About the project
Brasiliana in der DDR is a digital humanities research project studying the translation, publication, and circulation of Brazilian literature in the German Democratic Republic. It was developed by Henrique Sagebin Bordini (postdoctoral researcher, University of Nürnberg) and Tiago Tresoldi (technical lead).
Corpus definition
The corpus covers Brazilian literary works translated and published in the German Democratic Republic between 1945 and 1992. It includes standalone book editions, journal and magazine publications, and anthology appearances. Works documented as having been excluded from publication are also recorded.
Literature is interpreted broadly: novels, short stories, poetry, drama, essays, children's literature, memoir, and testimonial writing. West German editions of the same translations are also documented to show circulation beyond the GDR.
Data model
The data model carefully distinguishes abstract intellectual entities (works, translations), physical manifestations (editions), agents (persons, organizations), spatial entities (places), and sources.
Relationships between persons and other entities are modeled through a unified contributions table supporting roles such as author, translator, editor, or cover designer. Anthologies are decomposed through an edition contents table linking individual works to the collected volume.
| Entity | Count |
|---|---|
| Works | 37 |
| Translations | 36 |
| Editions | 52 |
| Agents | 43 |
| Sources | 31 |
| Map | 12 |
Provenance and uncertainty
Every record references at least one documented source. Uncertain data is marked through standardized conventions: approximate years (ca. 1955), ranges (1950/1953), and unknown values are represented explicitly.
Every record carries a confidence field (high, medium, low, uncertain) and a verification status (pending, reviewed, approved, rejected).
Limitations
- This is a prototype with limited data, not a complete catalog.
- The data is heavily concentrated on Jorge Amado, the best-documented author.
- Journal and anthology appearances are still underrepresented.
- Print run numbers and prices are rarely available.
- Reception events (reviews, broadcasts, lectures) have so far been recorded only selectively (14 events).
- Records with "pending" status still require human verification.
How to cite
Bordini, Henrique Sagebin; Tresoldi, Tiago. <em>Brasiliana in der DDR: Brazilian Literature in East German Translation and Circulation</em>. 2026. https://brasiliana.tresoldi.org
Contact and contributions
Corrections, additions, and source references are welcome. Please open an issue on GitHub or contact the project leads directly.