A World Of Fiction: Digital Collections And The Future Of Literary History (digital Humanities)

From BiblioVault During the 19th century, throughout the Anglophone world, most fiction was first published in periodicals. In Australia, newspapers were not only the main source of periodical fiction, but the main source of fiction in general. Because of their importance as fiction publishers, and because they provided Australian readers with access to stories from around the world—from Britain, America and Australia, as well as Austria, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, and beyond—Australian newspapers represent an important record of the transnational circulation and reception of fiction in this period. ?Investigating almost 10,000 works of fiction in the world’s largest collection of mass-digitized historical newspapers (the National Library of Australia’s Trove database), A World of Fiction reconceptualizes how fiction traveled globally, and was received and understood locally, in the 19th century. Katherine Bode’s innovative approach to the new digital collections that are transforming research in the humanities are a model of how digital tools can transform how we understand digital collections and interpret literatures in the past. "The title for this book, "a World of Fiction," has three meanings, and these have continued to underpin and shape the book. The most straightforward concerns the global origins of fiction in nineteenth-century Australian newspapers. While British, Australian, and American works dominate, and have been my focus, these newspapers include fiction from many other places: Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, and more. An even wider range of geographical locations are evoked in the inscription of stories, which are presented as coming from the above countries and far beyond: Belgium, Burma, Chile, China, Cuba, Egypt, the list goes on. This sheer multitude of origins, real and inscribed--and the frequency of global voyages in these stories--indicates a pronounced geographical focus in the creation, publication, and reception of colonial newspaper fiction. Given that many of the original readers for these stories would have recently arrived in the colonies from elsewhere, this global consciousness suggests the role that newspaper fiction played in connecting new, Australian spaces and lives to preexisting conceptions of the world and readers' place in it"-- Provided by publisher "During the 19th century, throughout the Anglophone world, most fiction was first published in periodicals. In Australia, newspapers were not only the main source of periodical fiction, but the main source of fiction in general. Because of their importance as fiction publishers, and because they provided Australian readers with access to stories from around the world--from Britain, America and Australia, as well as Austria, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, and beyond--Australian newspapers represent an important record of the transnational circulation and reception of fiction in this period. Investigating almost 10,000 works of fiction in the world's largest open-access collection of mass-digitized historical newspapers (the National Library of Australia's Trove database), A World of Fiction reconceptualizes how fiction traveled globally, and was received and understood locally, in the 19th century. Katherine Bode's innovative approach to the new digital collections that are transforming research in the humanities is a model of how digital tools can transform how we understand digital collections and interpret literatures in the past."--Publisher's description Contents Introduction: Questions and Opportunities for Twenty-First-Century Literary History Part I. The Digital World Chapter 1. Abstraction, Singularity, Textuality: The Equivalence of “Close” and “Distant” Reading Chapter 2. Back to the Future: A New Scholarly Objectfor (Data-Rich) Literary History Chapter 3. From World to Trove to Data: Tracing a History of Transmission Part II. Fiction in the World Chapter 4. Into the Unknown: Literary Anonymity and the Inscription of Reception Chapter 5. Fictional Systems: Network Analysis and Syndication Networks Chapter 6. “Man people woman life” / “Creek sheep cattlehorses”: Influence, Distinction, and Literary Traditions Conclusion: Whither Worlds and Data Futures Notes Bibliography Index