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CSMC
CSMCCentre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures

Photo: Karsten Helmholz

Research

Theory and Terminology (TNT)

Manuscript of the Gadla samāʿtāt. Tǝgrāy, Monastery of Yoḥannǝs Kamā, YoKa-001. Photograph by Antonella Brita (May 2013) © CSMC (From Antonella Brita and Janina Karolewski, ‘Unravelling Multiple-text Manuscripts: Introducing Categories Based on Content, Use, and Production’, in Jörg B. Quenzer, ed., Exploring Written Artefacts: Objects, Methods, and Concepts, I, Studies in Manuscript Cultures, 25 (Berlin–Boston, MA: De Gruyter, 2021), 459–490: p. 485).

Established in 2012, the TNT working group has dedicated itself to the task of defining and systemising the theoretical input from former and future studies of manuscript cultures. Since the DFG Forschergruppe ‘Manuscript Cultures in Asia and Africa’ (2008-2011), followed by two phases of the Sonderforschunsbereich ‘Manuscript Cultures in Asia, Africa and Europe’ (2011-2019), including the work in the ‘Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies’ (COMSt) network (2009-2015), to today’s Cluster of Excellence ‘Understanding Written Artefacts’ (since 2019), TNT examines terms, methods and theories relevant for understanding writing and its cultures. While taking up impulses from the specialities of individual projects, TNT provides a dedicated forum for open exchange across disciplinary fields and diverse research areas. TNT deals with new topics and tests their potential in exploratory workshops (examples are the past initiatives on Binding, Graffiti, Albums). TNT also discusses transversal, comprehensive, and overarching topics of research on written artefacts, from the ultimate questions of general definition to border cases. New topics emerged from recent research that are not yet assigned to a research unit. The outcome has been made available online as working papers for further discussion (CSMC series ‘Occasional Papers’). Since December 2019 the TNT group is formally integrated into the Cluster of Excellence 2176 ‘Understanding Written Artefacts: Material, Interaction and Transmission in Manuscript Cultures’.

Spokesperson: Hanna Wimmer