THE ACADEMIC PRACTICE OF COMPARATIVE LITERATURE IN ASSAM: THE ROLE OF DIBRUGARH AND GAUHATI UNIVERSITY

Purpose: This paper aims to present a picture of the evolution, present condition and the prospect of Comparative Literature in the academic world of Assam by mainly giving example of the numerous works done on the discipline in Assam, the syllabus of Dibrugarh and Gauhati University and the research works and projects done in these respective universities. Methodology: The research methods mainly used in this study are analytical and survey methods. The necessary materials are collected from library and used, with proper observation and analysis, to justify the proposed ideas. Main Findings: This paper, with clear data, seems to cast light on the trajectory of Comparative Literature in Assam, especially of the present situation and with the observation of these data, an effort is made to get a view of its prospect. Application: Besides getting acquainted with the evolution of the discipline of Comparative Literature in Assam, this paper seems to be beneficial in comprehending the required adaptation and changes for the discipline in the current situation. Novelty/Originality: The significance of this paper lies in its effort to give a critical look at the discipline from its beginning to the present situation and most importantly, the discussion of the lacks and faults of its practice and of various steps for the development of the discipline in the state will be very relevant and instrumental in the context of Assam.


INTRODUCTION
The discussion about the theory of Comparative Literature was started in the mid 20 th century. The person who paved the way for the academic study of the subject is Jageswar Sharma who in the journal of the Assam Sahitya Sabha of 1977, wrote an essay titled Tulanamulak Sahitya (Comparative Literature) where he discusses the theory of Comparative Literature and shows its importance. Another major development comes in the hands of a scholar named Prafulla kataki who wrote the first book about Comparative Literature titled Tulanmulok Sahitya (Comparative Literature) in the year 1989 (Bezborah, 2009). It is noteworthy to mention that it is Prafulla kataki who is considered, as supported by many books, the first person to bring out the subject of Comparative Literature. But it is Jogeswar Sharma who first brought the subject to the realm of literary discussion eleven years before Prafulla kataki. Nirajona Mahanta Bezborah in her book Tulonamulok Sahitya Aru Sahityik Gobekhona (Comparative Literature and Literary Research), published in 1994, writes "Comparative Literature in Assam is in a very nascent condition. In Assamese language, the subject had its beginning in Dr. Prafulla Kataki's book Tulanamulok Sahitya (1989)" (Bezborah,1999). But we would like to inform, along with Nirajona, all the learned society of Assam that instead of Prafulla kataki's book, it is the article titled Tulanamulak Sahitya by Jogeswar Sharma written 11 years before Prafulla's book is the first essay written on Comparative Literature. But, unfortunately, the name of Jogeswar Sharma cannot be seen in the books pertaining to Comparative Literature written till today.
In the second half of the twentieth century, there were very few literary works produced that dealt with Comparative literature and only a handful of people were involved in bringing the subject into the academic world among which Jogeshwar Sharma is the first who gave a clear idea about the subject. He published an article in the first volume of 'Asom Sahitya Sabha Patrika'of the 14 th year in 1977 (Sharma,1977) where he explains, in a very lucid manner, the nature of Comparative literature. In the article, he gives a brief description of the idea, purpose, scope, and discussion of Comparative Literature done in Western countries (Saikia, 2018; Bezborah, 2019). The idea that had its beginning in Sharma's article was strongly established by Prafulla Kataki in his book Tulonamulok Sahitya where he gives an idea about the definition, significance, scope, purpose, usefulness of Comparative Literature, World Literature, etc. Gradually, Comparative Literature drew the attention of the learned society and they started considering it as a subject of profound discussion. In the year 1992, a seminar was held at Dibrugarh University on Comparative Literature were eminent scholars like Mahendra Borah, Amoresh Dutta, etc. put forwarded a very good discussion on Comparative Literature (Buzarboruah 2013

METHODOLOGY
Analytical and descriptive methods are mainly used in this paper. Critical methods have been used in this study to analyze the collected data.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE IN THE SYLLABUS OF DIBRUGARH UNIVERSITY
In the year 1992, Dibrugarh University has included Comparative Literature as a part of the M.A. syllabus of the Assamese department and this step adopted by Dibrugarh University, in the Academic world, was the first initiative in the entire North-East. In the three alternative papers of the abovementioned syllabus, Comparative literature and Comparative Indian Literature were included (Bezborah, 1999 To acquaint the students with the concepts and preliminary theory of Comparative Literature and through the prescribed texts, to give an idea of the culture of a nation. It also aims at acquainting the students with the different subject matters, types and historical similarities reflected in different literatures. Moreover, making the students aware of the different characteristics of different ages is another intention of this initiative. It is worth mentioning that, in the entire syllabus there is an emphasis on studying Assamese literature from comparative perspective. Rather than approaching Assamese literature as a different entity, this paper aims at approaching it as a branch or part of the broad umbrella of Indian literature.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE IN THE SYLLABUS OF GAUHATI UNIVERSITY:
Gauhati