23/02/2023
EXOTIC ECDOTICS AND SEMIOTICS:
THE PURPOSE AND USEFULNESS OF TEXTUAL CRITICISM FOR HARDLY EDITABLE MANUSCRIPTS
7-10 June 2023 / Poitiers, Centre d'études supérieures de civilisation médiévale est une unité mixte de recherche (UMR 7302)
A conference organised between the projects ANR PSalteRATIO (FR), ERC OrthPol (AT), and UEFISCDI roPSALT (RO).
Once upon a time, in the era of pure philology, the publication of critical editions used to be the final stage of research in the field of textual criticism. Now, in the era of post-philology, Lachmannian and Bédierist models, neo-Lachmannian or ‘New Philology’ approaches, and other ecdotic methods coexist and create a world where traditional editions no longer rule. In truth, traditional(ist) approaches have cornered editions into a blind spot. They ceased to be a means to an end and became nothing else than self-reliant proofs of expert learning.
This upheaval is partly due to the fact that contemporary editions have lost their relevance in the eyes of the once numerous general public. The lack of training of the contemporary public condemns textual criticism to the exclusive context of academia. Add to this the mixed effect of deconstructivism. Despite the fact that the interests of linguists, philologists, and historians often diverge, all of them tend to use more or less the same electronic tools when it comes to digital humanities, but they are rarely inclined to discuss and debate them. Interest in the material aspect of written texts have gradually blurred the fine line drawn between “documents” (texts which meet basic needs in communication) and “monuments” (those texts that edify their readers culturally), to the point where medieval or early modern literature can hardly be distinguished from the large body of old written texts. As a result, the debate no longer concerns the literary or practical nature of a text. Deconstructivism has led to a disorienting ecdotic chaos, particularly in the case of texts and manuscripts that testify to a certain degree of complexity.
Even though they are situated at very different ends of the ecdotic spectrum (philology vs. genetic editing, neo-Lachmannian, or sociocultural standpoints), with dissimilar stakes in the textual criticism debate, our three projects share the same preoccupation with the almost impossible task of preparing a convenient edition for several types of manuscripts or texts, on account of their heavily illustrated character, plurilingual nature, or shapeshifting layout. As a result, instead of addressing the issue from within, a decision was taken to gather a large and diverse corpus of problematic situations (with or without connection to digital humanities), in order to stake out the complexity of the conundrum in a common conference.
This will lead to a debate on how philologists, historians, or linguists can or should deal with complex manuscripts and texts, specifically in case studies ranging from the first uses of vernacular languages in the translations and adaptations of sacred texts in Western Europe until the late uses of similar vernacular rewritings in the Eastern Mediterranean and Southern Europe at the beginning of the Early Modern Era.
You are wholeheartedly invited to join us in Poitiers on 7-10 June 2023 for our presentations and round tables. LINKS PROVIDED IN THE COMMENTS 2 WEEKS PRIOR TO THE CONFERENCE DATES.
Vladimir Agrigoroaei (Poitiers)
Ana Maria Gînsac (Iași)
Ovidiu Olar (Vienna)
