Abstract

The aim of this essay is to investigate the birth of comparative literature in Russia by analyzing the theory of Aleksandr Nikolaevicˇ Veselovskij, who is considered the founder of Russian comparativism, and by examining his influence on Viktor Maksimovicˇ Žirmunskij and Eleazar Moisievicˇ Meletinskij. The former related Vesleovskij's theory to the formalist approach, the latter to the study of folklore and myth. In order to understand their theory, the essay explores Žirmunskij's account of English literature and Meletinskij's analysis of Scandinavian culture, with a special focus on the major thread running through the entire essay, i.e. the veselovskijan conception of comparative literature.