Comparative Literature at the Universities of Arabian Peninsula: Reality and Ambition A Practical Study

Abstract

The aim of this research is to draw an approximative picture of the factual situation of comparative literature and its teaching at the universities of Arabian Peninsula. Through this picture, whose materials and facts where provided by chairmen and professors of comparative literature of the universities under study, the research will endeavour to thoroughly examine the problems and obstacles facing comparative literatures in both its teaching and spreading. In addition, this paper will try to clarify the importance and necessity of comparative literature as a method of literary criticism in studying world literatures, revealing their hidden meanings, and discovering the creative texts deserving attention and study. Thus, this research comes to fill a gap in the history of Arabic comparative literature studies by shedding light on an important part of the Arab World which lacks more studies in the area of comparative literatue.