1st Edition
Text Editing, Print and the Digital World
Traditional critical editing, defined by the paper and print limitations of the book, is now considered by many to be inadequate for the expression and interpretation of complex works of literature. At the same time, digital developments are permitting us to extend the range of text objects we can reproduce and investigate critically - not just books, but newspapers, draft manuscripts and inscriptions on stone. Some exponents of the benefits of new information technologies argue that in future all editions should be produced in digital or online form. By contrast, others point to the fact that print, after more than five hundred years of development, continues to set the agenda for how we think about text, even in its non-print forms. This important book brings together leading textual critics, scholarly editors, technical specialists and publishers to discuss whether and how existing paradigms for developing and using critical editions are changing to reflect the increased commitment to and assumed significance of digital tools and methodologies.
Biography
Marilyn Deegan is Director of Research Development, Centre for Computing in the Humanities at King's College London as well as the Co-Director of the AHRB ICT Methods Network. She is editor of the journal Literary and Linguistics Computing and has worked on numerous digitization projects in the arts and humanities. Kathryn Sutherland is Professor of Bibliography and Textual Criticism at Oxford University. She teaches and researches on bibliography, textual criticism, Romantic period writings, Scottish Enlightenment, textual theory and Jane Austen.
'Taking stock of recent trends in digital humanities and scholarly editing, Kathryn Sutherland and Marilyn Deegan give shape to an important volume of thought-provoking essays. Rather than loudly announcing paradigm shifts, the editors allow divergent voices to examine to what extent existing approaches are evolving. The result is a well-balanced book that clear-headedly assesses the present state of the discipline.' Dirk Van Hulle, University of Antwerp, Belgium 'This useful new volume offers a challenging review of the past decade's debates on digital editing, and poses an important set of questions that look back as well as forward: proposing a critical reevaluation of print-based editing, and an interrogation of the discursive and editorial affordances of digital medium. With contributors representing the cutting edge of the field, this will prove a valuable resource for anyone seeking to understand digital editing in detail.' Julia Flanders, Brown University, USA 'This book on text editing should be of interest to those concerned with rare book librarianship, and archives.' Journal of Documentation, Vol 65, No 6, 2009 '...an exquisite collection of essays on textual editing and new possibilities offered by digital technologies...draws upon presentations by some of the key players in the field of Digital Humanities.' Literary and Linguistic Computing, vol 25, no 3, September 2010
