Early Spectra of Comparatism: Meltzl and Maiorescu
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Abstract: The article begins by enquiring what the project of redescribing the history of a phenomenon such as Romanian comparatism entails theoretically. I provide a brief operational sketch based on two axes, the historical/hermeneutical and the memorial/auratic. I propose the image of a two-fold spectrality for the key figures analyzed, Hugo Meltzl and Titu Maiorescu: theoretical specters that can be identified within their texts and the haunting spectrality of their possible or repeated return. The article offers comparative/contrasting readings of two significant texts, Meltzl’s “Vorläufige Aufgaben der vergleichenden Litteratur” [Preliminary Tasks of Comparative Literature] (1887-1878) and Maiorescu’s “Literatura română și străinătatea” [Romanian Literature Abroad] (1882), showcasing their distinct visions of comparatism.
Keywords: Comparatism, world-literature, modernity, Hugo Meltzl, Titu Maiorescu
Acknowledgement: This work was funded by the EU’s NextGenerationEU instrument through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan of Romania—Pillar III-C9-18, through the project A Global History of Romanian Comparatism: A Case Study in Inter-Imperial Comparative Literature (1877-1944), PNRR-III-C9-2023-I8-CF 22/ 27.07.2023, contract no. 760276/ 26.03.2024.
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