Graduate Medievalists at Berkeley

Our knowledge of late antique, medieval, and early modern culture derives primarily from the way in which we read today the texts and artifacts that were written and read in the past. Yet, our understanding of pre-modern practices of reading often assumes that the act of reading meant the same thing and was carried out in the same way then as it is today. The Colloquium will initiate and develop dialogue about the practices of reading across a wide range of time and geography in order to draw connections and recognize differences that have the potential to influence the way we read today.

The books and documents left on parchment and paper, stone and papyrus, along with a sprinkling of anecdotal reports can begin to give us some idea as to what was being read in the Syria of John of Damascus, the France of Abelard, the Cairo of al-Masʿūdī, the Rome of Gregory the Great, the Iran of Taqī ’l-Dīn al-Shahrastānī, and the England of Wulfstan. But we know precious little about how they read: aloud? silently? alone? in groups? for brief reference? for protracted study? for pleasure? What do we make of Augustine’s famous shock at seeing Ambrose reading silently? And, how does the story of a pleasant boat ride on the Bosphorus, around the year 1000, during which friends, coaxed by wine, birds, and leaping dolphins, recited Greek poetry from all ages—“sweet flowers of words”— change our understanding of the vigorous textual-compilation activities of tenth-century Byzantium, seventh-century Spain, fifteenth-century England?

To answer these questions and others, we will hold a series of fourteen colloquia during the academic year, each addressing a different aspect of pre-modern reading practices. At each meeting, graduate students and faculty will bring and discuss exempla from their own particular disciplines, allowing cross-cultural comparison. Following the enclosed syllabus, the Fall colloquia will ask “how did they read?”  The Spring colloquia, then, will focus on the more difficult question—why did they read? Finally, the concluding meetings will ask: Why do we read pre-modern texts?

These interdisciplinary colloquia—inviting the participation of faculty and graduate students studying any pre-industrial culture—encourage the exchange of ideas on a topic fundamental to any understanding of the pre-modern worlds that we each study, in a format which fosters comparison between those worlds and collaboration between their students. When a student of fourth-century Syria, for example, brings to the table a story of, say, nautical reading that reminds another student of eleventh-century Ireland of a similar story, a productive discussion will necessarily ensue. Such a discussion will enlighten not only those two students, but also the minds surrounding them, ultimately changing the way that we approach our professional acts of reading on a daily basis.

Prospectus


Fall 2010
How did the pre-modern world read?

1.    Introduction: overview of pre-modern reading practices, discussion of the importance of the study of reading, layout the schedule for the semester
2.    Topic: Marginal annotations and evidence of reading in manuscripts and books (in conjunction with the Paleography Working Group)
3.    Topic: Anecdotes and examples of reading aloud
4.    Topic: Lecture notes and academic memorization
5.    Topic: The creation and decipherment of shorthand and abbreviations  (in conjunction with the Paleography Working Group)
6.    Topic: Compendia, encyclopedias, and manuscripts as compilations
7.    Topic: Acts interpretive reading, including exegesis, translation, and re-appropriation of old or distant stories.

Spring 2011

Why did the pre-modern world read?

1.    Review of previous semester and reassessment of Spring plan
2.     Topic: Reading for the celebration of past cultural traditions
3.     Topic: Reading for the gathering of knowledge
4.     Topic: Reading for the creation and maintenance of literary social networks

How do we read now?

5.     Topic: Changes in reading (in conjunction with the 2011 GMB conference)
6.     Topic: Re-evaluating our modern practices of reading the Middle Ages
7.     Conclusion: What have we learned? How will this change our scholarly methods?