Centre for Comparative Literature (CCL)

About the Centre

The Centre for Comparative Literature, functioning since 1988, aims at providing an interface between literatures and cultures. The Centre offers M.A. and Ph.D. programmes, which encourage a study of systems of knowledge located in the literary, language, and cultural systems (with a focus on India) in order to develop a critical awareness of socio-political and cultural discourses.

Centre offers three programmes: M.A., and Ph.D., each with rigorous coursework followed by project work / dissertation.

Centre draws faculty and students from different fields and diverse backgrounds placing Comparative Literature at the intersection of literature with other cultural forms such as film, theatre, visual arts, music and dance, and new media, as well as other disciplines such as gender studies, translation studies and others. Comparative Literature helps students and scholars to explore the global diversity of literary forms, genres, styles while acquainting them with modes and methods of comparative study. Theoretical, formal, and interpretive issues on literary and cultural texts and traditions from various parts of the country and the world provide a broad range of interdisciplinary and cross-cultural perspectives to the Courses on offer. The subject matter and scholarship of Comparative Literature have always ranged outside the boundaries of one country, language, society and culture as the fundamental project of Comparative Literature is to cultivate reading across linguistic and social boundaries in order to highlight and include everything that the exclusive focus on a national literature tends to obscure.

Programmes are designed for students whose interest in literature and culture embraces works in multiple languages, who are eager to trace the transformations and travels of genres, themes and texts across time and space, explore the way literature connects with history, philosophy, politics, sociology, media, and literary theory, generate new discourses with contemporary focus.  The Courses promote multidisciplinary, historically self-reflexive and cross-cultural study of texts, traditions, and discourses and encourage students to pursue a wide variety of interests while gaining rigorous training in reading, writing, speaking, and thinking critically in multiple languages and literary traditions.   After or in tandem with the introductory courses, research scholars meet their advisors to prepare a course of study that best suits their research proposal and aim. At the same time the students have the opportunity to take courses listed or cross-listed under the Comparative Literature rubric with other Centres and Departments in the University which may assist their particular research interest. The most attractive aspect of the Comparative Literature at CCL is its flexibility and freedom to choose courses from other disciplines that may be helpful for extending their knowledge.

Vision Statement:

“Building a teaching, learning and research environment of international  standards that promotes a nuanced understanding of the literary world; training and mentoring students at masters’ and doctoral levels, in order for them to evolve as aesthetically and socially responsible interpreters with a critical understanding of literary cultures of India and of the world”.

Mission Statements:

1. To provide comprehensive and critical academic grounding in Comparative Literature and Comparative Cultural Studies and related areas at Postgraduate and Doctoral levels.

2. To produce strong human resources with a credible knowledge base, critical thinking, and thorough methodical outlook in Comparative Literature, Studies in Literary and Language Cultures of India for careers in academia, publishing industry, knowledge industries, print and electronic media, government and non-government sectors.

3. To conduct research in Comparative Literature with a focus on Literary Cultures of India from theoretical, descriptive, analytical, interpretative, and exploratory dimensions ranging across times, genres, contexts in relation to aesthetics, poetics and their relation to society at large. The above we envisage to work from a comparative perspective, in keeping with the international standards leading to collaboration with the universities abroad.

4. To analyze texts and gain close-reading skills; to critically engage with literary, Cultural, and theoretical concepts, and via that, be enabled to analytically interact with texts, events, speeches and individuals in not just literary spaces but in larger contexts and keep pace with global and national issues of socio-cultural significance and act as responsible interpreters of these issues.