Textual scholars have tended to produce editions which present the text without its
manuscript context. Even though digital editions now often present single-witness
editions with facsimiles of the manuscripts, nevertheless the text itself is still transcribed
and represented as a linguistic object rather than a physical one. Indeed, this is explicitly
stated as the theoretical basis for the de facto standard of markup for digital texts: the
Guidelines of the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI). These explicitly treat texts as semantic
units such as paragraphs, sentences, verses and so on, rather than physical elements
such as pages, openings, or surfaces, and some scholars have argued that this is the only
viable model for representing texts. In contrast, this chapter presents arguments for
considering the document as a physical object in the markup of texts. The theoretical
arguments of what constitutes a text are first reviewed, with emphasis on those used
by the TEI and other theoreticians of digital markup. A series of cases is then given in
which a document-centric approach may be desirable, with both modern and medieval
examples. Finally a step forward in this direction is raised, namely the results of
the Genetic Edition Working Group in the Manuscript Special Interest Group of the
TEI: this includes a proposed standard for documentary markup, whereby aspects of
codicology and mise en page can be included in digital editions, putting the text back
into its manuscript context
Is data on this page outdated, violates copyrights or anything else? Report the problem now and we will take corresponding actions after reviewing your request.