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Comparative literature
Contributed by: Burrows
  • 1. Comparative literature is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the study of literature across different cultures, languages, and time periods. It explores the relationships between literary works from various regions and how they reflect and shape cultural identities, political ideologies, social issues, and historical contexts. By comparing and analyzing texts from diverse literary traditions, comparative literature seeks to uncover universal themes, common human experiences, and the interconnectedness of global literary influences. Scholars in this field often investigate the process of literary translation, adaptation, and reception to understand how stories and ideas are shared and transformed across borders. Comparative literature encourages a dialogue between different literary traditions and challenges readers to consider alternative perspectives, question dominant narratives, and appreciate the richness and diversity of world literature.

    What does intertextuality refer to in comparative literature?
A) The study of ancient texts
B) The analysis of authorial intent
C) The examination of literary devices
D) The relationship between texts
  • 2. Who coined the term 'world literature'?
A) Shakespeare
B) Homer
C) Dante
D) Goethe
  • 3. Which literary theorist introduced the concept of 'heterolingual address'?
A) Roland Barthes
B) Michel Foucault
C) Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
D) Jacques Derrida
  • 4. Which work of literature by James Joyce is often studied in comparative literature courses?
A) The Great Gatsby
B) Crime and Punishment
C) Moby-Dick
D) Ulysses
  • 5. Who wrote 'The Wretched of the Earth', which is a central text in postcolonial comparative literature studies?
A) Frantz Fanon
B) Chinua Achebe
C) Naguib Mahfouz
D) Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  • 6. Which Russian author's works are commonly included in comparative literature discussions?
A) Anton Chekhov
B) Alexander Pushkin
C) Fyodor Dostoevsky
D) Leo Tolstoy
  • 7. What does the term 'dialogism' in literature studies refer to?
A) Narrative structure
B) Monologues in plays
C) Dialogue between characters
D) Multiplicity of voices and perspectives
  • 8. What language is most commonly used in translation for comparative literature research?
A) English
B) French
C) German
D) Chinese
  • 9. Which theory emphasizes the role of culture and power in shaping literary texts?
A) Psychoanalytic theory
B) Postcolonial theory
C) Structuralism
D) Deconstruction
  • 10. Which language was 'Divine Comedy' originally written in?
A) German
B) French
C) Italian
D) Spanish
  • 11. Which author wrote 'War and Peace'?
A) Nikolai Gogol
B) Leo Tolstoy
C) Fyodor Dostoevsky
D) Anton Chekhov
  • 12. What is the term for adapting a literary work to another medium, such as a film or play?
A) Adaptation
B) Plagiarism
C) Parody
D) Revision
  • 13. Who penned the classic Gothic novel 'Frankenstein'?
A) Edgar Allan Poe
B) Emily Bronte
C) Bram Stoker
D) Mary Shelley
  • 14. Which Russian writer is known for his short stories such as 'The Overcoat'?
A) Fyodor Dostoevsky
B) Anton Chekhov
C) Nikolai Gogol
D) Leo Tolstoy
  • 15. In 'Don Quixote' by Cervantes, who is Don Quixote's loyal squire?
A) Sancho Panza
B) Rocinante
C) Dulcinea
D) Cardenio
  • 16. Which play by William Shakespeare is known for its famous line 'To be or not to be'?
A) Romeo and Juliet
B) Othello
C) Hamlet
D) Macbeth
  • 17. Who is the author of 'Pride and Prejudice'?
A) Virginia Woolf
B) Charlotte Bronte
C) Agatha Christie
D) Jane Austen
  • 18. Which novel by George Orwell explores themes of government surveillance and totalitarianism?
A) Brave New World
B) 1984
C) Fahrenheit 451
D) Animal Farm
  • 19. Who wrote the play 'Waiting for Godot'?
A) Arthur Miller
B) Samuel Beckett
C) Tom Stoppard
D) Tennessee Williams
  • 20. Which of the following was not a visiting scholar invited by Szondi?
A) René Wellek
B) Theodor W. Adorno
C) Pierre Bourdieu
D) Lucien Goldman
  • 21. What is the title of a manual published by the LMU Munich department?
A) Comparative Literature Today: Methods & Perspectives
B) Der kleine Komparatist (2003)
C) Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft
D) La Critique Littéraire (1969)
  • 22. Which Chinese philosopher's ideas are often explored in comparative literature for their impact on global thought?
A) Sun Tzu
B) Laozi
C) Confucius
D) Mencius
  • 23. What did the American School emphasize in comparative literature?
