Contested Communities: Small, Minority and Minor Literatures in Europe
Edited by Kate Averis, Margaret Littler, and Godela Weiss-Sussex 
Studies In Comparative Literature 57•8 August 2023
Hölderlin and the Dynamics of Translation
Charlie Louth
Studies In Comparative Literature 2•1 May 1998
- ‘An inspiring study that is not only of interest to Hölderlin experts or eighteenth-century scholars but to anyone with a scholarly interest in the interrelation between translation and poetry.’ — Heike Bartel, New Comparison 30, 144-45
- ‘A closely argued critical assessment of translation... Louth's book is a good piece of work, incisive and perceptive.’ — Emery E. George, Journal of English and Germanic Philology October, 2000, 612-14
- ‘For those interested in translation, let alone in Hölderlin, these are arguments to read and re-read.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 37.1, 2001, 105
- notice, Etudes germaniques 4, 1999, 658
- ‘Hölderlin demeure un auteur difficile; ne l'aborde pas qui veut, quelle que soit la qualité de l'exposition, servie ici par une typographie particulièrement soignée.’ — Jacques Voisine, Revue de littérature comparée 1, 2000, 110-11
- ‘This study through the perspective of translation is a must for every Hölderlin scholar, carefully argued, well researched, and a pleasure to read.’ — Reinhilde Wiegmann, Monatshefte 93.1, 2001, 121-2
- ‘The writing is impressive, even inspired... The argument is invariably persuasive, the judgement remarkably sure-footed throughout... supported by readings of often stunning quality.’ — Howard Gaskill, Modern Language Review 96.3, 2001, 886-7 (full text online)
Moving Scenes: The Aesthetics of German Travel Writing on England 1783-1830
Alison E. Martin
Studies In Comparative Literature 13•3 October 2008
- ‘A valuable and thoughtful study of aesthetic strategies in a genre in which their role is all too frequently overlooked... Martin is to be praised for the clarity of her exposition. She displays a thorough grasp of the key points at issue in the aesthetic debate of the period both in Germany and England (with occasional glances across to France), and gives due emphasis to the process of cross-fertilisation between the two countries through translation and travel.’ — Susan Pickford, German Quarterly 2009
- ‘This study is richly researched and engagingly written, with frequent references to contemporary developments in society, politics, science and technology, the visual and theater arts, historiography, and other literary genres. It has separate bibliographies of primary and secondary sources and an excellent index of names and terms. Martin is also a sensitive, resourceful translator and has provided the English for all German quotations, titles, and terms... Points the way for other scholars of the subject.’ — Michael Ritterson, Eighteenth-Century Studies 43.2, Winter 2010, 278-80
- ‘Textnah und detailreich untersucht A. E. Martin Strategien wirkungsästhetischer und rhetorischer Modellierungen in Englandreisen aus fünf Jahrzehnten.’ — Alexander Košenina, Germanistik 50, 2009, 278-79
- ‘In this fascinating new book, Alison Martin picks out six travelogues on England and makes the case that they deserve to be treated as ‘serious’ literature... The case studies are meticulously researched, and she places each text in context with reference to an impressive array of sources, from contemporary letters and reviews (English as well as German) to modern scholarly studies on art, political history, and even geology. Her close analyses of the texts themselves are lively and sophisticated... In the end, the book puts forward convincing arguments for the complexity and seriousness of this writing, and serves to remind us that the boundaries between genres are much more fluid than often supposed. As such, it should be of interest not only to scholars of travel writing but of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature and culture more generally.’ — Hilary Brown, Modern Language Review 105.2, 2010, 586-87 (full text online)
- ‘The six case studies presented in this volume have been meticulously researched and contextualised, and some of the research - especially that concerning Esther Gad and Carl Gottlieb Horstig - is highly original.’ — Angus Nicholls, Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen 247.162, 2010, 389-90
