Toward a New Framework of International Comparative Literature: Chinese Scholars’ Contributions

Bernard Franco, a contemporary successor of the “French School” in comparative literature, argued in a book published a few years ago that one of the great trends of comparative literature studies now is that of interdisciplinarity: that is the comparative study between literature and science, and that between literature and other arts. In his conclusion, he calls for the birth of a comparative aesthetics. Apparently, even the most “conservative” French scholars recognize the interdisciplinary trend in current international comparative literature studies and are trying to contribute to it. More than a decade ago, American comparatist HaunSaussy argued that comparative literature plays the role of “the first violin that sets the tone for the rest of the orchestra”. But Ursula K. Heise, the host of the last decade’s report of the American Comparative Literature Association, does not highly praise the current state of the interdisciplinarity of comparative literature, and one of the main reasons for that is that, while scholars are satisfied with the cross-border comparative study with other branches of humanities and social sciences, they are slow to respond to the cross-border study between the humanities and science and technology and seldom write about it. This has much to do with the inadequate training of humanists in many disciplines, especially natural sciences and technological disciplines. In view of this, we believe that this is a precious opportunity for China’s comparatists to enter the international forefront and play a leading role in the new liberal arts vision. The recent research results achieved by Chinese scholars has contributed, and will continue to contribute, to the formation of a new framework of international comparative literature.