Marco Polo and the Encounter of East and West

The volume begins with detailed studies of Marco Polo´s narrative in its many medieval forms (including French, Italian, and Latin versions). They place the text in its material and generic contexts, and situate Marco Polo´s account within the conventions of travel literature and manuscript illumination. Other essays consider the appropriation of Marco Polo´s narrative in adaptations, translation, and cinematic art. The concluding section presents historiographic and poetic accounts of the place of Marco Polo in the context of a global world literature.