Why Study Comparative Literature/World Literature?
Diversity: No single definition of comparative literature would easily satisfy any two scholars associated with the discipline. Not surprisingly then, students taking courses or working on a minor in this discipline often have diverse conceptions of the kind of study they are embarking upon. Indeed, comparative literature is a complex discipline in large part because of the diversity of interests of the people engaged in it. As a student in the program, you will be asked to do a number of different things, which reflect the complexities behind the concept of comparative literature. • 1You will be encouraged to familiarize yourself with literature from at least two different national traditions, studied in their original languages. In its most obvious sense, comparative literature might be seen to start here. By studying different literary traditions, you will begin to be able to imagine what might constitute differences or similarities between those literatures. • You will be asked to
