Family Literature

The production of works within families took two main, interconnected forms. First, collaborative production occurred between family members, most often between ones related by blood. Secondly, some families spawned more than one literary producer (in the sense of author, editor, or translator). Although in a few cases this continued over many generations (the Sainte-Marthe family being the extreme case), in most instances the literary producers belonged to the same generation as each other or to immediately successive ones. In practice, those two forms of the production of works within families were often entwined: subsequent literary producers in a family often edited a parent’s works as well as writing new works. I call both forms ‘family literature’. In other words, I use the phrase for works that emanated from a family that spawned more than one literary producer, including, but not limited to, works that were co-produced by family members.