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Topic · Classics

Renaissance Literature and Culture

Renaissance Literature and Culture is a research topic within Classics. Science Explorer counts 11k research works in it since 1950. 10.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers encompasses a wide range of interdisciplinary studies focused on the Renaissance period, including literature, art, history, gender, culture, religion, philosophy, science, and society. The topics covered include the works of prominent figures such as Marguerite de Navarre, Montaigne, and Rabelais, as well as broader themes related to the intellectual and cultural developments of the era.

  • Renaissance
  • Literature
  • Art
  • History
  • Gender
  • Culture
  • Religion
  • Philosophy
  • Science
  • Society
Research works
11k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.2k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-6%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
France
33% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Renaissance Literature and Culture

Which countries lead Renaissance Literature and Culture research?

By volume, France and the United States publish the most (466 and 248 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 France 466 works
  2. 2 United States 248 works
  3. 3 Italy 223 works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 133 works
  5. 5 Poland 86 works
  6. 6 Spain 63 works
  7. 7 Canada 54 works
  8. 8 Russia 50 works
  9. 9 Belgium 34 works
  10. 10 Germany 34 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

France: 33.5%United States: 17.8%Italy: 16.0%United Kingdom: 9.6%6 others listed: 23.2%33%largest
France466 · 33.5%United States248 · 17.8%Italy223 · 16.0%United Kingdom133 · 9.6%6 others listed323 · 23.2%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Renaissance Literature and Culture research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Renaissance Literature and Culture research, followed by Ca' Foscari University of Venice and Sorbonne Université.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 105 works
  2. 2 Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 26 works
  3. 3 Sorbonne UniversitéFrance 23 works
  4. 4 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 21 works
  5. 5 University of MilanItaly 20 works
  6. 6 Université de LyonFrance 19 works
  7. 7 Jagiellonian UniversityPoland 17 works
  8. 8 Université Paris NanterreFrance 17 works
  9. 9 Université Grenoble AlpesFrance 16 works
  10. 10 Université Sorbonne NouvelleFrance 15 works

Who are the leading researchers in Renaissance Literature and Culture?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Renaissance Literature and Culture include Michel Foucault, D. G. Charlton and Robert E. Black.

  1. 1 Michel Foucault France 208k citations
  2. 2 D. G. Charlton Israel 130k citations
  3. 3 Robert E. Black United States 127k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Renaissance Literature and Culture?

The most cited paper in Renaissance Literature and Culture is "The Faiss Library" (Matthijs Douze, Alexandr Guzhva, Chengqi Deng et al., 2025), with 424 citations. Next come "Versions of Imitation in the Renaissance" (376) and "Cultures of translation in early modern Europe" (262).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The Faiss Library Matthijs Douze, Alexandr Guzhva, Chengqi Deng et al. · IEEE Transactions on Big Data Open access 13 Oct 2025 424
2 Versions of Imitation in the Renaissance G. W. Pigman · Renaissance Quarterly Apr 1980 376
3 Cultures of translation in early modern Europe Peter Burke · Cambridge University Press eBooks Book chapter 29 Mar 2007 262
4 Renaissance eloquence. Studies in the theory and practice of renaissance rhetoric Edmund J. Campion · History of European Ideas 1986 241
5 The New Historicism in Renaissance Studies Jean E. Howard · English Literary Renaissance 1986 232
All 101 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Renaissance Literature and Culture research done?

The largest centres of Renaissance Literature and Culture research in 2022-now are Paris (France), Lyon (France), Rome (Italy) and Warsaw (Poland). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Tours, Venice and Lyon.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 ParisFrance 135 works
  2. 2 LyonFrance 34 works
  3. 3 RomeItaly 33 works
  4. 4 WarsawPoland 28 works
  5. 5 VeniceItaly 27 works
  6. 6 MoscowRussia 27 works
  7. 7 MilanItaly 25 works
  8. 8 LondonUnited Kingdom 25 works
  9. 9 KrakowPoland 24 works
  10. 10 OxfordUnited Kingdom 24 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. ToursFR · 22.7 works67×
  2. VeniceIT · 27.3 works52×
  3. LyonFR · 33.7 works23×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Renaissance Literature and Culture than the world average.

See Renaissance Literature and Culture on the map

Where is the best place to study Renaissance Literature and Culture?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Oxford, Sorbonne Université and Jagiellonian University score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 9.16%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Jagiellonian Univers…University of OxfordSorbonne UniversitéCa' Foscari Universi…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 79.111.1%10.6×21 +28.0%
2Sorbonne UniversitéFrance 65.35.8%23.6×23 +31.0%
3Jagiellonian UniversityPoland 62.214.1%17.9×17 +210.3%
4Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 58.82.7%77.4×26 +66.8%
5University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 56.115.2%4.7×8 -7.5%
6Université de LyonFrance 56.02.5%20.6×19 +17.5%
7University of MilanItaly 54.27.2%21.7×20 -3.7%
8University of WarsawPoland 53.515.0%15.6×11 -4.6%
9Université Grenoble AlpesFrance 46.74.5%22.8×16 +9.9%
10Sapienza University of RomeItaly 46.713.5%7.9×13 -34.7%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Renaissance Literature and Culture, country by country

Is Renaissance Literature and Culture research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 6% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2019.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Renaissance Literature and Culture as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0076% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Renaissance Literature and Culture0.0054% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Renaissance Literature and Culture over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting10%20%Renaissance Literature and Culture9.2% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

Discussion

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