Texts, Manuscripts, Contexts

The LAB will focus on the practices and settings of knowledge production and transmission in the Middle Ages, within various linguistic traditions of the Eurasian region. Building on the concept of “cultures of knowledge” (“Wissenskulturen”: e.g., S. Steckel), it will approach knowledge transfer as a socially situated process, shaped by specific cultural practices as well as by specific materialities. 

Employing various yet complementary approaches, numerous research projects based at IMAFO engage with the processes of consolidating, organising, and (re)shaping knowledge, as well as with medieval manuscripts as mediators of this creative use of intellectual heritage. The “Shaping Knowledge” Lab intends to bring together the skills and interests available across the various departments of our Institute, in order to enhance interdisciplinary exchange and enrich the range of research questions and methodologies driving our work.