Can we trust what we read?

There are many texts (in some cases even those by modern European authors, writers or scholars) for which we do not have the original, physical evidence that conveys the texts as they were written down by the authors; yet we read and study their works. So, can we really trust what we read?

Goals of the Philology and Textual Criticism Research Group: The History of Textual Transmission, Principles and Practices of Textual Editing - a Global and Comparative Approach

  • An exploration and appraisal of philological techniques for the transmission of knowledge including their theories and history, based on a broad cultural and chronological perspective, from their origins to the digital age.

Project Description

For us to know whether we can trust the texts before us, we need to have an understanding of:

  • the way in which texts have been handed down over time (in years, centuries or even millennia),
  • what kinds of changes, innovations (technological, ‘errors’ in authorial texts) or adaptations have been made to them,
  • why and how, using which methods and with which objectives, we can recognise, understand and correct these amendments or simply present them in a neutral way.

Addressing these questions is the primary objective of philology as textual criticism, namely the critical study of texts and the tracing of their history. Given that written texts have been the most powerful means of communicating culture for millennia, the different approaches to written heritage also constitute a fundamental part of knowledge, both in the European tradition and in other cultures that have known a refined philological tradition for thousands of years.

The aim of the working group is to research and catalogue philological techniques for the transmission of knowledge including their theories and history, based on a broad cultural and chronological perspective, from their origins to the digital age.  This investigation includes the disciplines of higher and lower textual criticism, but also exegesis and hermeneutics as well as the material foundations in manuscript research and codicology.  At present, the group covers a cultural area encompassing Europe, the Mediterranean, Ethiopia, India and China from antiquity to the present.

Perspectives and review

  • 8-9 December 2022, Hamburg: Workshop 'Criticism of the Variant: Philological Discussions in Traditional Commentary Cultures.'
  • 6 May 2022, Hamburg: Introductory workshop 'Philological Cultures: The Traditions.'
  • Summer semester 2022: Lecture series 'Textual Criticism and Editorial Techniques of Multilingual Manuscript Traditions (Part 2)' (in cooperation with the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Studies and the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen)
  • Winter semester 2021/2022: Lecture series 'Textual Criticism and Editorial Techniques of Multilingual Manuscript Traditions (Part 1)' (in cooperation with the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Studies and The Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Lower Saxony)

Members of the Working Group

Position Name Discipline
Prof. Dr. Alessandro Bausi Klassische Philologie
Prof. Dr. Christian Brockmann Klassische Philologie, insbesondere Gräzistik
Prof. Dr. Michael Friedrich Sinologie
Prof. Dr. Kaja Harter-Uibopuu Alte Geschichte
Prof. Dr. Harunaga Isaacson Klassische Indologie
Spokesperson Prof. Dr. Eva Wilden Kultur und Geschichte Indiens und Tibets