Junko YOSHIKAWA, Comparative Literature in Japan: from reception of foreign literature to transmision of Japan literature (in French), RLC XCI, no. 2, Apr.-June 2017, p. 136-144. This article presents the trajectory of comparative literature in Japan by referring to the objectives and propositions declared by JCLA in the anniversary issue of its journal. Japanese scholars of comparative literature have expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of the discipline due to a reexamination of the role of Japanese literature in world literature. Translation and translation studies have become key issues for the problems they have raised.
CHUNG Ji Yong, Comparative Literature in South Korea: Historical Evolution and Current State (in French), RLC XCI, no. 2, Apr.-June 2017, p. 145-153. This paper presents the evolution of comparative literature in Korea, from its introduction in the 1940s to its current state. Originally proposed as a method of literary history in order to prove the influence of foreign literature on Korean literature, it developed rapidly through the work of pioneers. After the debates around nationalism in the 1970s, comparative literature has continued to expand its domains while defying the crisis of the humanities.
Yinde ZHANG, Comparative literature in China : dynamism and perspectives (in French), RLC XCI, no. 2, Apr.-June 2017, p. 154-167. The dynamics of Chinese comparatism is attracting international attention. This article attempts to make an overview of it, by focusing on its rapid development and its favorite fields of research. The aim is to demonstrate its specific characteristics and its increasing interaction with the comparative literature of the world.
Suradech CHOTIUDOMPANT, Comparative Literature in Thailand (in English), RLC XCI, no. 2, Apr.-June 2017, p. 168-178. This article aims to trace the development of comparative literature in Thailand, especially since its inception in the early 1970s when it was founded as a small unit in a Thai university. Key books and dissertations will also be discussed to shed light on how the discipline has evolved over the past fifty years. In addition, the article also explores the contemporary state of the discipline in Thailand, especially its challenges and limits in relation to the international academic landscape of the discipline.
Literature in Hungary (in English), RLC XCI, no. 2, Apr.-June 2017, p. 179-188. Comparative literature has an enduring tradition in Hungary. In my essay, I explore this historical background and the varying attempts of Hungarian scholars to define their discipline in the light of some current nodes of questions on comparative research. I argue that the changing concept of philology played a crucial role in the origin and the recent renewal of Hungarian comparative literature. As different aspects of philological practices have become dominant over the last 200 years, philology has set down the foundation for a multi-layered theoretical discourse that accompanies comparative literature today in Hungary.
Emin ÖZCAN, Comparative Literature in Turkey: History and the Figures of Comparative Studies (in French), RLC XCI, no. 2, Apr.-June 2017, p. 189-216. This article aims to examine the historical data on Turkish literature and outline the comparative studies in general terms. The first part of the article focuses on the place of Turkish literature in historical and social developments especially after the 19th century. The second part explores the worldviews of the prominent literary figures and critics who adopted the comparative perspective in their studies. Finally, the last part of the article is devoted to the translation activities that mark the beginning of comparative studies.
Mounira CHATTI, Comparative Literature in Egypt: history and perspectives (in French), RLC XCI, no. 2, Apr.-June 2017, p. 217-230. The authors of the nahda have made a decisive contribution to the renewal of both the language and the arabic literature and the emergence of the comparative literature. Their successors have made a discipline (Ruhi al-Khalidi) or science out of arabic comparatism (Muhammad Ghunaymi Hilal) whose teaching dates back to 1938. Postcolonial/cultural studies, where given a central place to the polyvocal and equivocal views of the formerly colonized worlds, constitute a turning point and enjoy the support of the Arabic comparatists concerned about contemporary corpus and, especially, the place of arabic literature on the world stage.
Germain Arsène KADI, Literary research in Ivory Coast since 1965: overview and perspectives (in French), RLC XCI, no. 2, Apr.-June 2017, p. 231-249. Literature research in Ivorian universities revolves around three major periods. First from 1965 till 1970, it is dominated by expatriate personalities. Then the period (1970-2000) testifies to the will for africanization through the activities of the Study Group and Research on Oral Traditions (GRTO) and the Institute of Negro African Literature and esthetics (ILENA). Finally, during the 2000s, there is an epistemological break with neo-urban genres such as zouglou and nouchi.