Cross-Cultural Research and National Identity: Bringing Together the Distant

In one of his essays, the great American Transcendentalist R. W. Emerson once remarked that similarity appears not only where it is fairly obvious, but also in the objects that at first sight seem really different. This could be successfully applied to literature as well. Every work of art is a mirror of the society. Every work of art, in this way or another, by genre or tradition, reflects the time and national identity of the author. Nevertheless, while even works of the same genre (following Bakhtin's understanding of a real work as the one pertaining to a certain literary trend) and the same topic do betray cultural differences, they, if analyzed and deeply understood, could bring us closer to understanding each other's traditions and mentality, thus making literature a really cross-cultural and global phenomenon – the one it is destined to be.

On a number of reasons, comparative studies are the least developed branch of Ukrainian literary criticism. Especially rare is research where works by Ukrainian and Western authors are analyzed in their contrast or similarity. Yet it is well known that one is able to understand his/her home literature much deeper when it is evaluated together with the foreign one, and vice versa – it is possible to profoundly study a foreign literature only when the native one is well understood, as any eminent writer is in this way or another connected not only to local, but also (and largely) to the world literature traditions. The feasibility of diverse multi-level and poly-dimensional comparative literary analyses is sure to be prompted by a number of factors: common genre features, specific national/international character of narratives that are similar or different in their plots or artistic tropes, imagery, etc. Sometimes resemblance of formal aspects of the life styles of two authors (no matter how physically remote their native counties are) can lead to existence of surprisingly close literary motives in their works. Consequently, under comparative/contrastive analysis, we can define historical, cultural, individual, and biographical factors as well as literary and philosophical traditions that constitute the source of such likeness and dissimilarity in the works of the authors.

Comparative analysis can use numerous modern scholarly approaches: intertextual, stylistic (cognitive in particular), empirical (thus transcending the dominating interpretative traditions in the Humanities), cultural, historical, psychoanalytic, aesthetic – or better a mixture of those.

Most fascinating is the research jointly conducted by professors and students of different nationalities, hence combining different national backgrounds, experience, research approaches to ensure most coherent and in-depth delving into the issues. The idea of letting Humanities students study each others' culture by co-operating on research projects is a revolutionary one, both in Ukraine and in Germany. We can already notice the fruits of this co-operation in the intercultural attitudes and skills that the students have meanwhile developed, preparing them for the problems of further globalisation and economic and political interdependence. Especially the recent developments in Ukraine demand that such an international infrastructure is developed to create opportunities for a future that is bringing the two countries together much more rapidly than had been surmised until recently.

No matter how early it is in its development, the tradition of comparative/contrastive studies of the Ukrainian and Western, German in particular, literatures should be carried on, as it gives plenty of inspiration and real scholarly pleasure when the results open the seemingly absent closeness of literatures. This might not only open new vistas in literary studies, but is also really valuable from the point of view of contemporary political and social changes in Ukraine on its way into the European Union, as such project is sure to further consolidate the co-operation between the Ukrainian and German groups, and to explore new avenues of intercultural research.

The project can also open new literary names to participants from different cultures, as, sadly, sometimes we are quite ignorant of artistic heritage even of our geographically close neighbors, such as Germany and Ukraine.

On the whole, the project can have the following as its major aims:

• developing intercultural research projects bearing on problem areas in traditional Humanities' concerns, thereby increasing the understanding of intercultural misunderstandings and problems;
• establishing an elite of young researchers in the Humanities, who will act as mediators in their respective cultures;
• contributing to international and globalizing development by creating networks of young researchers in various cultures around the globe;
• monitoring value changes in the respective societies, moving to more democratic and open worldviews;
• further developing political awareness and exchange, as well as mutual understanding across cultural traditions.

The project involves, among other things, the study of a culture-relative thematic matrix emanating from the analysis of literary texts in both cultures at different moments in time. Literature, in this approach, is seen as a mirror of a culture, allowing an insight in the dynamic processes of establishing, distributing, and maintaining a system of values and norms in society. Its analysis can therefore help us monitor and accompany the processes in each culture separately, but also the processes by which cultures grow together. Certain universal themes, such as freedom and social justice (1), will be compared in their respective literary emanations. Identifying and interpreting those themes will be carried out using a previously developed matrix of scenes and episodes epitomising instances of social (in)justice and (lack of) freedom (2). Quantitative analyses of the cells in this matrix, both between different time moments within one culture and between cultures, will provide information concerning the dynamics of such values concerning issues of freedom and social justice in the respective cultures.

Thus, remaining a mirror that reflects values, traditions, and norms of different cultures, literature can also work as a powerful means of social influence, stimulating cultural awareness, augmenting democratic processes in Eastern and Western Europe, and bringing together people, students in particular, of different nations.

(1) These will be linked to Hofstede's main cultural dimensions of collectivism / individualism and power distance. So far, no data concerning Ukraine with respect to these dimensions exist; data concerning Western Germany, however, are available, and will allow for validation of the textual analyses carried out.

(2) The exemplary study on which this research is based, is Sarah Corse's Literature and Nationality (Cambridge University Press).