Comparative Literature East And West

This collection of papers inaugurates a new series which will present work from a two-year study at the U. of Hawaii. The research addresses commonalities and differences in topics and methodology, changing values, and the portrayal of the self in different cultures. No index. Annotation copyright B

Yu's essays juxtapose Chinese and Western texts - Cratylus next to Xunzi,for example - and discuss their relationship to language and subjects, such as liberal Greek education against general education in China. He compares a specific Western text and religion to a specific Chinese text and religion. He considers the Divina Commedia in the context of Catholic theology alongside The Journey to the West as it relates to Chinese syncretism, united by the theme of pilgrimage. Yet Yu's focus isn't entirely tied to the classics. He also considers the struggle for human rights in China and how this topic relates to ancient Chinese social thought and modern notions of rights in the West.

This book pays critical homage to the eminent comparatist of Chinese and Western literature and religion, Anthony C. Yu of The University of Chicago. Broadly comparative, cross-cultural, and interdisciplinary in scope, the volume consists of an introductory essay on Yu's scholarly career, and thirteen additional essays on topics such as literary texts and traditions of varying provenance and periods, ranging from ancient Greece, medieval Europe, and nineteenth- and twentieth-century England and America, to China from the classical to modern periods. The disciplines and areas of research that the essays draw into constructive engagement with one another include comparative literature, religion and literature, history of religions, (or comparative religion), religion and social thought, and the study of myth. Eric Ziolkowski is Professor and Head of the Department of Religious Studies at Lafayette College.

Scientific Essay from the year 2001 in the subject German Studies - Comparative Literature, grade: none, Kyoto Sangyo University (X. International German Congress, Wien), language: English, abstract: By carefully comparing observations made by specialists in Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and Western literature concerning problems of literary values, canon-formation, and the concept of literature itself, the author tries to answer some of the most pertinent questions in comparative aesthetics and ethnopoetics, specifically: Are literatures of radically different cultures comparable regarding literary values?- Do “universal” literary values exist?- Do literary values remain the same within the development of one culture?- Does the fact that certain works of literature have been valued over centuries indicate that “eternal values” exist?- Is the concept of literature the same in radically different cultures?- Does it remain the same within the development of one culture?- Are the basic genres (the lyric, epic, and dramatic) comparable?- Are certain analogous phenomena in Indian and Western literature indicative of basic similarities between these literatures?- Is at least the theory deduced from these literatures similar?- Is a unified theory of literature desirable?- Are literary canons established mainly according to perceived aesthetic values in the selected works?- If the answer to all of the questions above is NO, wherein lie the basic differences between Eastern and Western literatures?- (In: Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, Sambalpur University, Orissa/India, XXIV, 1-2, 2001, 89-125)

An essential guide for those who seek to reconsider the theoretical problems of (trans-civilizational) comparative literature, those who are interested in the literary and cultural history of modern East Asian countries, and those with a general interest in issues of sexuality.

Scientific Essay from the year 2001 in the subject German Studies - Comparative Literature, grade: none, Kyoto Sangyo University (X. International German Congress, Wien), 69 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: By carefully comparing observations made by specialists in Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and Western literature concerning problems of literary values, canon-formation, and the concept of literature itself, the author tries to answer some of the most pertinent questions in comparative aesthetics and ethnopoetics, specifically: Are literatures of radically different cultures comparable regarding literary values?- Do "universal" literary values exist?- Do literary values remain the same within the development of one culture?- Does the fact that certain works of literature have been valued over centuries indicate that "eternal values" exist?- Is the concept of literature the same in radically different cultures?- Does it remain the same within the development of one culture?- Are the basic genres (the lyric, epic, and dramatic) comparable?- Are certain analogous phenomena in Indian and Western literature indicative of basic similarities between these literatures?- Is at least the theory deduced from these literatures similar?- Is a unified theory of literature desirable?- Are literary canons established mainly according to perceived aesthetic values in the selected works?- If the answer to all of the questions above is NO, wherein lie the basic differences between Eastern and Western literatures?- (In: Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, Sambalpur University, Orissa/India, XXIV, 1-2, 2001, 89-125)