Name : Cindy Christella

Reg Number : 217110015

Class : VII-A

“What is Comparative Literature and why it is useful for me as a literature student?”

Comparative Literature is more than comparing one book with another. Comparative

Literature is the study of international literature focusing in its relation to the cultural

background. Comparative Literature also discuss about how literary works is influenced by their

culture. Comparative literature studies involve comparisons between literature and the cultural

factors, politics, philosophy, and cultural arts of the groups being studied. These studies

encompass an understanding and comparison of the literature between respective groups

across time durations, their various arts such as music, paintings, dances, films, their philosophy

and psychology, as well as their cultural backgrounds.

As a literature student, Comparative Literature help me to improve my second language

because in Comparative Literature, we do not only focus on the study of two literary traditions

but we also need advanced skills in second language because it is required in order to fully

understand the context of the literary works before we review it. Comparative Literature also

help me to hone my critical thinking skill because in Comparative Literature, it does not only

just ask us to analyze literary works, but also asks why we do it. We also engage more complex

questions of comparison, translation, and transmission across cultural, linguistic, and national

boundaries, and study literature in relation to other disciplines (e.g., religious studies,

philosophy, ethnic studies) and to other forms of art and cultural production (e.g., film, digital

culture, performance). We also get to know about the different literary styles that prevail in
two different countries and cultures and their approach towards literature. By analyzing the

differences, we also get to learn about the similarities in the writing pieces. For instance, there

was a time when the western people studying Literature got bored to read about the white

men and started questioning the reason why there are so many incredible literature pieces

produced in the world with only 1% translated into English. By studying Comparative Literature,

we get to study about the works from countries such as Egypt, Russia, South Africa, Europe, and

more.