The corpus of literary prose of the RIND project (1830-1930). Theoretical assumptions and practical constraints. This paper describes the non-translated component of a corpus of 1,000 texts comprising novels and short story collections written by Italian authors and translated from other languages, published between 1830 and 1930. In particular, the paper discusses possible criteria for balancing the corpus in order to ensure it is representative and can be investigated through quantitative methods: e.g. the chronological distribution, size, genre and canonicity of texts on the one hand, and the gender and origin of the authors on the other. The difficulties arising from the lack of knowledge of the overall reference population, compounded by practical problems in finding the texts, are also illustrated.
The corpus illustrated here provides the material for the research project ‘Reading the Italian Novel at a Distance (1830-1930)’ (RIND). Its final objectives include the empirical verification of the traditional periodization of literary prose in Italy (from historical and realist novels to Modernism) and the evaluation of the contribution provided by foreign models made accessible to the general public through translations.