- ‘Martin is able to cover an impressive amount of ground, encompassing visual, oral and literary elements, as well as addressing key gender and socio-critical questions... The volume also constitutes a plea for the literary value of such travel narratives... It is this aspect in particular which makes this excellent volume stand out as an important and innovative contribution to European travel writing scholarship.’ — Carol Tully, Angermion 3, 2010, 207-10
Yeats and Pessoa: Parallel Poetic Styles
Patricia Silva McNeill
Studies In Comparative Literature 19•23 April 2010
- ‘A very worthwhile study which demonstrates how two poets from small, peripheral European nations reflected the Zeitgeist of their times in poetry which posterity has come to regard as among the most important produced in either nation or language.’ — Jean Andrews, Modern Language Review 106.3, July 2011, 840-41 (full text online)
Iris Murdoch and Elias Canetti: Intellectual Allies
Elaine Morley
Studies In Comparative Literature 29•25 September 2013
- ‘As Elaine Morley aptly observes in her exciting and innovative book, the majority of publications foreground personality and relationship issues but allow little room for discussion of the creative affinity between the two authors... The much-needed shift of focus from the personal to the literary and philosophical in Morley’s analysis of Murdoch and Canetti as intellectual allies is path-breaking.’ — Dagmar C. G. Lorenz, Modern Language Review 109.4, October 2014, 1142-43 (full text online)
Borges and Joyce: An Infinite Conversation
Patricia Novillo-Corvalán
Studies In Comparative Literature 24•4 February 2011
- ‘Deftly employs cultural, geographical, biographical, linguistic and literary analysis; in doing so, it provides readers with a better understanding of Joyce, Borges, and the connections between them.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 49.2 (2013)
- ‘...The engaging central thesis, of the surprisingly fruitful interaction between these two seemingly dissimilar authors.’ — Ben Bolig, Modern Language Review 108.3, 2013, 983-85 (full text online)
- ‘This is an ambitious and satisfying book that illuminates, through the prism of Borges, the work of Joyce and, through Joyce, the work of Borges... It is a very welcome and important addition to our libraries.’ — Lucia Boldrini, James Joyce Quarterly 49.3/4, May 2014, 689-92
Wanderers Across Language: Exile in Irish and Polish Literature of the Twentieth Century
Kinga Olszewska
Studies In Comparative Literature 12•5 July 2007
- ‘This book is perhaps most interesting in the account given of key Polish journals such as Kultura, and the contexts in which specific debates took place; and in the translations of Polish texts that underpin the argument.’ — Fiona Becket, Modern Language Review 104.2, April 2009, 540-41 (full text online)
Utopian Identities: A Cognitive Approach to Literary Competitions
Clementina Osti
Studies In Comparative Literature 41•22 August 2018
From Puppet to Cyborg: Pinocchio’s Posthuman Journey
Georgia Panteli
Studies In Comparative Literature 40•28 April 2022
- ‘Panteli achieves no small feat by negotiating seven case studies across three decades and even more national contexts and languages, and the book’s strength is in capaciously demonstrating how the Pinocchio myth can be a useful, even playful, lens for approaching contemporary texts in which the human condition is desired or negotiated.’ — Kelly McKisson, Modern Language Review 118.4, October 2023, 595-97 (full text online)
Singing Poets: Literature and Popular Music in France and Greece
Dimitris Papanikolaou
Studies In Comparative Literature 11•23 February 2007
- ‘A well-informed and satisfying study.’ — Peter Hawkins, Modern Language Review 103.3, July 2008, 816-16 (full text online)
- ‘This engaging and stimulating study... is a fascinating examination of the construction and reception of "high-popular" musical genres and specific debates surrounding the question of what "good" and "authentic" national music should be.’ — Hazel Marsh, Popular Music 27.2, 2008, 318-20
- ‘Makes a significant contribution to the study of Modern Greek culture, and also forwards the thinking behind what makes the conjunction between high and popular culture in any context...’ — Hector Kollias, French Studies 63.1, 2009, 114-15
The Realist Author and Sympathetic Imagination
Sotirios Paraschas
