[First posted in AWOL 18 February 2010. Updated 31 October 2013]
Fragmentary Texts: Quotations and Text Re-uses of Lost Authors and Works
Fragmentary Texts is a project directed by Monica Berti and devoted to methodologies and tools for collecting and representing quotations and text re-uses of Classical sources.
In the field of textual criticism,
“fragments” are the result of a work of extraction and interpretation of
information pertaining to lost works that is embedded in surviving
texts. These fragments of information derive from a great variety of
text re-uses that range from verbatim quotations to vague allusions and
translations.
One of the main challenges when looking for traces of lost works is
the reconstruction of the complex relationship between the fragment and
its source of transmission. Pursuing this goal means dealing with three
main tasks: 1) weighing the level of interference played by the author
who has reused and transformed the original context of the fragment; 2)
measuring the distance between the source text and the derived text; 3)
trying to perceive the degree of text re-use and its effects on the
final text.
The first step for rethinking the role of the fragment within its
context is to provide a new methodology for identifying and representing
historical sources based on information technologies. Such an
achievement enables the building of digital collections designed not
only to preserve but also to extend principles that traditional
scholarship has developed over generations, while also representing
every element of print conventions in a more dynamic and interconnected
way.
Collecting text re-uses is a
well-established tradition and the great enterprises of scholars from
the Renaissance onward have permitted us to rediscover and preserve an
inestimable cultural heritage otherwise lost and forgotten. At the same
time, looking for remains of lost works is a very useful methodological
exercise for practicing reconstruction of ancient testimonies, and it is
also a stimulus for interdisciplinarity, given that an editor has to
face a lot of problems deriving from the great variety of subjects and
from many different kinds of texts that usually form a collection of
fragments.
The main goal of this project is to discuss
models and tools for representing quotations and text re-uses in a
digital library, building a collaborative environment for scholars,
students, and enthusiasts who are interested in the topic.
In this page we collect papers concerning topics related to Fragmentary Texts. Go to Documents for other contributions on quotations and text re-uses.
- M. Berti, M. Romanello, A. Babeu, G. Crane. “Collecting Fragmentary Authors in a Digital Library.” In Proceedings of the 2009 Joint International Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL ’09). Austin, TX, 259-62. New York, NY: ACM Digital Library (download PDF)
- M. Berti, M. Romanello, A. Babeu, G. Crane. “When Printed Hypertexts
Go Digital: Information Extraction from the Parsing of Indices.” In Hypertext 2009: Proceedings of the 20th ACM Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia, Turin, Italy, 357-58. New York, NY: ACM Digital Library (download PDF)
- M. Berti, M. Romanello, F. Boschetti, A. Babeu, G. Crane. “Rethinking Critical Editions of Fragmentary Texts by Ontologies.” In ELPUB
2009: 13th International Conference on Electronic Publishing:
Rethinking Electronic Publishing: Innovation in Communication Paradigms
and Technologies, Milan, Italy, 155-74 (download PDF)
- G. Crane. “From Subjects to Citizens in a Global Republic of Letters”. In Going Digital. Evolutionary and Revolutionary Aspects of Digitization. Ed. K. Grandin. Nobel Symposium 147. The Nobel Foundation, 2011, pp. 251-254 (download PDF)
- Representing Citations in Athenaeus’ Deipnosophists (Monica Berti & Virgilio Costa) (download PDF)
- The Edition of Fragmentary Texts: Scattered Remarks (Virgilio Costa) (download PDF)
