Abstract
I will discuss the typologies developed by two digitally-oriented projects from the University of Ghent, EVWRIT and DBBE, for organising, categorising, and describing documentary and literary historical textual material in Greek. The EVWRIT (Everyday Writing in Graeco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt. A Socio-Semiotic Study of Communicative Variation) project focuses on Greek documentary texts, examining their external features to uncover social meaning in the communicative and administrative contexts of the Ptolemaic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. Its main goal is to illuminate the relationship between form and content in these historical texts, providing a multi-aspect and well-structured framework for analysis. Meanwhile, the Database of Byzantine Book Epigrams (DBBE) stores and presents metrical paratexts found in the margins of medieval Greek manuscripts, primarily focusing on original texts and scribal choices, while grouping and linking them to their edited versions. The DBBE focuses heavily on metadata, contextualising the texts through details of their production (date, place, manuscript, etc.) and also their handling by secondary literature, if present. By comparing the typologies used in both projects, I will highlight different approaches in structuring and presenting historical textual data, showcasing how they can offer equally valuable insights.
Practical information
This lecture will be given at the Typology workshop, organised by the grammateus project at the University of Geneva on 21-22 March 2025.
Date & time: Saturday 22 March 2025, 15:50
Location: Amphithéâtre 012A – Battelle D (Route de Drize 7, 1227 Carouge)