Studies In Comparative Literature 28•28 May 2013
- ‘The arguments are based throughout on meticulous research, close attention to textual detail, and an adroit engagement with literary theory. They are also conveyed with notable elegance and clarity. Paraschas is not afraid to contest claims made by such influential theorists as Paul de Man, whose view of realism as a regression from the ironic novel of the eighteenth century is here neatly reversed. Undergraduates would find his admirably succinct introductory discussion of the ‘realist author’ a source of elucidation and stimulus.’ — Michael Tilby, French Studies 68.3, July 2014, 405-06
- ‘In arguing for a more nuanced understanding of the realist mode, Paraschas has written an important contribution to nineteenth-century French studies, and a book that will serve as an invaluable reference for students and scholars alike.’ — Andrew Watts, Modern Language Review 110.2, April 2015, 516-17 (full text online)
- ‘Extremely useful for understanding the attitude of early nineteenth-century Realists and their attempts to present verisimilitude as art.’ — Catherine Winters, Nineteenth-Century French Studies 43.3-4, 2015
Translating Myth
Edited by Ben Pestell, Pietra Palazzolo and Leon Burnett
Studies In Comparative Literature 37•1 September 2016
Breeches and Metaphysics: Thackeray's German Discourse
S. S. Prawer
Studies In Comparative Literature 1•1 November 1997
- ‘What Thackeray did not publish Professor Prawer has done for him in this welcome addition to the Thackeray literature.’ — unsigned notice, Times Literary Supplement 1997
- ‘It is good to have a book of this kind that so thoroughly covers its subject. I have the distinct impression that Prawer has really hunted down and rounded up every last German reference there is in Thackeray and I am glad he has done it.’ — John R. Reed, Analytical and Enumerative Bibliography 11.4, 2000, 326-7
- ‘Prawer's comprehensive analysis is thoroughly researched and convincing throughout. One of the strongest features of his monograph is the skilful mastery with which the author examines the interaction between the different discourses depicted above, as well as their function in Thackeray's oeuvre as a whole. An essential study for scholars in the field of Anglo-German literary relations and the wider domain of cultural transmission.’ — Susanne Stark, Modern Language Review 96.1, 2001, 298-9 (full text online)
Likenesses: Translation, Illustration, Interpretation
Matthew Reynolds
Studies In Comparative Literature 30•25 September 2013
- ‘The collection reveals an impressive breadth of scholarship, travelling between disciplines and across centuries from George Stubbs’s equestrian paintings, through the more familiar Reynoldian territory of Robert Browning, to the conspicuously contemporary, ‘Dante on the Tube’. This diversity effectively demonstrates ‘continuities’ in literature, impressing upon the reader the contemporary relevance of earlier works through juxtaposition.’ — Rebecca Butler, Modern Language Review 110.3, July 2015, 793-94 (full text online)
Imagining Jewish Art: Encounters with the Masters in Chagall, Guston, and Kitaj
Aaron Rosen
Studies In Comparative Literature 16•17 July 2009
- ‘Rosen's effort to identify and elucidate the Jewish concerns of these three very different artists is penetrating and his analysis of the works in question is consistently insightful. Though the exact nature of Jewish art remains slippery, Rosen’s book is a worthy investigation of the ways in which the most evidently Jewish art can borrow from the least Jewish sources, and the ways in which less apparently Jewish art can have unexpected Jewish resonances.’ — Ezra Glinter, Zeek at Jewcy July 21, 2009
- ‘Bypassing past scholars, critics, and curators who have sought the quintessential nature of Jewish art... but failed to come up with the answer, Rosen is your man.’ — The Jewish Telegraph November 20, 2009, p. 29)
- ‘For lovers of American art, Jewish art, history or theology, Dr Rosen has approached the subject comprehensively... Making an exceptional input to the exchange of ideas and channel of communication between religion and the fine arts, Dr Rosen processes how any type of Jewish art may serve deep-seated Jewish ideas of family, tradition, and homeland... Dr Rosen communicates his ideas succinctly, in an accessible manner.’ — The American December, 2009, p. 35)
