Questions: Methods of Comparative Literary Analysis

Question 1

A scholar compares the use of the double in Dostoevsky's 'The Double' and Stevenson's 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' to argue that both texts use the motif to explore anxieties about bourgeois identity. Which comparative method is primarily in use?

• A. Genealogical tracing — proving that Stevenson directly borrowed from Dostoevsky.
• B. Formal comparison — analyzing the structural similarity of narrative techniques.
• C. Thematic analysis — tracking a shared motif across works to illuminate a common cultural concern.
• D. Contextual positioning — placing both works within a single national literary tradition.

Answer: (C)

Thematic analysis tracks recurring motifs, images, or preoccupations across works regardless of direct influence. The comparison here is organized around the double as a shared thematic vehicle rather than a claim of borrowing (genealogical) or a formal analysis of narrative structure. Contextual positioning would situate the works within literary histories, not trace a motif.

Question 2

Productive comparative analysis requires that the texts being compared address the same subject matter or theme.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

Some of the most illuminating comparative analyses emerge from unexpected juxtapositions — texts that seem unrelated until comparison reveals hidden structural similarities or ideological assumptions. The requirement is not thematic sameness but a well-argued tertium comparationis (a shared basis for comparison) that the analyst constructs and defends.

Question 3

What is the difference between genealogical tracing and thematic analysis as methods of comparative literary study?

Model answer: Genealogical tracing investigates actual historical influence and intertextuality — it asks whether one text borrowed from, responded to, or was shaped by another. Thematic analysis does not require any historical connection; it asks whether two texts illuminate each other by sharing a motif, concern, or structural pattern, regardless of whether their authors knew each other's work.

The distinction matters because genealogical claims require historical evidence of transmission (correspondence, known reading habits, shared sources), while thematic comparisons are interpretive and analogical. Conflating the two leads to overclaiming: finding that two texts share a theme does not prove influence, and absent influence, the comparison must be justified on interpretive rather than historical grounds.