Call for Papers
Clay tablets, manuscripts, prints, typescripts – A multitude of media forms serve as the subject and basis for work on editions. Even if “document” is not used as a technical term within every discipline, this term can be used as a collective descriptor for the different types of material to be edited for a variety of traditions.
For a long time, documents were regarded as merely carriers or containers of texts, whose individual form, origins, compilation and layout often received little attention aside from a brief description. For example, the idea certainly persists, that the process of editing consists of separating the text from its carrier, and therefore the associated abandonment of the document as such is connected with the making of an edition. In recent years, this valuation of documents has undergone a fundamental change, especially in the course of the discussion of their materiality within philological and cultural studies research. Due to this change, new perspectives have opened up and other objects of research (e.g., users’ marks, glosses, etc.) have been brought back into view.
The increase in the production, supply, and processing of digital documents has expanded, among other things, the possibilities for representation and visualization. Thus digital editions already present themselves as especially “document oriented.” However, what does this actually mean?
The conference "(un)documented - What remains of the document in the edition?", organized by the doctoral students of the DFG-funded graduate programme "Document - Text - Edition", would like to take on this question and thereby, beyond just the discussion of materiality, take up the broadest possible spectrum of specialist discourse. The following questions exemplify the main focus of the meeting:
What significance do particular disciplines attribute to a document/documents?
What effect does the conceptualization of the document have upon editorial practice?
Which elements can be carried over from the material realities of the tradition into an edition? What is necessarily, discreetly, and/or reasonably left out?
Can, and should, material findings be included in an edition?
What role does documentation play in (digital) editions? Which aspects are considered?
Potential keynote speakers include Prof. Johnny Kondrup.
We cordially invite researchers of all fields (especially those from the historical-philological disciplines and media scientists; interdisciplinary topics are welcome) to participate in these discussions with a 20-30 minute presentation. The language of the conference is German (presentations in English are also possible). Please submit an abstract of no more than 500 words, together with a short CV and contact details (email, telephone, postal address) by 31 December 2017. The publication of a conference volume is planned. Travel and lodging expenses will be covered for selected speakers.
Contact:
Bergische Universität Wuppertal
Graduiertenkolleg 2196
z.Hd. Oliver Humberg
Gaußstr. 20
D-42119 Wuppertal
Telefon +49 202 439 5203
humberg[at]uni-wuppertal.de
Closing date: 31. December 2017