- ‘Unashamedly scholarly yet written in a style that is refreshingly accessible, achieving a rare and satisfying balance between detailed, even minute, analyses of specific works of art and a broader sense of purpose, underpinned by an intimate knowledge of a wide range of theological and philosophical texts.... Imagining Jewish Art concludes with an excellent and immensely thought-provoking chapter entitled ‘Brushes with the Past’, suggestive of enough new avenues of intellectual enquiry to fuel several more volumes. While other scholars (both Jewish and non-Jewish) may indeed take up some of these challenges, I have little doubt that we shall be hearing more of Aaron Rosen in the future.’ — Monica Bohm-Duchen, Art & Christianity 62, Summer 2010, 14
- ‘Towards the end of his book, Rosen explains that his intention has been to illustrate 'something of the unique, productive tensions which can arise when the themes and symbols in works by non-Jewish artists are made to "speak Jewish"' (106). In this he is entirely successful. The reader learns a good deal about the three artists, and can see in practice how a Jewish artist, interested in questions of Jewish history and identity, may engage the art-historical tradition in producing a new kind of visual imagery.’ — Janet Wolff, Journal of Modern Jewish Studies 9.3, 2010, 437-39
- ‘A probing and accessible interdisciplinary contribution to the field of modern Jewish art.’ — Samantha Baskind, Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 29.4, Summer 2011, 177-79
- ‘The book is at its strongest when it employs formal comparisons to demonstrate the close visual conversations with European ‘Masters’ of religious art (such as Grü̈newald, Uccello and della Francesca) that Chagall, Guston and Kitaj each engage in.’ — Alana M. Vincent, Literature and Theology 27.1 (March 2013), 116
Marguerite Yourcenar: Reading the Visual
Nigel Saint
Studies In Comparative Literature 5•1 November 2000
- ‘Scholarly and lucidly written, Saint's study will appeal both to the specialist and to readers with a broader interest in word and image research.’ — Jean H. Duffy, French Studies LVI.3, 2002, 430
- unsigned notice, Société Internationale d'Etudes Yourcenariennes 21, 2000, 8
Fragments, Genius and Madness: Masks and Mask-Making in the fin-de-siècle Imagination
Elisa Segnini
Studies In Comparative Literature 56•26 July 2021
- ‘The wide-ranging approach of the book, which also engages with recent debates in decadence and early modernist studies, openly challenges the “abrupt separation between authors associated with the ‘half-mock interlude of decadence’ and those considered exponents of symbolism, and thus part of early modernism”... The author keeps steady command of her arguments while navigating and scrutinising several artifacts from different cultures, though of course each case study shows its own fine tuning.’ — Giulio Milone, Synergies 2, 2021, 65-68 (full text online)
- ‘Elisa Segnini leads her readers on a journey through fin-de-siècle Europe with one extra stop in Japan. The universe unveiled by Segnini is populated by uncanny mask makers, men in drag, grotesque masquerades, deathly plaster casts, gruesome masks of exceptional men, criminals, and deviants... A distinctive contribution to a field that can only benefit from engaging with the anthropological, medical, and legal discourse that underlies the artistic production of the fin de siècle.’ — Alessandra Crotti, Rivista di studi vittoriani 53, 2022, 121-25
Neither a Borrower: Forging Traditions in French, Chinese and Arabic Poetry
Richard Serrano
Studies In Comparative Literature 7•1 May 2002
- ‘A book which illustrates the xing (a kind of evocation or opening stimulus) in Serrano's densely interesting and polysemic introduction.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies XL.2, April 2004, 238
Metaphor and Materiality: German Literature and the World-View of Science 1780-1955
Peter D. Smith
Studies In Comparative Literature 4•1 June 2000
- ‘Smith is able to show convincingly how ambivalence about the role of science or scientific tendencies permeates these literary works, and he offers interesting insights into the sometimes subtle thematization of scientific ideas in literature.’ — Elizabeth Neswald, British Journal for the History of Science 35, 2002, 363-4
