medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I'm enjoying this discussion of medieval "pseudo-text" largely because a
small section of my current course on "papyrology" is devoted to what
has been called by some experts "pseudo-writing" on ancient materials
(papyri and parchment, especially). Probably much of this is a modern
attempt to make materials more saleable, although to my knowledge a
study of the techniques used is still a desideratum. But in some
instances, the writing appears to be of a more "normal" sort, and
perhaps also ancient -- the problem may be our knowledge of scripts and
languages rather than deceptive products. For some examples, see
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/courses/735/Papyri/papyrology.html#pseudo
Bob Kraft, UPenn
Madeleine Gray wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> I've often felt that about the 1st millenniun 'national hands' like
> Luxeuil: they seem deliberately obscure, presumably to slow the reader
> down (bit like the qwertyuiop keyboard, to slow the typist's fingers).
> On early Welsh carved stones, on the other hand, I think the problem
> is that many of them are clearly carved by someone who cannot read or
> write, copying from an exemplar. the interlace carving is intricate
> and mathematically perfect, the lettering is dreadful. Not stylised
> but simply badly carved.
> Text on walls (and eg in stained glass) is different again. Presumably
> the viewer could learn to recognise certain key phrases - the clauses
> of the Apostles' Creed, or the Ave Maria, perhaps - even if not fully
> functionally literate as we would understand it.
>
> Maddy
>
> Dr Madeleine Gray
> Senior Lecturer in History
> School of Education/Ysgol Addysg
> University of Wales, Newport/Prifysgol Cymru, Casnewydd
> Caerleon Campus/Campws Caerllion,
> Newport/Casnewydd NP18 3QT Tel: +44 (0)1633.432675
>
> 'You may not be able to change the world but at least you can
> embarrass the guilty'
> (Jessica Mitford)
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