Textual Scholarship
The Textual Scholarship research group works across disciplines, uniting literary studies, philology and linguistics through a shared focus on text and textual media. We combine scholarly editing, artefactual philology and digital text theory, as well as book and media history.
When studying texts, we adopt an approach different from that of traditional literary and linguistic research. Texts are understood as material and historical phenomena, and we examine their nature, genesis, transmission and context, including materiality, media and transitions from manuscript to print and digital forms. We work with texts as substance, focusing on the artefact’s physical and graphic properties – such as material, script, typography, format, images and digital design – and on how the physical qualities of the text bearer shape interpretation and use. Together, these studies connect to the broader field of literacy, including relations between writing and speech, thought and memory, and questions in philosophy of language and mind.
Texts in their historical context
Most of the texts we work with are quite old, which naturally leads us to consider them as elements of cultural heritage. This means that we view texts as culturally specific, writing-based organisational structures and seek – where possible – to examine and contextualise them in relation to their original sociocultural setting.
Revitalisation and accessibility of cultural heritage
This is especially reflected in our work to revitalise and make cultural heritage accessible to a modern audience through contemporary scholarly editions. In addition to scholarly text editing, we are also engaged in recontextualisation, exploration, dissemination and the development of new research methods, both digital and material-scientific – for example linguistic and literary corpus studies and methods for analysing ink, paper and parchment.
In the years 2026-28 The group’s work will focus on
- Artefactual-philological investigation of the relationship between writing and object (Writing for the Artefact)
- Study of legal texts and marginalia
- Hagiographical studies and late-medieval devotional cultures
- Mapping the concept of text with a view toward a monograph
- Developing theories and methods in scholarly editing
- Preparing scholarly editions
- Preparing and applying literary bibliographiesIncreasing collaboration with the Society for Danish Language and Literature on publications and research applications
- Continuing the biocodicological basic research collaboration with the Globe Institute.
Researchers
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Affiliated researchers
- Berg, Nils Holger Németh, The H.C. Andersen Centre, The University of Southern Denmark
- Gnasso, Alessandro, École nationale des chartes – PSL, Paris
- Gottlieb, Katja, Grundtvig's Works, Aarhus University
- Grum-Schwensen, Ane, The H.C. Andersen Centre, The University of Southern Denmark
- Hernández, René, Padova
- Kapitan, Katarzyna Anna, University of Oxford
- Malaspina, Matilde, Dipartimento di Lettere e culture moderne, Sapienza Università di Roma
- Rasmussen, Krista Stinne Greve, Grundtvig's Works, Aarhus University
- Vacalebre, Natale, Departamento de Historia y Filosofía, University of Alcalá.