Course

The overall theme of the course is the source value of older texts and the relationship between text and materiality. The course addresses the social function of text, the dynamics between text and speech, text types, practical approaches to physical text, close reading methodology, the history of text creation, handling and transmission, and text on objects and in places. In addition, it highlights the problems and challenges of working with translations and different editions of texts. Examples of source material that may be covered include ancient texts and epigraphy, runic inscriptions, Icelandic sagas, documentary sources and letters. Teaching consists of lectures and seminars. The purpose of the lectures is to provide and deepen methodological and theoretical perspectives; the purpose of the seminars is to jointly read and interpret a series of key texts. The goal is to provide tools for getting to know, interpreting and consciously relating to the complexity of sources from the past.