Kulturoznawstwo porównawcze Stevena Tötösy'ego w kontekście środkowoeuropejskim

Abstract

The aim of the author is to present chosen elements of the Canadian comparatist Steven Tötösy’s theory and their application in the analysis of the Central European cultures. In an attempt to restore the proper status of comparative studies, which has been lost in the recent decades in favour of cultural studies, Tötösy unites both fields in the scope of the synthetic concept of comparative cultural studies. Its main assumptions are presented in the ten general principles. They allow to define Tötösy’s project as, i.a. interdisciplinary, intercultural, pluralistic, Anglophone and methodologically reliable. The author points to the applicability of the above mentioned principles in the research on Eastern and Central European culture, supported by the analyses carried out by the Tötösy himself, e.g. in the works on the contemporary Eastern German and Hungarian prose. The author claims that “a more frequent and widespread application of Tötösy’s theory can result in preventing the fall of comparative studies into the sea of dead academic disciplines but also bringing about a greater interest for the Central European studies.