In this essay I survey the vast field of thematology, a traditional approach to literary studies which has traditionally been criticized. First I consider a number of these criticisms: the problem of scope, the problem of evaluation, the problem of the unity of the work, and the problem of the authority of the critic.
Then I discuss three approaches to thematology: theme as subject, theme as story or plot, and theme as idea. Theme as subject includes words and concepts which are not limited to literature: love, education, war, kingship, death, utopia, revenge, the absurd, etc. Here we ask the question, “What is this work about?” Theme as story or plot is the concrete expression of an idea in a particular context: these people, in this place, doing this and that happening. Here the question would be, “What happens in this work?” Theme as idea means abstract ideas about fundamental human situations: an artist is blessed by the gift of his genius but at the same time cursed, or the more one struggles against fate, the closer one comes to bringing it about. Here the question would be, “What is the larger meaning or significance of the work?”
Finally, I discuss those aspects of thematology which apply in particular to comparative literature such as terminology (trying to reconcile the literary terms used in various countries), cultural contexts (orientalism vs. occidentalism), and literary types (Oedipus, Antigone, Faust).
