Shaping Readerly Taste

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DC Field	Value
dc.identifier	ECF_article_12359
dc.title	Shaping Readerly Taste. Paratextuality in the Publishing Mission of Mxit‘ar of Sebastia
dc.contributor.author	Arlen Jesse
dc.publisher	Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Venice University Press, Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari
dc.type	Research Article
dc.language.iso	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://edizionicafoscari.it/en/edizioni4/riviste/armeniaca/2023/1/shaping-readerly-taste/
dc.description.abstract	Making use of theoretical insights from “History of the Book” scholarship, this paper examines the way in which Mkhit‘ar of Sebastia made use of paratexts (title pages, frontispieces, dedications, epigraphs, prefaces, illustrations, headings, epilogues, appendices, etc.) in his ‘publishing mission’ (to use Sahak Djemdjemian’s appelation) to shape readerly taste and influence the way in which his books were read, received, and interpreted. Through introductory poems, illustrations, and playful word games, he presented himself as a second Mashtots and his own students like the famous 5th-c. disciples of that vardapet, who were meant to transmit and create in the same Armenian Christian literary tradition, under the aegis of the Roman Catholic Church.
dc.relation.ispartof	Armeniaca
dc.relation.ispartof	Vol. 2 \| October 2023
dc.issued	2023-11-22
dc.dateAccepted	2023-05-12
dc.dateSubmitted	2023-03-03
dc.identifier.issn
dc.identifier.eissn	2974-6051
dc.rights	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.identifier.doi	10.30687/arm/2974-6051/2023/01/006
dc.peer-review	yes
dc.subject	History of the book
dc.subject	Mxit‘ar of Sebastia
dc.subject	Mxit‘arist congregation
dc.subject	Paratextuality
dc.subject	Reader response

Research Article
open access peer reviewed

Paratextuality in the Publishing Mission of Mxit‘ar of Sebastia

Jesse Arlen Zohrab Information Center / Fordham University

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abstract

Making use of theoretical insights from “History of the Book” scholarship, this paper examines the way in which Mkhit‘ar of Sebastia made use of paratexts (title pages, frontispieces, dedications, epigraphs, prefaces, illustrations, headings, epilogues, appendices, etc.) in his ‘publishing mission’ (to use Sahak Djemdjemian’s appelation) to shape readerly taste and influence the way in which his books were read, received, and interpreted. Through introductory poems, illustrations, and playful word games, he presented himself as a second Mashtots and his own students like the famous 5th-c. disciples of that vardapet, who were meant to transmit and create in the same Armenian Christian literary tradition, under the aegis of the Roman Catholic Church.

Published

Nov. 22, 2023

Accepted

May 12, 2023

Submitted

March 3, 2023

Language

Keywords: Mxit‘arist congregation • Mxit‘ar of Sebastia • Paratextuality • History of the book • Reader response

permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/arm/2974-6051/2023/01/006

Copyright: © 2023 Jesse Arlen. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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