Marking the medieval: the textual afterlives of Middle English texts

P Philology. Linguistics;PR English literature;Z004 Books. Writing. Paleography

Fahssi, Elias Alexander ; Smith, Jeremy

University:University of Glasgow

Department:School of Critical Studies

关键词: textual afterlives, editorial theory, textual editing, manuscript studies, philology, text technology, XML.;   

Others  :  http://theses.gla.ac.uk/5639/1/2014fahssimphil.pdf

来源: University of Glasgow

【 摘 要 】

This project explores the ways in which Middle English manuscript texts are re-formed by linguistic, technological, and ideological change.The transition from manuscript to print and digital cultures invites such an investigation, particularly into how medieval texts were re-fashioned for various print-based existences, and how their textual afterlives are inextricably linked to developments in text technology.Building off of what Siân Echard calls “the mark of the medieval” (2008: 4), this dissertation adopts a tripartite focus, and addresses three main research questions:1) How did printers of The Canterbury Tales mark the medieval for their readers — that is, what strategies of textual representation did print culture provide for ensuring a text was perceived as authentically medieval?2) How do print editions of the The Canterbury Tales handle the punctuation marks found in manuscripts, and what does this reveal about medieval and early modern reading practices?3) In an age where text technology is shifting again, now from print to digital, how can Middle English texts be marked for machine readability in order to facilitate a diachronic, processual understanding of their textual afterlives?As D.C. Greetham notes, “all facets of a book’s history and presentation are ultimately connected,” and the reading practices of today deserve no less attention than those of the 14th and 15th centuries (1992: 294).