A literary anthology is a compilation of different works.
The first thing we are going to do before proceeding to determine the meaning of the word anthology that concerns us now is to make its etymological origin clear. By doing so, we will discover that it emanates from Greek, more precisely it is the result of the sum of two components: “anthos”, which can be translated as “flower”, and the verb “legein”, which means “to choose”.
An anthology is a collection of pieces selected for their value or quality . The anthology, therefore, can consist of a compilation of stories , poems , songs , records , etc.
For example: “My wife gave me an anthology of Latin American poetry for my birthday,” “The Chilean writer is the only South American novelist who was selected to be part of the new literary anthology edited by El Bosque,” “The singer reported that he will edit “a bossa nova anthology, with its own interpretations of the genre's greatest hits.”
A compilation
An anthology is generally understood to be a collection of notable artistic works . This gives the public the possibility of accessing pieces of great individual value within the same set or package.
In this way, if a person buys an anthology of Swedish poetry from the 20th century , for example, they will be able to read the best poems produced in Sweden in that period in time in the same book (or in several volumes, but belonging to the same publication. ).
An anthology of Brazilian abstract painting , for its part, can consist of an exhibition held in a museum that brings together paintings of said style and origin selected by experts.
Anthologies bring together different works or pieces.
Types of anthology
Any anthology that is carried out is important that it is made up of the following parts: cover, presentation, prologue and review.
In the same way, we cannot ignore that there are various types of anthologies. These, it is true, can be classified according to the type of topic or area they address but also by other criteria. In this sense, we could talk about two large groups of anthologies:
• The arbitrary ones, which are based on certain writings that the author considers, by his own decision or personal taste, to include.
• The partial ones, which are groups of texts that share several common links.
It is easy to see that an anthology is always arbitrary and partial . In a poetry anthology, how do you determine which poems will be part of the set? The same can be said of a painting exhibition: should twenty, thirty or more paintings be exhibited?
an expression
The expression “anthology” , on the other hand, allows us to refer to something out of the ordinary and, therefore, worthy of being highlighted .
“The English striker scored another epic goal to give his team another victory” is a phrase that uses this use of the concept.
Book «Anthology of nonsense»
There is a very fun and unique work titled “Anthology of Nonsense.” As its name indicates, this work, carried out by Julio Reboredo Pazos and Javier Serrano Palacio, is a compendium of the biggest errors and absurdities that students have written in exams.
Thus, among the most unique nonsense are those that say that the Eiffel Tower was invented by the Egyptians, that Plato studied with the Jesuits or that Christ died with two people at his side who were his bodyguards.