Webster's Collegiate Dictionary definition of 'anthology' as "a collection of selected literary pieces" is derived from an ancient Greek term meaning "flower gathering" (Webster 1990: 90). Helga Essmann's meticulous study, based on a Ph.D. thesis submitted to Georg August University of Göttingen, Germany, goes beyond this and other definitions in a twofold attempt—to provide a general theoretical model of translation anthologies, and to apply it to a particular corpus. The aims of the study, as stated in the introduction, are "First ... to try and make a contribution to anthology research and thus, perhaps, stimulate others to the study of this form of publication. Second, it is a reception study dealing with the reception of American verse within the German language realm in the years 1920-1960" (p. 15). [All English translations of quotations from Essmann's German are mine. H.A.-K.] The study is accordingly divided into two parts: The first is a theoretical model offering a typology of (translation) anthologies, subdivided into thematic and literary ones; the second applies this model to a particular corpus. Part I is accordingly called "The Corpus, German Language Anthologies Including American Verse, 1920-1960", whereas Part II is called "An Evaluation—American Verse and German Language Anthologies, 1920- 1960". The reversed order of "German Language Anthologies" and "American Verse" in the titles may have been intended to stress the different weight given in each to source texts and culture vs. target texts and culture, but this distinction is not made clear in the actual discussion.

References

Essmann, Helga and Armin Paul Frank

1991 “Translation Anthologies: An Invitation to the Curious and a Case Study”. Target 3:1. 65–90.  

Frank, Armin Paul and Helga Essmann

1990 “Translation Anthologies: A Paradigmatic Medium of International Literary Transfer”. Amerikastudien/American Studies 35:1. 21–34.

Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary

1990 Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster.