Canons and Connections: A Network Theory Approach to the Study of Literary Systems with Specific Reference to Afrikaans Poetry

This study takes a new look at the literary system from the perspective of network theory and discusses who the key players are in the contemporary Afrikaans poetry network from 2000 to 2012. The study of literary systems or fields is a well-established approach particularly in reference to Afrikaans literature. Of course agents in social systems make their own decisions but as a whole decisions about what is considered literature are made within the system itself. No single entity can be responsible for a poets position in the center of the network: It is through the combined efforts of all role players that works become central or peripheral in the literary system. This study takes a new look at the literary system from the perspective of network theory. It is shown how the literary network shares important topological features with other complex networks and at the node level the book discusses who the key players are in the contemporary Afrikaans poetry network from 2000 to 2012 based on degree betweenness and closeness centrality. It is also shown how an entitys overall position at the core or on the periphery can be established and through some examples the book illustrates how the relationships between poets critics scholars publishing houses newspapers websites journals and magazines all contribute to an entitys overall position in the network. As such the book aims at a more quantitative analysis of a literary system. Senekals study not only explains the value and impact of network theory but also shows to what extent the literary discourse consists of more than the mere literary text under discussion. A major advantage of Senekals study is that he presents complex issues and theories in a clear and informed manner. He relates the theoretical approach to everyday social media phenomena such as Facebook and Twitter but always has the main goal in mind namely the analysis of literary systems relating to Afrikaans poetry. -Dr Marius Crous Department of Language and Literature NMMU South Africa With this book the author convincinglydemonstrates ways in which a network theory approach and software developed to assist Social Network Analysis (SNA) may be utilized to quantify findings resulting from more qualitative studies of the positions actions and value of role-players (works individuals institutional instruments) in a literary polysystem. Objective quantification of such findings concerning Afrikaans poetry/literature has indeed been lacking in the past. -Bernard J. Odendaal North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus)