Choice of Literary Period: Individual Authors Who Publish under Pseudonyms or Who Write in More Than One Language

The February 2010 New and Changed Entries (in PDF and Word formats) added two new paragraphs to the “Literary periods” section of the main Manual entry for Table 3A Subdivisions for Works by or about Individual Authors. 

The first new paragraph treats choice of literary period for individual authors who publish under pseudonyms:

If a new name is known to be a pseudonym for an author whose literary period has already been established, use the established period for works attributed to the pseudonym.  For example, if an English author began publishing at the end of the twentieth century and was assigned the period notation 914 for 1945–1999, then began publishing under a new pseudonym in 2001, use the same period notation 914 for works attributed to the new pseudonym (not 92 for 2000–    ).

An example of a work affected by this instruction is Blood Mask: A Novel of Suspense by Lauren Kelly.  Lauren Kelly is a pseudonym that Joyce Carol Oates began using after 2000.  Joyce Carol Oates is an American author who began to flourish during the period 1945–1999, and her literary period notation is 54, from the literary period table at 810.1–818 Subdivisions of American literature.  (For an overview of the relevant publishing history, see WorldCat Identities for Kelly, Lauren 1938–    and Oates, Joyce Carol 1938–    .) According to the new instruction, the literary notation for the pseudonym Lauren Kelly should also be 54.  Thus the correct number for Blood Mask: A Novel of Suspense is 813.54 American fiction—1945–1999 (built with 81, the base number for American literature in English, plus T3A—3 Fiction, plus 54 1945–1999, from the literary period table at 810.1–818 Subdivisions of American literature in English, following instructions at 810.1–818, at the start of Table 3A Subdivisions for Works by or about Individual Authors, and at T3A—31–T3A—39 Fiction of specific periods). 

As explained in a previous blog entry, the Decimal Classification Division (now the Dewey Section) at the Library of Congress had previously made a tentative decision that an author who chose to establish a new literary identity with a new pseudonym in the 21st century should have the new literary period notation assigned to that new pseudonym—but the tentative decision was being reconsidered.  In light of advice received—thank you!—that decision has been reversed.   Thus although the Library of Congress had assigned the literary period notation 6 for 2000–    to Lauren Kelly and had classed Blood Mask: A Novel of Suspense in 813.6, the Library will use 813.54 henceforth for novels published under the pseudonym Lauren Kelly and for other similar pseudonyms.  The Library will not reclassify works already classified according to the earlier decision.

The second new paragraph in the February 2010 New and Changed Entries treats choice of literary period for individual authors who write in more than one language:

Make an exception to the rule of only one literary period for an author if the author wrote in more than one language and flourished during different time periods in different languages: use the appropriate literary period notation for each language. For example, if an author began to flourish as a literary author in Russian during 1917–1945, use the period notation 42 for 1917–1945 for works by that author originally written in Russian. If that same author began to flourish as a literary author in American English after 1945, use the period notation 54 for 1945–1999 for works by that author originally written in English.

Why make an exception to the rule of only one literary period for an author if the author wrote in more than one language and flourished during different time periods in different languages?  Works originally written in different languages will not be classed together; they will be classed with the literature of the original language.  Consequently, there is no reason to use the same literary period for an author in an effort to keep the works of that author together.  It is better to put the works of an author in one language in the literary period most appropriate for that language.

An example of a work affected by this instruction is King, Queen, Knave: A Novel by Vladimir Nabokov “translated by Dmitri Nabokov in collaboration with the author.”  The novel was originally published in Russian in 1928.  (For an overview of the publishing history of Nabokov, see WorldCat Identities for Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich 1899–1977.)  Because Nabokov began to flourish as a literary author in Russian during 1917–1945, the correct class number for King, Queen, Knave: A Novel is 891.7342 Russian fiction—1917–1945 (built with 891.7 Russian literature plus T3A—3 Fiction, plus 42 1917–1945 from the literary period table at 891.701-891.78 Subdivisions of Russian literature, following instructions at 891.701-891.78, at the start of Table 3A Subdivisions for Works by or about Individual Authors, and at T3A—31–T3A—39 Fiction of specific periods). 

Vladimir Nabokov moved to the United States in 1940 and published his first novel in English in 1941, but he began to flourish as an author of American literature in English during the period 1945–1999.  His literary period notation as an author of American literature in English is 54, from the literary period table at 810.1–818 Subdivisions of American literature.  An example of a work affected by the instruction is the novel Lolita.  The novel was first published in English in 1955.  It is classed in 813.54 American fiction—1945–1999.

The Dewey classifiers at the Library of Congress have long followed the policy described in the paragraph about choice of literary period for individual authors who write in more than one language.

Comments

[Masha]

The new article about Nabokov and his soon in russian

Very interesting ! http://www.apn.ru/opinions/article22345.htm

[suba]

So if one of the books written in Russian was translated into English, would you classify it under Russian or English?

[Juli]

If a literary work written in Russian is translated into English, it is still classed as Russian literature. The Manual entry at 800 Literature (Belles-lettres), in the section “Language,” says: “Class literary works in the language in which they were originally written, e.g., an English translation of a work originally written in Spanish 860 (not 820).”

[Suba]

Thanks Juli. What will happen in the case where the original work is in Russian but it is not literary? Would you still classify it under Russian AND literature [800's]??

[Juli]

If the work is not literary it will be classed according to its subject. A general work on mathematics, for example, will be classed in 510 Mathematics, regardless of whether it was originally written in Russian, Spanish, or any other language. Usually, the language in which a non-literary work was originally written does not affect the classification. There are a few exceptions, e.g., 031-039 General encyclopedic works in specific languages and language families, where a note specifies "By language in which originally written."