Handskriften som historiskt vittne : Fornsvenska samlingshandskrifter - miljö och funktion

• This book is about the Swedish manuscript culture in the Middle Ages. The primary aim is to discuss how different types of manuscripts written in the vernacular were used in the Swedish Middle Ages. A secondary aim is to discuss different methods of analysis for the interpretation of a manuscript culture.Twenty miscellaneous manuscripts are analyzed from a New Philological point of view. The analyses deal with both the understanding of the content as a whole in a medieval manuscript, and the interpretation of the codicology. The analyses show that the aim and functions of manuscripts can be traced by a close reading of formal texts as rubrics, introductions and conclusions. They also show that the layout of a manuscript is related to its use. For instance, layout and certain formula words can tell us whether the manuscripts is intended for silent reading or for a listening audience.The importance of analysing a manuscript as a whole is stressed throughout the book. This is the only way we can learn to understand the role of individual manuscripts in the Middle Ages. The book also points to the need for editions of whole manuscripts in the future. Without these we may never understand why a given manuscript was written.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Språk och litteratur -- Studier av enskilda språk (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Languages and Literature -- Specific Languages (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Filologi

Swedish language

Svenska språket

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

bok (subject category)