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Summary
Summary
Historical in scope, the "Reference Guide to World Literature includes biographical-bibliographical entries on nearly 500 writers and approximately 550 entries focusing on significant works of world literature. Covering writers from the ancient Greeks to 20th-century authors, each author entry provides a detailed overview of the writer's life and works. Work entries cover a particular piece of world literature in detail.
Reviews (2)
Booklist Review
Featuring entries on nearly 500 writers and approximately 550 works, this new edition "represents a comprehensive and authoritative survey of literatures written in languages other than English." The chronological range is vast, beginning with the Vedas and the Epic of Gilgamesh and ending with contemporary works such as Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera. Volume 1 provides two-to three-page profiles of authors from Abe Kobo (Japanese) to Carl Zuckmayer (German); in between are authors from France, Haiti, Egypt, Spain, Lithuania, Ukraine, Iceland, and Tunisia, to name but a few. The editors state that this edition "provides expanded coverage of literatures in less represented languages, the primary focus being Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese, as well as previously unrepresented languages including Albanian, Estonian, Indonesian, Kurdish, and Thai." In addition, more contemporary women writers are profiled than in earlier editions. In the author entries, brief biographical data are given when known: birth date and place, education, family, career summary, awards given, and death date. This is followed by a selected list of publications, references to bibliographies on the author, and references to full-length critical studies for further research. Finally, signed essays provide a critical evaluation of the author and his or her work. A list of contributors is available, as are a chronological list of writers and an alphabetical list of writers and works. Author articles are cross-referenced to volume 2, which contains detailed entries on individual literary works presented in alphabetical order by title. Here, again, coverage is expansive--one finds essays on, among others, Around the World in Eighty Days, Hansel and Gretel, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Madame Bovary, and The Rubaiyat. This volume also provides a section of notes on advisors and contributors from universities worldwide, an index of authors and titles by language, and an alphabetical title index. Reference Guide to World Literature is indeed a useful tool for researchers and aficionados of international literature. It is a worthy companion to works such as Contemporary World Writers (St. James, 1993), Cyclopedia of World Authors (Salem, 1997), Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century (St. James, 1998), and Gale's World Literature and Its Times series. Although not inexpensive, it is especially recommended for academic and large public libraries lacking coverage in the area.
Choice Review
Spanning more than 1,700 pages, this hefty guide is a worthy addition to the St. James reference guides to English and American literature. Its scope is non-English literature and authors from all time periods. The coverage for writers ranges chronologically from Homer (8th century BCE) to Su Tong (born 1963), and for literary works, from Vedas (c.3000-500 BCE) to Rice (1991). It includes material from 41 languages, Albanian to Yiddish. The 1,100 entries are split almost evenly between author entries and those for literary works. Author entries supply succinct biographical details--birth, education, military history, family, career, awards and honors--and more expansive literary detail--lists of selected publications and critical studies, and a signed assessment of the author's work and influence. Entries for literary works include the author if known, date of creation, and a signed critical essay. This source is valuable for several reasons: its worldwide (non-English) scope, depth of detail, and authoritative signed critical assessments and essays. Helpful user aids include alphabetical and chronological lists of writers and works. Volume 1 contains author entries, volume 2 literary work entries, adviser/contributor credentials, and language and title indexes. The set has visual appeal and a binding that supports even the 1,000-page first volume. For libraries needing a comprehensive source on non-English literature. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. General and academic collections. P. Palmer University of Memphis
