A Study of English Romanticism and Sufism as Literary Movements

Comparative studies are veritable tools for unearthing similarities and differences between things, trends, phenomena and occurrences in the social world. Similarly, it has become a very important tool for literary analysis especially in attempts to look for parallels and divergences either between individual writers, groups or periods. The ultimate goal is to bring what is being compared into a sharp and critical focus with the intention of heightening the interest of scholars and laymen alike, so as to pay special attention to what is being considered. Hence, comparative study becomes another way of 'defamiliarising' the familiar in literary studies. This dissertation is an attempt in that direction. Hence in this dissertation I intend to compare two seemingly dissimilar groups with the intention of bringing their similarities into a sharp focus. It is very obvious that Sufism and English Romanticism are different. Yet, there are areas in which the two are so much alike as to warrant this kind of study.