- ‘Smith's mastery of both primary and secondary sources is remarkable, and his bibliographies provide a useful guide to the (often vast) secondary literature... Demonstrates the extraordinary richness and importance of the vein of research into which Smith has tapped, and puts much other work in so-called Cultural Studies to shame.’ — Paul Bishop, Modern Language Review 97.2, 2002, 505-7 (full text online)
- ‘In this thorough study of the exchange between science and literature, Peter D. Smith skillfully argues that the idea of these Two Cultures existing in isolation from one another is overly simplistic... An excellent contribution to the vital research currently examining the interdisciplinary nature of scientific and literary works.’ — Heather I. Sullivan, Monatshefte 94.4, 2002, 541-2
Reflections in the Library: Selected Literary Essays 1926–1944
Antal Szerb
Studies In Comparative Literature 46•13 February 2017
- ‘Skillfully translated from Hungarian by Peter Sherwood, edited with utmost circumspection by Zsuzsanna Varga, provided with a magisterial Introduction by Ágnes Péter and a foreword by Galin Tihanov, reveals much about its author, the novelist, scholar, and man of letters Antal Szerb and his mindset... Reflections in the Library can be seen, among its other achievements, as a gesture of proclaiming, now to the English-speaking world, the lasting relevance of Szerb’s legacy... Although Szerb’s life’s work was left unfinished, his contribution to the art of the essay is large and remarkable enough to merit a sequel.’ — Ákos Farkas, Hungarian Cultural Studies 10, 2017 (full text online)
- ‘This is a beautifully produced and judiciously edited selection of essays by a major writer from early-twentieth-century Hungary... All of the essays reveal Szerb’s sparkling wit and humour as well as his acumen: describing Chesterton as a great scholar and sophisticated clown, he prophecies that Shaw’s work will outlive Chesterton’s, while his essays on Gogol and Proust equally overflow with aphoristic wit. It is a must-have volume both for critics and general readers: beautiful, touching, and remarkably up-to-date prose on nineteenth-century European literature.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 55.1, January 2019, 119-20
Samuel Butler and the Science of the Mind: Evolution, Heredity and Unconscious Memory
Cristiano Turbil
Studies In Comparative Literature 48•28 September 2020
Platonic Coleridge
James Vigus
Studies In Comparative Literature 15•23 December 2008
- ‘James Vigus's Platonic Coleridge gives a rigorous, scholarly, and fiercely lucid account of the complex, sometimes contradictory, dealings with Plato and the Platonic tradition that quicken Coleridge’s thought. This in itself would be enough to recommend it, but it has still more to offer. It explores more searchingly than any other book I know the issue that Vigus places at the centre of Coleridge’s thought, the question of the proper relationship between poetry and philosophy... This is at once an unusually sharply focused and an unusually suggestive book. It is a fine achievement.’ — Richard Cronin, Modern Language Review 105.1, January 2010, 220-22 (full text online)
- ‘Vigus's study makes an outstanding contribution. [...] This philosophy of process, rather than product, characterizes the more profitable side of Plato; it is the reward of getting to know him that Vigus makes available in what for me are the best parts of this enlightening study.’ — John Beer, The Coleridge Bulletin n.s. 34, Winter 2009
- ‘[A] prominent feature is the depth of scholarship. [...] Within the context of recent Coleridge scholarship as well as in the broader conversation about boundaries among disciplines, Platonic Coleridge is important. It explores a rare place, a place where the pathways of philosophy and poetry come together and, for a while, run parallel.’ — William C. Horrell, The Wordsworth Circle 40.4, Autumn 2009
- ‘Part of Legenda's excellent Studies in Comparative Literature series... Coleridge's response to his readings is clearly described and analysed in this well-written monograph, which should be of interest to all students of Coleridge and the reception of Platonic ideas in English literature.’ — William Baker, The Year's Work in English Studies 2011, 1086-87
