Comparative Criticism: Volume 9, Cultural Perceptions and Literary Values

The ninth volume of this annual journal is concerned with the theme of ‘Cultural perceptions and literary values’, and continues the consideration of the relations of European with non-European literatures begun in volume 8. Among others, Indian art and its reception in the West is taken as a paradigm case for the interpretation of works of art. Victor Turner, an anthropologist who contributed a great deal to the understanding of the role of ritual in African societies, in ‘social drama’ and in the theatre, is represented by a posthumous essay displaying his characteristic verve, boldness, and innovative power. The crucial case of magic as ‘alien wisdom’ is considered, as is the exportation of the ‘Faust theme’, as represented in Spanish sources, to South America, and the case for its absorption into native Indian drama. This volume brings the series of special bibliographies on the history of comparative literary studies in the UK up to 1965, within a decade of the beginning of our annual bibliographies (1975) in volume 1. It also contains the annual bibliography of comparative literature, covering 1984.