Everything Old Is New Again

This talk will explore the use of digital media to depict and account for medieval notions of authority, translation, and textual transmission, concepts that are often excluded from or distorted by print editions. Whereas print editions of medieval literary texts typically treat the presence of competing textual versions, authors, and manuscript witnesses as a problem to resolve, either by recreating a hypothetical authorial text or choosing the best extant text to represent an entire textual or narrative tradition, digital manuscript archives are increasingly fostering a re-emergence of the simultaneous presence of competing voices and authorial roles. Digital media are thus allowing us an opportunity to “get medieval” in our representations of texts in a manner unprecedented in the age of print. Examples will be drawn from my work on three manuscript archives—the Roman de la Rose Digital Surrogates Project, the Piers Plowman Electronic Archive, and the Siege of Jerusalem Electronic Archive. No familiarity with medieval texts or textual traditions will be assumed or necessary to follow or participate in this discussion!