A) Detective work
B) Universal human truths based on literary archetypes
C) National borders
D) Detailed historical research
  • 24. What term refers to a novel-length tale of heroic adventures and written in elevated language?
A) Comedy
B) Epic
C) Satire
D) Tragedy
  • 25. Which publication by C. Pichois and A.M. Rousseau is associated with the French School?
A) La Littérature Comparée (1967)
B) Theorie der Literatur
C) Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft
D) Comparative Literature Today: Methods & Perspectives
  • 26. What is the title of Linda Hutcheon's work on opera?
A) Comparative Literature for the New Century
B) The World Republic of Letters
C) A Theory of Adaptation
D) Opera: Desire, Disease, Death
  • 27. Which term is more widely used in the United States for a course of study similar to comparative literature?
A) Cultural studies
B) World literature
C) Comparative literature
D) International relations
  • 28. Which approach does the French School of Comparative Literature primarily practice today?
A) The transnational approach
B) The structuralist approach
C) The nation-state approach
D) The vocational approach
  • 29. Which scholar's work is a recent effort to stress comparison's 'affiliative' potential?
A) Alamgir Hashmi
B) Joseph Hankinson
C) David Damrosch
D) Pascale Casanova
  • 30. Which post-colonial literary figure is NOT listed in the text?
A) J. M. Coetzee
B) Maryse Condé
C) Salman Rushdie
D) Wole Soyinka
  • 31. Who is considered a foundational figure in the discipline of comparative literature?
A) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
B) Hugo Meltzl de Lomnitz
C) H.M. Posnett
D) Spanish humanist Juan Andrés
  • 32. Which scholar's work in the French School focused on tracing literary influences between nations?
A) Yves Cheverel
B) Peter Szondi
C) Paul Van Tieghem
D) Jacques Derrida
  • 33. Franz Kafka wrote in which language?
A) German
B) Russian
C) Spanish
D) French
  • 34. In what year was 'Comparative Literature for the New Century' published?
A) 2005
B) 2018
C) 1999
D) 2013
  • 35. Which region is NOT mentioned as thriving in comparative literature studies?
A) The Caribbean
B) Asia
C) Latin America
D) Africa
  • 36. Who referred to Alexander Veselovsky as a remarkable representative of comparative literary study?
A) Viktor Zhirmunsky
B) Rachel Polonsky
C) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
D) H.M. Posnett
  • 37. What term is used to describe the empiricist and positivist method of the French School?
A) Structuralism
B) "Rapport des faits"
C) Comparative analysis
D) Transnational studies
  • 38. What is a common criticism of comparative literature?
A) It does not involve the study of literature at all.
B) It lacks any interdisciplinary approach.
C) It is insufficiently well-defined or that comparatists may fall into dilettantism due to its broad scope.
D) It focuses too narrowly on one language and culture.
  • 39. Which university did Peter Szondi primarily teach at?
A) University of Frankfurt
B) Free University Berlin
C) University of Leipzig
D) University of Munich
  • 40. In which city was 'Comparative Literature for the New Century' published?
A) Montreal
B) Cambridge
C) London
D) New Delhi
  • 41. Which Russian scholar is credited with laying the groundwork for comparative literature?
A) Hugo Meltzl de Lomnitz
B) Alexander Veselovsky
C) Juan Andrés
D) Fyodor Buslaev
  • 42. Which scholar was notably influential in developing the German School of Comparative Literature after World War II?
A) Jacques Derrida
B) René Wellek
C) Paul Van Tieghem
D) Peter Szondi
  • 43. Which scholar founded the journal Acta Comparationis Litterarum Universarum?
A) H.M. Posnett
B) Alexander Veselovsky
C) Hugo Meltzl de Lomnitz
D) Juan Andrés
  • 44. Which school sought to return comparative literature to matters more directly concerned with literary criticism?
A) The American School
B) The French School
C) The Internationalist School
D) The Realism School
  • 45. Who authored 'The Great Gatsby'?
A) Virginia Woolf
B) Ernest Hemingway
C) John Steinbeck
D) F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • 46. Who proposed the concept of 'vernacular cosmopolitanism' in the context of world literature?
A) Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
B) David Damrosch
C) Franco Moretti
D) Edward Said
  • 47. Which concept influenced Szondi's vision of comparative literature?
A) French positivism
B) East European structuralism
C) American pragmatism
D) British empiricism
  • 48. Which publication by J.-C. Carloni and Jean Filloux is associated with the French School?
A) Comparative Literature Today: Methods & Perspectives
B) Theorie der Literatur
C) La Critique Littéraire (1969)
D) Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft
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