Details

Subject(s)

• Inscriptions, Russian (Old)—Russia (Federation)—Novgorodskaia oblast’. [Browse]
• Bark inscriptions—Russia (Federation)—Novgorodskaia oblast’. [Browse]

Series

• Studies in Slavic and General Linguistics 43. [More in this series]
• Studies in Slavic and General Linguistics ; v. 43 [More in this series]

Summary note

In Voices on Birchbark Jos Schaeken explores the major role that writing on birchbark – an ephemeral, even ‘throw-away’ form of correspondence and administration – played in the vibrant medieval merchant city of Novgorod and other cities in the Russian Northwest. Birchbark literacy was crucial to the organization of Novgorodian society; it was integrated into a huge variety of activities and had a broad social basis; it was used extensively by the laity, by women as well as men, by villagers as well as landlords. Voices on Birchbark is the first book-length study of this unique corpus in English. By examining a representative selection of birchbark texts, Jos Schaeken presents fascinating vignettes of daily medieval life and a holistic picture of the pragmatics of communication in pre-modern societies.

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Source of description

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

Contents

• Preliminary Material
• Notes on Translation, Transliteration, Terminology, and References
• Historical and Geographical Context
• Sites and Distribution
• Dating and Periodization
• Writing Technology and Practice
• Users and Literacy
• Intersections between Birchbark Writing and Graffiti
• Language and Communication
• Preliminary Remarks
• Commerce and Finance
• Law and Administration
• Estate Management
• Family Life and Household Management
• Learning to Read and Write
• Church, Religion, and Folk Belief
• Witnesses to History
• Non-Slavic on Birchbark
• Introduction
• The Orality Factor
• The Role of the Messenger
• Communicatively Heterogeneous Letters
• Social Networks
• Some Final Thoughts
• Color Plates
• References
• Index of Birchbark Documents
• Index of Subjects.

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ISBN

90-04-38942-3

OCLC

1048941877

Doi

• 10.1163/9789004389427

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