Workshop at the Department of Greek and Latin Studies,

Philosophical Faculty of the Charles University in Prague

Call for papers

August 24-26, 2009

The term miscellany is a wide one and can refer to a number of concepts. On the one hand, medieval catalogues of manuscripts often use the term miscellanea for the ‘leftovers’ impossible to classify in a simple way. Many of the miscellaneous codices might have originated in this way – by binding together various ‘remaining’ texts. On the other hand, a miscellany can be a very carefully designed codex with a clear idea behind and serving a particular purpose. Clearly, the most frequent cases are those inbetween, that is, miscellanies which may be interpreted as designed but whose origin might have also included the aspect of the random. Thus, analysing miscellanies, one encounters also the problems of interpretability.

Case studies on particular medieval manuscript miscellanies written in any language are welcome at the workshop concentrating especially on three aspects: Composition: How do the contents fit together in specific cases? Is there a plan or a reason behind? If so, what does the selection tells about the compiler’s interests? Authorship: To what degree are the miscellany compilers and gatherers authors? Is there a personal touch discernable and interpretable? Use: How were these manuscripts actually used? Can a specific use of a particular miscellany be detected?

Keynote lectures will be given by Kimberly Rivers (Univ. of Wiskonsin, Oshkosh, U.S.A.) and Greti Dinkova-Bruun (Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto, Canada). Workshop languages are English, French, and German. There will be no conference fee. Limited funds are available to support the travel and accommodation expenses of selected participants (priority will be given to scholars from Eastern Europe).

Please, send a brief (300-400 words) abstract of the proposed 20-minute paper together with information on your affiliation and research interests to Lucie Doležalová at dolezalova@cts.cuni.cz by December 31, 2008.