- ‘Vigus’s central point within the volume is that Plato provided a central constructive influence upon Coleridge which has been underestimated by previous critics. ... [A]n exceedingly well crafted piece of philosophical interpretation... a wonderfully strong book which anyone interested in Coleridge’s philosophical writings will find fascinating.’ — Luke Wright, The Year's Work in English Studies 2010
- ‘This intelligent, enjoyable book is original and stimulating, and ought to help and challenge those scholars who see the poetic and the philosophical as mutually supportive aspects of Coleridge’s thought.’ — David Stewart, The Year's Work in English Studies 2010
Depicting the Divine: Mikhail Bulgakov and Thomas Mann
Olga G. Voronina
Studies In Comparative Literature 47•23 April 2019
- ‘Olga G. Voronina’s careful comparative study brings to light many of the parallel narrative strategies in Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita and Thomas Mann’s Joseph and His Brothers... What sets Bulgakov and Mann apart from the mainstream, as Voronina convincingly shows, is their decision to engage polemically with biblical texts.’ — Thomas Seifrid, Comparative Literature Studies 57.3, 2020, 559-62
- ‘В заключение хочу сказать, что книга Ольги Ворониной инновативна в постановке исследовательской проблемы и плодотворна в ее решении. Завершаю рецензию на книгу цитатой из другого булгаковского романа: «Она дышит! Она живет!».’ — Irina Belobrovtseva, Scando-Slavica 67.2, 2021, 287-94 (full text online)
- ‘Voronina has created a convincing, far-researching, unique and engaging study of Bulgakov's and Mann's poetic versions of biblical narratives, which both de- and re-mythologize the source text and are characterized by syncretism and rich intertextuality. The book is undoubtedly interesting and inspiring not only for Slavic and German scholars but also for any reader who is interested in a different and innovative approach to the study of comparative literature. The spiritual, scientific, and scholarly merits of this book perfectly complement one another.’ — Natalia Kaloh Vid, Slavic Review full text online)
- ‘The first comparative study of The Master and Margarita and Joseph and His Brothers, and an important and original contribution to research on Bulgakov’s and Mann’s novels as well as on biblical literature in more general terms.’ — Sarah Fengler, Oxford Comparative Criticism and Translation 30 September 2021
- ‘Depicting the Divine is a meticulously researched, impressive close reading of two novels... a valuable contribution to literary studies. In her nuanced close readings and thorough research of the two novels Voronina applies a specialist’s insight to both Bulgakov and Mann, paying attention to linguistic subtleties in the two languages and explaining them well to the English reader.’ — Eric Laursen, Russian Review 80.4, October 2021, 713-14 (full text online)
Sublime Conclusions: Last Man Narratives from Apocalypse to Death of God
Robert K. Weninger
Studies In Comparative Literature 43•29 September 2017
- unsigned notice, The Year's Work in English Studies 98.1, 2019, 657-58
The Fantastic in France and Russia in the Nineteenth Century: In Pursuit of Hesitation
Claire Whitehead
Studies In Comparative Literature 10•24 May 2006
- ‘This recent volume from the Legenda imprint maintains the high standards of production and academic excellence in the field of comparative literature that readers have come to expect from the marque.’ — Leon Burnett, Slavonic and East European Review 86.4, 2008, 707-09 (full text online)
- ‘Most of all benefits through its comparative analyses of chosen texts; this not only makes obvious the "pan-European" context in which the fantastic flourished during the nineteenth century but will, it is to be hoped, inspire others to tinker further with some of the concepts applied here to the fantastic, especially in relation to other examples of Gothic fiction.’ — Slobodan Sugur, Modern Language Review 104.3, 2009, 824-25 (full text online)
- ‘This is a very readable work, which constitutes a valuable complement to Todorov's 1970 "Introduction à la littérature fantastique."’ — Forum for Modern Language Studies 235)
- ‘Essential reading for scholars of the fantastic; I also recommend it to instructors, who can use Whitehead's readings of these classic texts to astound their students by revealing the way that language works to produce the thrills of the genre.’ — Lynn Patyk, Russian Review 68.1, May 2009, 129-30