The UGC NET Comparative Literature Paper II (code 72) has 100 multiple-choice questions in 180 minutes, +2 for a right answer, no negative marking. NTA sets it on the UGC NET syllabus in force since June 2019 (10 units per subject). Every unit of the official syllabus PDF is below with its topics (10 units, 40 topics).
UGC NET Comparative Literature at a glance
| Paper code | 72 |
|---|---|
| Group | Languages and Literature |
| Questions | 100 (all compulsory) |
| Marks | 200 (2 per question) |
| Duration | 180 minutes (Paper I and Paper II in one sitting, no break) |
| Marking | +2 for a right answer, no negative marking |
| Medium | English and Hindi |
| Based on | The UGC NET syllabus in force since June 2019 (10 units per subject) |
| Official syllabus PDF | Download the official PDFPDF |
UGC NET Comparative Literature syllabus: units and topics
Unit 1 Conceptual Framework of Comparative Literature
- The Emergence of Comparative Literature
- Difference/ Alterity and the Ethics of Plurality
- Limitations of the Idea of National Literature
- Theories of Interpretation
Unit 2 Literary Historiography
- Sources of Literary History: Oral, Manuscriptal, Scriptal and
- Virtual
- Approaches to Literary History: Integrationist and other models
- Problems of Periodization
Unit 3 History of Comparative Literature
- History of Comparative Literature : French, German, Russian and
- Tel Aviv Schools
- Comparative Literature in India: From Tagore to the Present
- World Literature: From Goethe to the Present
- 4. “The State of the Discipline” Reports
Unit 4 Translation in Comparative Context
- History and Politics of Translation
- Translation as Reception
- Problems and Promises of Translation in Multilingual Situations
- Untranslatability and Silence
Unit 5 Poetics and Literary Theory
- Indian Poetics: Sanskrit and Tamil
- Perso-Arabic Traditions
- Western Classical Literary Theory
Unit 6 Indian Literature –I
- Classical – Sanskrit, Tamil, Pali and other literary traditions
- Medieval –Formations of Language-Literature (bhasha) Traditions in India;Bhakti, Santand Sufi Literature
- Contact with West Asian, South-east Asian and South Asian literary traditions
Unit 7 Indian Literature – II
- Modernity as a concept
- Colonial Modernity: Transactions with Western Forms and
- Literary Traditions
- Modernity as Discourse: Multiple Modernisms in the Context of
- Various Language-Literatures
- Discontents of Modernity: Literatures of Women, Adivasis, Dalits,
- Minorities and others
Unit 8 Literary Modes, Genres and Themes
- The “literary” as a convention
- Mode and Performativity: Tragedy, Epic and Novel
- Genres: Theories; Taxonomy : Generic Markers and
- Transformations
- Themes: Motifs, Myth, Archetypes
Unit 9 Interdisciplinarity and Intermediality
- Literature and Other Arts: Texts Across Mediums
- Literary Studies and Other Disciplines
Unit 10 Literary Dialogues
- Intertextuality, Parody and Pastiche
- Re-writing in Diachronic and Synchronic Frames
- Adaptation, Appropriation and Assimilation
Read from the official PDF on 9 November 2026 · Official syllabus PDF · NTA
UGC NET Comparative Literature: Previous year question papers
NTA has not published a UGC NET question paper of Comparative Literature as a PDF yet. The final answer keys of every year, and the papers of the subjects NTA did publish, are on the UGC NET question papers page.
