The Dynamics of the Medieval Manuscript: Text Collections from a European Perspective

Project leader: Dr Bart Besamusca
Researchers: Matthias Meyer (Vienna), Karen Pratt (London), Ad Putter (Bristol)
Duration: 2010-2013
Funding: HERA
Website: www.dynamicsofthemedievalmanuscript.eu

This cross-European research project plans to study the dynamics of a number of late-medieval Dutch, English, French and German miscellany manuscripts, focusing on the highly mobile short verse narratives they contain. Characterised by the migration of works from one manuscript context to another, this cultural phenomenon is ideally suited to the HERA JRP theme 'Cultural Dynamics'. In each unique, newly formed text collection new meanings are generated, enabling us to understand the cultural identity of the compiler or commissioner of a manuscript and to investigate how cultural, social and moral heritage is conveyed to new generations.

The comparative, multilingual approach will make it possible to determine trans-European characteristics in the organisation of text collections and to analyse how new author and reader identities are created. The research will be conducted by 4 PhD students, 2 Post-doctoral and 4 senior researchers in close collaboration, and will culminate in a large-scale conference.

This research project belongs to the research focus area Cultures and Identities, one of Utrecht University's fifteen prioritised research areas. In this focus area, research is conducted into the interaction between the use of media, image forming and social inclusion and exclusion from a theoretical, historical or cultural-comparative perspective. See www.uu.nl/focusareas.