The Reception of George Eliot in Europe

Reviews / Votes

Begun in 2002, Bloomsbury's "The Reception of British and Irish Authors in Europe" series offers comprehensive, erudite coverage of geopolitical or translation contexts for individual authors. This volume on how George Eliot was received across hostile, friendly, or historically shifting borders over a tumultuous 150 years addresses numerous questions: Who cared that "he" was a woman? Who didn't? Who published her? Which works? When? In English or translation? How good were the translations? How many copies sold? Read in libraries? How much political, social, or literary favor or hostility appears in the texts-or the margins? The essays vary in length, depth, density, and variety of authorship, method, and style, but readers favoring a particular geography or work will find surprises. Eliot was sensitive to social stratification, so this reviewer found the essays on the shifting geopolitical contexts of Germany and former Soviet bloc countries the liveliest and most layered. Italians of course fixated on Romola-but who knew that Hollywood exploited both romantic Gish sisters, Lillian and Dorothy, to make it into a 1924 blockbuster? The volume includes a vast bibliography. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. * CHOICE * Important sociopolitical connections emerge from the pictures of individual countries, giving the reader a broad view of not only the responses of Eliot's contemporary audience, but the far-reaching ripples of her impact over time. This combination of narrow focus on single countries, the detailed examination of Eliot's works in translation, and the high-level overview that emerges of the nineteenth-century literary landscape will be of most use to more advanced students and scholars who wish to dig deeply into Eliot's legacy and enduring relevance. * American Reference Books Annual * An interesting account of the reception of Eliot's work across Europe ... We find much insight on Eliot's creative progress and intellectual background. * Revista de Filologia Inglesa *