Connections

Cather's Works and Works by Other Creators

The below visualization shows relationships between Cather's references to her own work and her references to works by other creators (novels, reviews, paintings, etc.). The graph is interactive: you can zoom in or out and move/reposition the nodes within the graph.

To determine the works displayed in the network, I created a list of all instances in which two works are referenced in the same letter. Each pairing had to include one work by Cather and one work by another creator. I then determined the frequency of each pairing. I included any pairing that occurred more than once throughout the letters in the network graph. For example, Cather references both her own novel One of Ours and John Dos Passos novel Three Soldiers (1921) together in three separate letters. This pairing is displayed on the graph.

Cather's works are represented as green nodes. The gray nodes represent works by other creators. The thickness of each line represents the frequency of the connection. The graph is not exhaustive; connections that only occur once can be extremely meaningful but were excluded to help keep the graph readable. The graph is intended to help spark discussion and provide another way for users to navigate and explore Cather's correspondence. You might consider using this graph alongside Cather's letters or the information presented on The Willa Cather Archive.