FOR 963: Manuscript Cultures in Asia and Africa

亚洲和非洲的许多文化都是手稿文化；有些仍然是。尽管印刷技术在一些流派或特定目的中变得广为人知和流行，但相当一部分知识仍以手稿的形式保存和传播。与西欧中世纪相比，亚洲和非洲的手稿文化只被部分了解，尽管在许多地区，当代民族自信导致了对这一丰富文化遗产的重新发现。西方对这些手稿的兴趣主要是由于历史研究的系统重新定位，例如最近对物质文化和日常文化的关注，以及数字技术提供的新的分析可能性。这与人们对媒体科学的普遍兴趣相伴而来。值得注意的是，目前关于从一种传播媒介到另一种传播媒介的变化或关于各种传播手段之间差异的讨论，尽管观点非常不同，但都是基于一个基本上未得到承认的前提，即西欧范式的普遍性。考虑到这一点，研究股的目标是通过典范研究为手稿文化的历史和比较研究作出贡献。研究文化的多样性将确保超越狭隘的欧洲视野不会被简化为简单的二分法（“东方vs西方”）。

Many of the cultures of Asia and Africa were manuscript cultures; some still are. Even though the techniques of printing became widely known and popular for several genres or particular purposes, a considerable part of knowledge kept being preserved and transmitted in manuscript form. In contrast to the West European Middle Ages, the manuscript cultures of Asia and Africa are only partially known, this despite the fact that contemporary national self-belief is, in many regions, leading to the rediscovery of this rich cultural heritage. Interest in these manuscripts in the West is largely due to a methodical reorientation in the study of history, such as the recent focus on both material and everyday culture, as well as the new possibilities of analysis offered by digital technology. This comes along with a general interest in media sciences. Significantly, the current discussions on change from one medium of communication to another or on differences between the various means of communication is, despite very different points of view, based on a largely unrecognised presupposition, viz., the generalisability of the West European paradigm. With this in mind, the goal of the Research Unit is to contribute to historical and comparative research on manuscript culture by means of exemplary studies. The variety of the examined cultures will ensure that going beyond the narrow European horizon will not be reduced to a simple ("East vs. West") dichotomy.