Any type of literary work is always connected with each other. There should be the difference in the way of presentation but the basic content of the art always remains the same. For a purpose of adding a charm or to prove some point he/she adds something creative in it and it makes the literature little bit different though the content or archetypal pattern always remains the same. All literatures are connected with each other; all, those which are already written, those being written and those yet to be written. Thus, to understand a work of art, one must have an understanding of this continuity.
Literature is like a tree and various literary approaches are like a branches of it, though it has many branches but their root always remain the same.
T.S.Eliot also pointed out oneness of literature in his essay. Every new literature has a kind of connection with the existing monuments of literature. Northrop Frye gave the theory of Archetypal criticism based on the oneness of literature. He pointed out that,
All literature shares common DNA or skeleton.
Lets’s have a look on the Oneness of Literature through the similarity between T.S.Eliot’s long poem ‘The Wasteland’ and Anton Chekhov’s short story “A Joke”. While going through the reading of these two, we can find theme of sexual perversion as well as there is one stanza in The Waste Land which seems quite similar to the story of Anton Chekhov’s “The Joke”.
Explanation
And when we were children, staying at the archduke's,
My cousin's, he took me out on a sled,
And I was frightened. He said, Marie,
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
In the mountains, there you feel free.
This line presents the nostalgic of Marie. Basically, it suggests that Marie had a fear of sledding over the mountains but her cousin encouraged her for that and then and then only she did coasting with her cousin.
Similarly,in the Anton Chekhov’s shorty story “The Joke”, we can find this theme. Both have a same theme or representation of hidden sexuality through the memory of childhood. There is only a difference between the name of character. In the story there is Nadia instead of Marie. Here Nadia’s friend gave her courage for sliding and while in between of their journey over mountain he many times uttered the words I love you but Nadia was never able to decide that whether it was true or her illusion. This act of sliding is not only for the enjoyment but something more than it. At the end of the story Nadia married to a boy and went to Pitsburg. From this we can say that this act of sliding is not about their true love rather it reflects the lustfulness.
Translation
In the translation version, there is always lack of originality. It is not that much prettier of original work. Anton Chekhov’s short story “ A Joke” was translated as a “Nanakadi majak” in one of the column of Gujarat Samachar newspaper. Here the title it self has not that charm, which original title have. In the story also we do not find appropriate words of translation.
In nutshell, every literature has some signs and symbols but their meaning are different. The content of the story is always same but the way of putting in a frame can be changed with the time.
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