Mapping and Reading a World of Translations: Prismatic 'Jane Eyre'

Abstract

This article explores the interaction between DH techniques and traditional practices of scholarship and reading in the ongoing Prismatic Jane Eyre project. First, it describes the challenges of creating digital maps of the global distribution of translations of Charlotte Brontë’s 'Jane Eyre' through space and time, and the new perspectives on translation, and fresh avenues for archival scholarship, that emerged from this process. It then shows how digital investigation of the type-token ratio can enter into productive dialogue with human close reading, generating a nuanced understanding of the workings of translation across several languages.