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There is a close relationship between Comparative Literature and Translation Studies, especially in the domain of influence studies. The famous German poet, novelist and dramatist, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, from his early youth, was interested in the East (in the inclusive sense of the term) and regularly read about the East and its people in different European national languages. While reading these miscellaneous books, he became acquainted with Muslims' divine book, the Holy Quran, and was deeply influenced by it. This impact is quite conspicuous, notably, in his most comprehensive book of poetry, West-Eastern Divan (1819). The present paper tries, through the lens of Comparative Literature, particularly influence studies, to investigate the historical and personal evidences of this influence. At the beginning, the paper elaborates on Goethe's familiarity with the Quran and its translations. Next, the twelve books of West-Eastern Divan, its long epilogue, Notes and Papers written for a Better Understanding of the Divan are closely analyzed, and finally, Goethe's Quranic sources of inspiration are, one by one, identified explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Johnson and Sa’di: Two Intimate Strangers, written by Helen Ouliaeinia, is a very useful work in the realm of Persian-English comparative literature. It deals with the unorthodox structural and thematic similarities (and somehow differences) between Johnson’s The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia and S’adi's Golestan. She tries to show documentarily that Johnson’s Rasselas has been probably influenced both structurally and thematically by the great Persian poet and writer Sa’di of Shiraz. The present book falls within the realm of the French school of comparative literature, especially “influence studies”. The present paper is composed of three major sections. The first section introduces the author and his seminal book. The second part tries to discuss the book in terms of formal features. Here, typographical errors and some stylistic shortcomings are highlighted. The last section deals with the content of the book. At the end of this part, some points are suggested to enrich the text. To sum up, it is too difficult to accept the author’s claims about Johnsons’ influences.

Roughly two-thirds of the way through Sam Selvon's The Lonely Londoners (1956), there is a section highly redolent of the 'Penelope' episode of James Joyce's Ulysses (1922). Commonly referred to as 'Summer', the section's similarity to 'Penelope' has not gone unnoticed among either Joyce or Selvon scholars; to date, however, only J. Dillon Brown (2013) has offered a substantive reading of the connection. This article seizes on the relative absence of critical discussion of Selvon in Joyce studies to consider what might be the particular responsibilities that Joyce studies bears when reading Joyce's global afterlives. Drawing on critical debates around the concept of global modernism, I discuss the terms of Joyce's canonisation and his use in 'diffusionist' models of literary history. Building on Kandice Chuh's (2019) analysis of the combined effects of liberal representational politics and hypercanonicity in literary studies, I contend that future studies of Joyce's global reception and influence should seek to establish mutually transformative intercultural dialogue, which in turn requires opening the field to unsettling Joyce's position in literary studies – and, to that I end, I propose that Selvon's novel provides an exemplary model of engagement with Joyce through 'creative disaffiliation'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Foreign Literature Studies is the property of Foreign Literature Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)