Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature

摘要

Intended primarily for American college students up to undergraduate level, this new encyclopedia is truly international in scope and monumental in scale. Hacht and Hayes, aided by an advisory board of four other educators, including a librarian, have selected some 530 writers from 72 countries for their "specific contribution to world literature"; the authors' ability, that is, to affect readers beyond their individual national culture of origin. Despite being produced in the USA, the Gale Contextual Encyclopedia is distinctive in largely eschewing the literature of that nation (there is a companion volume for the USA which will also be reviewed in these columns).