Medieval
manuscripts as hypertexts
Although medieval manuscripts can be viewed as belonging to the Dark Ages, they
also can act as agents of historical and spiritual illumination, possessing a
human feel and touch, with each one being a unique creation of a unique scribe
and illuminator, a piece of art, and frequently the masterpiece of its creator.
Medieval manuscripts resemble hypertexts, because they, like hypertextual Websites
or electronic books, consist of composite works of different layers of texts,
illustrations, marginal and interlinear glosses and annotations. Medieval Bibles,
chronicles, works of the Law, and textbooks present examples of a high level
of hypertextuality. Medieval hypertextuality can be defined as:
a. Non-linearity: multiple choices in the viewing order of blocks
of text, illustrations, marginalia, and the links between the items.
b. Multi-vocality: the several relationships that are possible between
the text and the illustrations, i.e., whether illustrations provide
a literal equivalent of the text, or whether they provide additional
information not included in the text.
c. Inter-textuality: references to other sources, mentioned explicitly
in the text or implied in the text.
d. Decenteredness: the lack of one dominant unifying center and the
ability of the text to offer different paths of investigation to different
readers.
Traditionally, Psalters functioned with multiple purposes
such as devotional and liturgical. The Psalter as a book remained
a collection
of separate texts, designed for reading in various orders, an "open
text" in the terms of Bolter and Derrida (quoted in Landow, 3,8).
Nichols also views medieval texts as an open text, evolving with time,
but under the "tensions" between the bounded space of the
text and the surrounding marginalia. Manuscripts are not just "pure" or "nuclear" text
as Nichols defines the very first text ever written by the original
author and "extended work" as all additions and annotations.
Medieval authors usually dictated their words to their apprentices
or secretaries. Later, the manuscript was copied by other scribes
and decorated by illuminators,
who would add their comments and illustrations according to the copies at
hand and their own creative imagination. The different influences
make manuscripts
multiphase products (Alexander and Camile) and cultural and historical composites
(Baumgartner) that reflect the subjective interpretation and historical and
cultural context of their creators.
The writing space consists not only of the main text of the primary
scribe, but also the text of the margins in which subsequent scribes
added commentaries
and linked them with the main text through a set of ligatures, colored marks,
and pointers. Marginal writings also contain historical, sociological, and
literary narratives that can serve as a lens for viewing the historical epoch
in which they were created and for their creators, the scribes.
The non-linear associative form of the Psalms lent itself to the detachment
from their texts, in the Psalter, of Psalm illustrations and to their potential
for use with other Psalms (Camile, 169). This system of illustrations, decorations,
and rubrications provided random or quick access to different reading units.
The design of the Psalter page depended entirely on the purpose of the specific
edition of the book and on the sponsoring patron's desires (de Hamel, 36).
The system of Psalter visual design reflected a preoccupation with the hierarchy
of colors, letter size, and scripts 11th to 12th century, although Psalters
began to incorporate illustrations centuries before. Those features helped
in classification of priorities of texts (de Hamel, 98).
Medieval manuscripts, especially those with marginal glosses, resemble
electronic books more than they resemble printed books, because
manuscripts and electronic
books are easy subject to change and editing in the writing, and because
of the "hypertext" function in the reading. In writing, parchment text
was easily scraped, and over Greek text a Slavic text could be added, creating
what are called palimcests. Bolter refers to both medieval manuscripts and
electronic writings as hypertextual because of the variable sequence of texts
and the links between them. In other words, the texts, illuminations, and marginalia
contain symbols that link the text with other portions of the text and with
other texts, much as "hot links" do in electronic books.
top
