Literature.
