Approaches to the History of Written Culture
A World Inscribed
Editors: Lyons, Martyn, Marquilhas, Rita (Eds.)
Free Preview- Features contributions from leading historians of scribal culture across the world
- Ranges from the inscribed images of ‘pre-literate’ societies, to the public inscriptions and the democratization of writing in the modern era
- Suggests the uses and functions of writing in non-alphabetical as well as alphabetical script, in societies ranging from the Aztecs and ancient China to modern Europe
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- About this book
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This book investigates the history of writing as a cultural practice in a variety of contexts and periods. It analyses the rituals and practices determining intimate or ‘ordinary’ writing as well as bureaucratic and religious writing. From the inscribed images of ‘pre-literate’ societies, to the democratization of writing in the modern era, access to writing technology and its public and private uses are examined. In ten studies, presented by leading historians of scribal culture from seven countries, the book investigates the uses of writing in non-alphabetical as well as alphabetical script, in societies ranging from Native America and ancient Korea to modern Europe. The authors emphasise the material characteristics of writing, and in so doing they pose questions about the definition of writing itself. Drawing on expertise in various disciplines, they give an up-to-date account of the current state of knowledge in a field at the forefront of ‘Book History’.
- About the authors
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Martyn Lyons is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He has published many books and articles on the history of reading and writing in Europe and Australia including A History of Reading & Writing in the Western World (Palgrave, 2010) and The Writing Culture of Ordinary People in Europe, c.1860-c.1920 (2013). He has previously published 4 titles with Palgrave Macmillan.
Rita Marquilhas is Associate Professor in General & Romance Linguistics at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, and chief investigator on the 'Postscriptum Project – A Digital Archive of Ordinary Writings in Early Modern Portugal and Spain'. She is the author of several articles on the social history of language.
- Reviews
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“Approaches to the History of Written Culture is a volume of breadth and ambition. It covers all periods from the second millennium BC to the late twentieth-century, a wide range of geographies, and deploys a challenging body of theoretical and methodological approaches to the topic of scribal cultures and practices.” (David Vincent, Emeritus Professor of Social History, The Open University, UK)
- Table of contents (12 chapters)
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A World Inscribed – Introduction
Pages 1-20
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The Babylonian Scribes and Their Libraries
Pages 21-38
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Writings in the Korean Han’gŭl Script by and for the Women of Chosŏn Korea (1392–1910)
Pages 39-55
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Paper World: The Materiality of Loss in the Pre-Modern Age
Pages 57-72
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Writings on the Streets: Ephemeral Texts and Public Space in the Early Modern Hispanic World
Pages 73-96
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Table of contents (12 chapters)
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Bibliographic Information
- Bibliographic Information
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- Book Title
- Approaches to the History of Written Culture
- Book Subtitle
- A World Inscribed
- Editors
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- Martyn Lyons
- Rita Marquilhas
- Series Title
- New Directions in Book History
- Copyright
- 2017
- Publisher
- Palgrave Macmillan
- Copyright Holder
- The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s)
- eBook ISBN
- 978-3-319-54136-5
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-3-319-54136-5
- Hardcover ISBN
- 978-3-319-54135-8
- Softcover ISBN
- 978-3-319-85328-4
- Edition Number
- 1
- Number of Pages
- IX, 272
- Number of Illustrations
- 14 b/w illustrations
- Topics
