10th Conference of the European Society for Textual Scholarship–Call for Papers

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10th Conference of the European Society for Textual Scholarship (ESTS 2013)

Variance in textual scholarship and genetic criticism / La variance en philologie et en critique génétique

 20-22 November 2013

École normale supérieure, Paris                                                                                               

 Call for papers

Deadline for paper proposals: 1 June 2013

The 10th conference of the European Society for Textual Scholarship will be organised at the École normale supérieure in Paris by the Institut des textes et manuscrits modernes (ITEM, UMR 8132) and the research team “Textes, histoire et monuments, de l’Antiquité au Moyen Âge” (THEMAM, UMR 7041 ARSCAN).

Treated either as a deviation to be eliminated or as a creative transformation, variation is central to every form of textual scholarship. It is high time to confront the various conceptions of what constitutes a variation, to see what they have in common and what irreconcilable differences remain – though it would be paradoxical for a conference devoted to variance to aim at absolute uniformity.

 ESTS conferences are characterised by a combination of formal plenary sessions and traditional paper presentations in panel sessions with three speakers, followed by lively exchange, dialogue and interaction between speakers and audience in many small groups. There will also be an opportunity for poster presentations of current projects.

 We encourage submissions related to any of the following topics:

  1. Confronting methods: the use of “stages of revision” in critique génétique and textual criticism; the questioning of the notion of variant by the genetic approach to modern and contemporary working manuscripts
  2. Combining methods: using critique génétique in dealing with ancient and medieval texts? using the philological method in the genetic study of printed editions?
  3. Editing variation: scholarly editions in critique génétique and textual criticism
  4. Concepts and cases: how to edit avant-textes and texts as processes?
  5. Exploring limits: extreme methodologies for extreme variations
  6. Digital approaches to the printed text and its manuscripts: rethinking, representing and interpreting variation
  7. Philological and genetic approaches to born-digital texts and manuscripts

 The conference is organised according to a number of thematic sessions. Submissions are welcome on all topics related to the theme of the conference, regardless of linguistic contexts, time periods, geographic areas or types of documents and texts. This includes interdisciplinary perspectives from all branches of scholarly editing, as long as the focus of the proposals is on the guiding principles and practices of editorial scholarship. Graduate students are encouraged to participate.

 Please submit your proposal before 1 June 2013, by email to ests2013paris@gmail.com. You will be notified by 1 July 2013 whether your proposal has been accepted or not.

 Proposals for papers

Abstracts in English (500 words maximum) are to be submitted to the organising committee, along with the presenter’s name, concise biography, address, telephone, email and institutional affiliation. Speakers will have 20 minutes to deliver their paper, leaving room for a 10-minute discussion.

 Proposals for panel sessions

A typical panel should include 3 (exceptionally 4) speakers and one moderator (session chair). Each session lasts for 1 hour and a half, always allowing 30 minutes for questions and discussion. Proposers should submit the following elements:

  • Session title and introduction (approximately 100 words)
  • Titles of the papers
  • Abstracts for each paper (500 words maximum)
  • A short biography for each participant and for the panel chair (approximately 100 words)
  • Institutional affiliation and address for each participant
  • Audio-visual and other technical requirements

 Proposals for poster presentations

There will be a poster gallery. A poster should be a visual representation and/or a demo of your material. The aim is to present information and initiate informal discussion among delegates. Posters should not exceed 80 cm × 120 cm. If you provide a photograph of yourself and a mobile phone number, other attendees will be able to get in touch with you. Please submit a one-page proposal with an overview of the poster and your contact details.

 Participation and registration

Participants who contribute to the conference through a paper, a panel or a poster session need to pay the conference fee and have to be members in good standing of the European Society for Textual Scholarship for 2013 (except invited speakers). More information about registration and possibilities of accommodation will be published soon on a conference website.

For more information about the ESTS, please see http://www.textualscholarship.eu/. Your current membership status is indicated at http://ests.huygensinstituut.nl/.