Nobel prize in literature 2018 - what is "encyclopedic passion"?
The question is inspired by the today's announcement of the Nobel prize awards in Literature for 2018 and 2019.
The short description for Olga Tokarczuk has been worded as follows:
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2018 was awarded to Olga Tokarczuk "for a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life." Source
The expression encyclopedic passion sounds really odd both to me and to the author of this question on Literature.SE: Understanding this year's Nobel prizes, which, in fact, inspired me to ask for help on English.SE.
I will simply quote one paragraph from this question:
I can't make sense of terms like "encyclopedic passion". "Encyclopedic knowledge" is a common phrase that I understand. Encyclopedias are the books where one finds the most knowledge. So this term makes sense to describe someone who has vast knowledge. But I do not understand the relationship between encylopedias and passion.
Collins Dictionary, for example, gives:
adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
If you describe something as encyclopedic, you mean that it is very full, complete, and thorough in the amount of knowledge or information that it has.
and
encyclopedic in British
or encyclopaedic (ɛnˌsaɪkləʊˈpiːdɪk)adjective
- of, characteristic of, or relating to an encyclopedia
- covering a wide range of knowledge; comprehensive
So, how exactly shall one interpret (perceive, digest) encyclopedic passion?
Solution 1:
Passion:
If you have a passion for something, you have a very strong interest in it and like it very much.
She had a passion for gardening. [+ for]
Anton has a consuming passion for science
(Collins Dictionary)
Encyclopedic:
Embracing many subjects; comprehensive:
- “an ignorance almost as encyclopedic as his erudition” ( William James )
(AHD)
comprehending a wide variety of information; comprehensive:
- an encyclopedic memory.
(Dictionary.com)
An encyclopedic passion > a passion for a wide range of knowledge.
Solution 2:
Merriam-Webster has perhaps the most useful and broadest definition:
encyclopedic:
of, relating to, or suggestive of an encyclopedia or its methods of treating or covering a subject : COMPREHENSIVE
an encyclopedic mind
an encyclopedic collection of armor
So 'encyclopedic passion' is probably intended to be read as a wide-ranging, catholic spread of things in which a deep interest is taken. In a less formal register, being 'into everything'.