Women better represented in Victorian novels than modern, finds study

Analysis finds proportion of female authors and characters fell after 19th century, with male authors remaining ‘remarkably resistant’ to writing women Women in novels have tended to “feel”, while men “get”; women smile or laugh, while men grin or chuckle. An analysis of more than 100,000 novels spanning more than 200 years shows how gendered even seemingly innocuous words can be – as well as revealing an unexpected decline in the proportion of female novelists from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century.Academics from the universities of Illinois and California at Berkeley used an algorithm to examine 104,000 works of fiction dating from 1780 to 2007, drawn mostly from HathiTrust Digital Library. The algorithm identified both author and character genders. The academics expected to see an increase in the prominence of female characters in literature across the two centuries. Instead, “from the 19th century through the early 1960s we see a story of steady decline,” write Ted Underwood, David Bamman and Sabrina Lee in their paper The Transformation of Gender in English-Language Fiction, which has just been published in the Journal of Cultural Analytics.No one has been willing to advance the dismal suggestion that the whole story from 1800 to 1960 was a story of declineOn average, men remain remarkably resistant to giving women more than a third of the character-space in their stories Related: Pushing back: why it's time for women to rewrite the story Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2018-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #early 1960s #steady decline #english-language fiction #stories related #pushing back

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Women better represented in Victorian novels than modern, finds study'

New Pelecanos novel for spring

Orion is to publish a new novel by George Pelecanos, a writer on TV show "The Wire", as... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #george pelecanos #tv show

The Black Project wins graphic novel prize

Gareth Brookes' The Black Project has won Myriad Editions' first competition for a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |

Cape acquires steampunk novel

Jonathan Cape has acquired a steampunk novel by journalist Matt Suddain, describing it as being... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jonathan cape

S&S buys three novels from 'global' Desai

Simon & Schuster is to publish two new novels by Kishwar Desai, along with a re-release of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ss buys #simon schuster

Women writers dominate Waterstones 11 list

Eight female novelists have made the Waterstones 11 2012 selection, with three novels each from... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #female novelists

Faber buys third novel from Milward

Faber has acquired a third novel from Apples author Richard Milward. Publishing director Lee... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #faber buys

Cape acquires Graphic Novel

Jonathan Cape has acquired the Observer/Cape/Graphic Short Story Prize 2011-winning work, The... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jonathan cape

HUP Finds Logo for New Line Via Contest

In September, Harvard University Press tried something a little different. That month the scholarly press announced it was holding an open search for the design of its forthcoming book series featuring English translations of works in various Indian languages. HUP has now found a logo and look... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #indian languages

Hardie Grant to find out Why You're Not Married

Hardie Grant UK has acquired a relationship guide by Huffington Post writer Tracy Macmillan. UK... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hardie grant

Orbit buys new Humanity's Fire novel

Orbit has acquired a standalone novel by Michael Cobley, author of the space opera trilogy... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #orbit buys

Dancer Acosta's first novel to Bloomsbury

Bloomsbury's Bill Swainson has bought world rights in the first novel by renowned dancer and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bill swainson

Melville House Finds Hit for the 99%

Although the staff at Melville House originally envisioned David Graeber’s new book as a short work on the economy, it just kept growing until Debt: The First 5,000 Years, a now 550-page comprehensive work on the impact of financial issues on people, was eventually published this past summer.... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #short work #financial issues #past summer #melville house

Good Housekeeping launches £25k novel competition

Good Housekeeping has launched a £25,000 competition for budding novelists in association... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #good housekeeping

Pan Mac acquires new Amy Bratley novel

Pan Macmillan has bought a novel following five couples in an antenatal class ahead of the births... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pan macmillan

Finding Your Way Through the Digital Maze: E-Solutions 2011

Book publishers know that their business is changing, and quickly. Whether it’s online publishing through the Web, downloadable ebooks, or app development, digital content and the technology that supports it is the newest path to sales growth and customer satisfaction. In today’s book content... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #downloadable ebooks #digital content #sales growth #continuously updated #technical support

International Bestsellers, November 2011: Literary Novels Hit in Germany, Italy

The top three fiction titles in Germany were all debuts in October, led by In Times of Fading Light, which recently won the 2011 German Book Prize and is set for publication in the U.S. by Graywolf Press in fall 2013. Umberto Eco’s newest book, The Prague Cemetery, which debuted at #3, is newly... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #international bestsellers #fiction titles #fading light #recently won #graywolf press #newly published

Angry Robot finds deals through Open Door

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 15/11/2011 - 15:39 Angry Robot has books by two debut authors following its "Open Door Month", in which un-agented authors could submit their works directly to the publisher. Editor Lee Harris negotiated both deals, each for world rights... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #debut authors #un-agented authors #world rights

Fourth Estate buys next Hilary Mantel novel

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 14/11/2011 - 17:29 Hilary Mantel will turn her attention to the downfall of Anne Boleyn, after Fourth Estate bought the follow-up to her Man Booker prizewinning Wolf Hall. Publishing director Nicholas Pearson bought rights to Bring Up the Bodies... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hilary mantel #anne boleyn #bill hamilton

Hodder withdraws 'plagiarised' novel

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 09/11/2011 - 12:51 Hodder & Stoughton is withdrawing the novel Assassin of Secrets by Q R Markham from sale, alongside its US publisher Little, Brown, after the announcement that the book contains "numerous plagiarised passages". read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |

Women's Health magazine to launch in UK

Hearst-Rodale is set to launch Women's Health in the UK next year, as a sister title to the 11-year-old Men's Health. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2011-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #health magazine #sister title