Written Culture at Ten Duinen: Cistercian Monks and Their Books, c. 1125-c. 1250 uses both traditional and new methodologies to examine the extant twelfth- and early thirteenth-century manuscripts... Show moreWritten Culture at Ten Duinen: Cistercian Monks and Their Books, c. 1125-c. 1250 uses both traditional and new methodologies to examine the extant twelfth- and early thirteenth-century manuscripts from the Flemish abbey of Ten Duinen, once situated in the dunes near present-day Koksijde. Patterns in the production and use of books are identified within the abbey's extant manuscripts and defined by analyzing substantial data, gathered within a customized database, for each manuscript unit (i.e., both homogenous manuscripts and non-homogenous manuscripts wherein parts can be differentiated by production period or technique). Scriptorium, library, and reading practices are then situated within the context of the Long Twelfth Century (c.1075–c.1225) and the abbey’s Cistercian network to discuss how the monks of Ten Duinen organized, accessed, interpreted, and transmitted knowledge in the manuscripts they made and used. Show less
Seghelijn van Jherusalem is a fourteenth-century verse narrative, extant in one manuscript and six printed editions. Since the 1983 publication of Ingrid van de Wijer’s doctoral thesis on the text... Show moreSeghelijn van Jherusalem is a fourteenth-century verse narrative, extant in one manuscript and six printed editions. Since the 1983 publication of Ingrid van de Wijer’s doctoral thesis on the text, interest has increased and Seghelijn has been the subject of several studies. These investigations always concern the text, whereas the woodcuts in the printed editions have received little attention. In this contribution these woodcuts and especially the title illustrations are the main focus of interest. The first edition appeared in Delft (1483-86, Jacob Jacobszoon van der Meer), while subsequent ones were published in Antwerp (1511, Hendrick Eckert van Homberch; before-1517, attributed to Claes de Grave; 1517, Claes de Grave; 1520, Hendrick Eckert van Homberch; c. 1530-40, Hendrick Peeterssen van Middelburch). All these editions have woodcuts on the title page but not one of these was designed for this specific work. All were fifteenth-century cuts re-used in a new setting. This article argues that this was a deliberate, rather than a convenient or careless, choice: re-editions of medieval narratives were furnished with older woodcuts as indicative of the genre. This is illustrated by the edition of 1517 in which an older woodcut is framed within a more modern, contemporary woodcut border. This shows that although the printer had access to modern designs, he opted to illustrate Seghelijn with an older (indeed old-fashioned) frontispiece. Show less
This dissertation aims to identify women’s participation in the manuscript culture of the “Twelfth-Century Renaissance” (c.1075 – c.1225) in Western Europe. Historically considered to be a... Show moreThis dissertation aims to identify women’s participation in the manuscript culture of the “Twelfth-Century Renaissance” (c.1075 – c.1225) in Western Europe. Historically considered to be a period dominated by men, this study will argue that women actively participated in book culture. By paying attention to the books that women owned, commissioned and copied, this study will assess the female experience as reader, scribe and patron. Unique to this proposal is the examination of gender in relation to manuscript studies, specifically codicology (the study of books as physical objects). First, this study examines the types of books owned by both religious and secular women (prayer books, books of hours, poetry) and the types of books they produced (liturgical books, theological works, correspondence). Here, the study will consider questions related to women’s education and literacy, social status and reading patterns. Second, it aims to identify specific physical characteristics that are unique to the appearance of medieval manuscripts produced by women and for women, such as reading aids, page layouts and script. Can these features illustrate the explicit and implicit demands of women for various types and styles of books? Show less
Fanfiction has been increasingly thrust into the spotlight of mainstream publishing culture. With the rise of the internet; both access to and production of fanfiction have exploded, and what was... Show moreFanfiction has been increasingly thrust into the spotlight of mainstream publishing culture. With the rise of the internet; both access to and production of fanfiction have exploded, and what was previously a private activity has been both normalized and even co-opted into six-figure deals with major publishing houses. Communities of fan writers and readers have not depended on outside authorization; they resist such attempts, preferring to authorize themselves. This tradition of self-authorization has often created conflicts between fan writers and outside interests, both in academia and in the broader realm of “official” content creators and disseminators. Further, fan writing is unusual in that it is presented in both the private and public spheres; it is often available to all readers at the click of a search engine, but fan authors operate in communities that are often literally, if not figuratively, locked to outsiders. Recent incidents such as FicGate, in which students in an undergraduate course began to comment on fan writings on several websites as part of their assignments, polarized both fandom and academics in Fan Studies because it blurred the lines of participation on both sides. In another case, Amazon’s Kindle Worlds effort sought to monetize fan authors and fanfiction by licensing certain properties in which fan writers could legally sell their works—provided that they subscribe to stringent limitations on content. Surprising no one (except possibly Amazon) neither corporate franchises nor fan authors were particularly interested in this venture. Using these case studies in tandem with authorship theory, this essay will examine how fandoms effectively “authorize” and empower writers in their community and block out those they deem outsiders, and what this means for those who want to study their writings as a body of literature in their own right. Show less
