The Poetics of Compilation

Supervisory Team: Dr Sarah Bowden (King’s) and TBC

Based at: King’s

KOM Theme: B – Embodied knowledge, C – Systems of Knowledge

There is a substantial volume of German devotional poetry from the eleventh and twelfth-centuries, the majority of which is transmitted in a small yet significant group of carefully-constructed multi-text manuscripts. These manuscripts are known to scholars and have been described, but – given their importance in the history of European vernacular literary production – there is a research need for more detailed, nuanced study that moves beyond categorization and embraces their poetic and temporal complexity. The reasons behind their existence need unpicking: how might we begin to understand the motivation behind collating German-language texts and re-presenting them in a new material form?

This project responds to recent scholarship that encourages a literary and intellectual reevaluation of the texts transmitted in these manuscripts, as well as recent theoretical interventions in the study of multi-text manuscripts or anthologies. Individual projects could focus in detail on one manuscript (Klagenfurt, Kärntner Landesarchiv cod. GV 6/19). Alternatively, they could explore the poetics of order and authority inherent in these manuscripts and think about how this relates to practices of collation, adaption and rewriting in the period. Other possible points of focus include the monastic networks through which texts appear to have moved; the interplay between text, image and manuscript; and the relationship between multi-text manuscripts and other more marginal, fragmented forms of transmission.

Candidates will require a strong reading knowledge of medieval (MHG and ideally OHG) and modern German and should have a Master’s level degree with at least a partial specialism in medieval German literary culture. Familiarity with codicology, palaeography and the twelfth century would be a strong advantage.