1,721,000 research outputs found
World Literature According to Wikipedia Popularity and Book Translations: The Case of Modern Italian Poets
No full textMost studies of world literature ignore statistics about the translation, circulation and reception of literary works, since no way exists to find such information on a global scale. Because of this, Western scholars generally assume that certain figures are canonical everywhere in the world, such as Shakespeare and Dante. This paper proposes a new and different approach to the study of literary canonicity, by drawing on an almost completely untapped dataset (the 310 global Wikipedias) and comparing Wikipedia popularity and newly collected data on book translations. By examining diverse measures of global popularity of a corpus of 101 modern Italian poets, I aim both to integrate a new resource (Wikipedia) into the study of world literature as well as to newly problematize the very concept of world literature. I will show how shifting one's criterion of canonicity – whether the number of translations or the number of Wikipedia pageviews of an author – affects our understanding of what makes an author canonical or not. In the end, I argue, we have not yet developed a subtle enough way to determine the canonicity of authors. But this dual strategy of comparing translations and Wikipedia popularity does show us a potential way forward
The Global Popularity of William Shakespeare in 303 Wikipedias
Full text linkThere are no reliable figures on contemporary Shakespeare reception around the world. However, we can provide such figures by analysing which of the 303 global Wikipedias (in about as many languages) have Shakespeare entries and how often these entries have been viewed. These statistics enable us to concretely identify which works are the most viewed in different contexts around the world. We will see, for instance, which cultures are more interested in Shakespeare’s tragedies, comedies, histories, and poetry. We will find out which single plays are preferred in different cultures, and which plays, instead, are practically ignored abroad. In short, we can distinguish different levels of popularity of his works in different settings. Thus, we will discover that for a plurality of Wikipedias, almost fifty, Romeo and Juliet is number one in pageviews, while in many, but fewer others, it is Hamlet. In seven Wikipedias, on the other hand, Macbeth is number one, while Julius Caesar is first in still several others. Othello, King Lear, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, and Antony and Cleopatra are the only other rare leaders in specific Wikipedias. In short, this article will present the basic popular global reception information about all of Shakespeare’s works, filling a lacuna in critical research; this will allow researchers to pursue more detailed levels of investigation of Shakespeare’s canonicity in different contexts across the globe
Tony Harrison the Translator: “Life’s a Performance. Either Join in / Lightheartedly, or Thole the Pain”
No full textMuch attention has been paid to Tony Harrison the poet and playwright, but much less to his translation activity. While there have been four substantial monographs written about him in English by Sandie Byrne, Christine Regan, Antony Rowland and Luke Spencer, no one has foregrounded the role of translation in his work. My paper will argue for the importance of his translations in his poetic career and will show how his method of translation is influenced by his poetics and ideology. While other prominent modern poet-translators, such as W. H. Auden, Robert Graves, Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes, Paul Muldoon and W. B. Yeats have translated the classics, Harrison’s approach is distinct because he works collaboratively with directors, translates directly from the source languages and brings a forceful poetics of his own to bear upon the text
Great Italian Short Stories of the Twentieth Century / I grandi racconti italiani del Novecento
No full textThis anthology highlights the rich range of modern Italian fiction, presenting the first English translations of works by many famous authors. Contents include fables and stories by Italo Calvino, Elsa Morante, Alberto Moravia, and Cesare Pavese; historical fiction by Leonardo Sciascia and Mario Rigoni Stern; and little-known tales by Luigi Pirandello and Carlo Emilio Gadda.
No further apparatus or reference is necessary for the self-contained text. Appropriate for high school and college courses as well as self-study, this volume will prove a fine companion for teachers and intermediate-level students of Italian language and literature as well as readers wishing to brush up on their language skills
The Wikipedia popularity of James Joyce
No full textThis essay provides the first depiction of Joyce's popularity in the over three hundred worldwide Wikipedias. Through a comprehensive analysis of readership data of all of the entries dedicated to his works—and his own life—I show where he is most popular, where his individual works are most consulted, and where, instead, there is little to no interest in his oeuvre. One of the significant results that emerges, in fact, is that Joyce is not a universally popular or canonical figure
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