Marking the medieval: the textual afterlives of Middle English texts

Fahssi, Elias Alexander (2014) Marking the medieval: the textual afterlives of Middle English texts. MPhil(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

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).

• Item Type: Thesis (MPhil(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Keywords: textual afterlives, editorial theory, textual editing, manuscript studies, philology, text technology, XML.
• Subjects: P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics; P Language and Literature > PR English literature; Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources > Z004 Books. Writing. Paleography
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > English Language and Linguistics
• Supervisor's Name: Smith, Professor Jeremy
• Date of Award: 2014
• Depositing User: Mr Elias Fahssi
• Unique ID: glathesis:2014-5639
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 03 Nov 2014 11:42
• Last Modified: 20 Oct 2017 07:44
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/5639