Materiality and Textual Transmission

Project Group

The Project Group investigates the impact of material features on the history of transmission of texts, merging text-focused approaches with material analysis to enhance philological studies. The group focuses on ‘catalysts,’ material features that trigger changes in derivative texts, aiming to redefine and broaden the Europe-centric, codex-focused approach by incorporating global script traditions, including Armenian, Arabic, and Chinese, among others. The PG’s broader objective is to establish a global framework for identifying material catalysts in textual criticism, enriching philological discourse with non-textual criteria such as material attributes of WAs. Collaborating across disciplines, the group leverages AI, particularly large language models, alongside ink analysis and computational palaeography, to explore manuscript relationships beyond traditional methods. The PG will develop a working definition and taxonomy of catalysts, supported by case studies and a workshop on catalyst typology. A handbook featuring a theoretical introduction and comparative chapters on catalyst categories will be produced, offering a new methodological paradigm for philology and textual criticism.