WordNet
n. study of literary works from different cultures (often in translation)
Wikipedia
Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study of international relations, but works with languages and artistic traditions, so as to understand cultures 'from the inside'." While most frequently practiced with works of different languages, comparative literature may also be performed on works of the same language if the works originate from different nations or cultures among which that language is spoken.
The characteristically intercultural and transnational field of comparative literature concerns itself with the relation between literature, broadly defined, and other spheres of human activity, including history, politics, philosophy, art, and science. Unlike other forms of literary study, comparative literature places its emphasis on the interdisciplinary analysis of social and cultural production within the " economy, political dynamics, cultural movements, historical shifts, religious differences, the urban environment, international relations, public policy, and the sciences."
Usage examples of "comparative literature".
There was Gyllenborg, who was notable in the Faculty of Medicine, Durdle and Deloney, who were in different branches of English, Elsa Czermak the economist, Hitzig and Boys, from Physiology and Physics, Stromwell, the medievalist, Ludlow from Law, Penelope Raven from Comparative Literature, Aronson the computer man, Roberta Burns the zoologist, Erzenberger and Lamotte from German and French, and Mukadassi, who was a visitor to the Department of East Asian Studies.
Pretty good going for a stodgy young assistant professor of Comparative Literature who up to this night had about as much experience with telepathy as African lion-hunting!
On the back flap I am confronted by a middle-aged chipmunk who used to be Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia.
I come under the general umbrella of Comparative Literature, but that's a house of many mansions.
Cecie's mother Thea was one of Rachael's oldest friends, a writer, translator, professor of comparative literature in whose presence, this evening, Rachael was feeling awkward.
I could get a permanent and very prestigious job, example being professor of comparative literature at Yale, which isn't horribly likely either.
Peppering his schedules with electives in art, music, current events, comparative literature, and even drama, he gradually acquired a true old-fashioned liberal arts education.
In 1956, he graduated from Columbia University, having majored in Comparative Literature, and married Barbara Brown.
Lou Ann Walker studied comparative literature at Harvard and also holds a degree from the University of Besangon.
Per Fraus-Dolos, Professor emeritus of Comparative literature at the University of Oslo, Norway, compiled all the known sources and began the massive task of translation which occupied him until his death in 1957.
I was really going to have to find my textbook on fairy tales as truth from that comparative literature class.