The Transmission of Dream Divination in Medieval Western Manuscripts, and Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-century Printed Books
Dr. László Sándor Chardonnens
Radboud University Nijmegen, lecturer in medieval English
Research stay: March – August 2010
Lectures at the IKGF:
- Definition and Transmission of the Medieval Dreambook of Joseph, with a Focus on Texts in Franconian Collections, Tuesday lecture, April 27, 2010.
- China Academic Visit 2010: An Introduction to the Material Setting of Divination in Medieval Western Europe (English)
- Divination in Late Anglo-Saxon England between Norm and Practice, Workshop of Prof. Sturlese, June 9th, 2010.
Interdisciplinary Discussion Forum:
- "Daniel and the Duke of Zhou – A Multidisciplinary Discussion Forum for the Study of Dream Divination", together with Dr. Dimitri Drettas, November 3rd, 2010 (details see below).
The Transmission of Dream Divination in Medieval Western Manuscripts, and Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-century Printed Books
During my stay as a visiting scholar at the IKGF Erlangen from March to September 2010, I focused on the transmission of dream divination in medieval Western manuscripts, and fifteenth- and sixteenth-century printed books. My main activity was to research the definition and history of so-called mantic alphabets, bibliomantic devices used to predict the future, usually on the basis of dreams; a letter retrieved randomly from a book is keyed to a prediction in the list provided in the mantic alphabet. My investigation brought to light that southern Germany was a focal point for the production of mantic alphabets in the late medieval and early modern period, which is borne out by a survey of extant texts, including several new finds in collections from Franconian and Bavarian libraries, including the Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnberg. The results of my research are detailed in papers presented in Beijing and Erlangen, and in two articles, forthcoming in the journals Modern Philology and Medium Ævum. My continued association with the IKGF Erlangen enables me to continue my research into dream divination, resulting in a collaborative article with Dr. Dimitri Drettas on dream divination in Europe and China, and further work on mantic alphabets in medieval Germany.
Daniel and the Duke of Zhou – Dream Prognostics Books in the Chinese and European Middle Ages
This is a collaborative project regarding an intercultural comparison of dream divination and dream divination manuscripts of Dr. László Sándor Chardonnens (Medieval History) and Dr. Dimitri Drettas (Chinese Studies) including continuous mutual exchange and an Interdisciplinary Discussion Forum "Daniel and the Duke of Zhou – A Multidisciplinary Discussion Forum for the Study of Dream Divination", November 3rd, 2010.
The results of this research will be published in a joint article, which can be considered the first tangible results of specific sinologic-mediavistic cooperation. In the article "Daniel and the Duke of Zhou – Dream Prognostics Books in the Chinese and European Middle Ages", published in the second issue of our newsletter, Chardonnens and Drettas reported on their research progress. Both researchers stay connected with the consortium as research partners in the future.
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