Encyclopedia Of World Writers, Beginnings To 20th Century
Encyclopedia Of World Writers, Beginnings To 20th Century
~ General Editor: Dr. Thierry Boucquey
“Facts On File, Inc”; 2005; 1442 pp
~ This collection of nearly 1000 entries on world writers, literary forms, genres and movements, language, and texts considered to be masterpieces spans from the beginnings of human literary activity through the 20th century. The volumes are separated by period and each one begins with an introduction and time line. Entries range in length from a few paragraphs to two pages for major writers such as V. S. Naipaul or Jean-Paul Sartre. Author entries contain brief biographical information and a bibliography that includes listings of Works about and translations. Most valuable will be the Critical Analysis portion found in some articles that provides a good summary of themes and contributions for many authors whose writings might be inaccessible to students, such as Julius Caesar and Marco Polo. The set bibliography lists additional critical sources. Topical essays cover magical realism, rationalism, epistolary novel, Maya epics, fables, bardic poetry, creation myths, and more. Some fictional characters are included, such as Tristan and Iseult. Religious texts are discussed in terms of format, theme, and content. This reference will stand out for its scope, particularly the accessible entries on the earliest literary activity. ~
~ Students often find it difficult to locate more than surface biographical data on world authors. Finding criticism - especially in English - can be equally frustrating. In addition to entries for genres, movements, and literary terms, this set offers critical biographies on an array of international authors. Coverage encompasses a spectrum of formats, including poetry, drama, fiction, memoir, essays, epics, odes, and sacred texts. The first volume begins with African proverbs dating from 1500 B.C and continues through the end of the thirteenth century. Volume 2 considers 1300 through the 1800s, and volume 3 concentrates on the past two centuries. The focus is on individuals and genres that are under-represented in traditional resources. There are numerous references to early Native American, Anglo-Saxon, and Celtic Literature in the first Volume, English and English-speaking American Writers appear in Volume 2, and Contemporary Writers appear in Volume 3. ~
~ Alphabetically arranged articles range from a couple of paragraphs to a few pages. Longer biographical entries include separate sections on critical analysis. Most entries end with a list of English translations and further reading selections. Each tome features a volume - specific preface, introduction, time line, list of writers by geographic region, bibliography, and index. Time lines are listed in columns of names and dates, as opposed to layouts that would delineate contemporaries and overlapping influences. Still, academic libraries as well as public collections that support world ‘literature curricula’ will want to add this as a supplement to standard references such as “Cyclopedia of World Authors” (
~ The definitive reference to world writers from ancient times through the 20th century, this three-volume set presents the broad spectrum of world literature's great contributors. Hundreds of entries on major writers throughout the world cover the literary traditions of early
~ Entries include Beowulf, Gilgamesh, and the Song of Roland, as well as such famous writers as Dante, Marco Polo, Chretien de Troyes, Confucius, and Murasaki Shikibu, Cervantes, Petrarch, Voltaire, Erasmus, Ibn Khaldun, and Cao Xuequin, Chinua Achebe, Margaret Atwood, Mikhail Bulgakov, Umberto Eco, Gao Xingjian, Knut Hamsun, Mohammad Iqbal, Naghib Mahfouz, Marcel Proust, and Emile Zola. ~
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