THE PERMANENT CRISIS, OR CAN, COULD OR SHOULD COMPARATIVE LITERARY STUDIES SURVIVE?: BETWEEN HISTORY, THEORY AND AREA STUDIES

At the same time comparative literature is approach, method and autonomic discipline of literary science with developed terminology and methodology. In the past besides positivism it passed through psychologism and immanent methods, esp. formalism and structuralism too. At present its characteristic feature is deep self-reflection. Comparative literature represents discipline, which contains history, theory, terminology and type of research method in the structure of literary science. Its long history already makes from comparative literature specific discipline that goes from study of Mediterranean area, antique and than from national literatures. Traditions, which are created in the Czech and Slovak cultural area and directed from Wollman's ideology to Durisin's special inter-literary community, disclosed not only the power but also lower aspects of literary comparatistics. One of the aspects of contemporary comparative literature is linked with cultural dialogue and area studies, which spread background of comparative researches. Contemporary status of comparative literature is rather complicated: on one hand there are traditional comparative methods and on the other, there is a keen quest for radical innovations. And, last but not least, comparative literature has appeared in the focus of application as a methodological tool when conceiving a new model of literary history or a history of any national literature that cannot be understood outside its comparative framework. The answer to the question in the title of this paper may be: comparative literature may function as loos net of historically tested approaches, single methods and visions, or as a chain of more complex approaches connected with new subjects and problems of world literature.