David Harrison Recognized with Scholarly Edition in Translation Award

David Harrison, professor of French and principal translator co-editor of La Princesse de Clèves by Lafayette: A New Translation and Bilingual Pedagogical Edition for the Digital Age has won the Scholarly Edition in Translation Award from the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women and Gender (SSEMWG), a scholarly society that includes historians and literary scholars devoted to the study of women living between 1500 and 1800. Harrison’s book, an open-access digital edition of the 1678 French novel La Princesse de Clèves by Marie-Madeleine de Lafayette, published by Lever Press, was lauded by the SSEMWGA for representing the many ways that e-books can foster effective pedagogies, including the teaching of early modern texts.

Harrison prepared the translation of the novel and served as co-editor along with Hélène E. Bilis, professor of French and Francophone studies at Wellesley College; Jean-Vincent Blanchard, professor of French studies at Swarthmore College; and Hélène Visentin, professor of French studies at Smith College.

A classic novel written in the era of Louis XIV and depicting a woman’s crisis as she deals with conflicting demands, this edition of La Princesse de Clèves is freely available to any undergraduate professor or student with access to the internet, explains Harrison, so that it can be used in as many classrooms as possible. “The mission of Lever Press — a publishing consortium of which Grinnell College is a founding member — is to disseminate knowledge as widely as possible,” he says. “Faculty are more likely to bring La Princesse de Clèves into their classroom when they can be assured that students have access to the text and to appropriate material that will help them understand the text.”  

In its award letter, the prize committee noted the edition’s dynamic content, interactive geographical map, social network mapping, and video discussions with scholars on the literary context of the novel, as well as the numerous ideas for classroom activities and student engagements.

“Our edition employs a variety of digital tools that assist the reader in understanding the language and culture of the novel,” says Harrison. “Readers can look up key vocabulary from the novel, read biographical notes about the novel’s historical characters, learn about the sites mentioned in the text, compare different translations of particular passages, and even chart the movements of characters across Paris.”

“La Princesse de Clèves is an important novel in the history of French literature, but no scholarly, bilingual version of the novel exists digitally,” adds Harrison. “Our team felt that it was important to use the best resources of digital scholarship to make La Princesse de Clèves available to a new generation of readers. To be honored by this group is to know that our edition has met the highest standards of intellectual rigor.”