Conference Description:

The written word has immense power. Manuscripts, books, newspapers, pamphlets, internet and even graffiti can define and spread knowledge as well as form tools for emancipation and liberation. Yet it can also break down communities and fuel discontent. Some argue that new technologies and strategies have enhanced the power of the written word in a negative sense. Others answer that fake news, manipulation and ever-changing technologies have always played a role in history. Moreover, the power of the written word seems threatened by the preponderance of visual technologies in the spread of information.

The conference theme explores how and to what extent the power of the written word has manifested itself in past, present and future. Scholars from a range of disciplines are invited to elaborate on the subject – from text creation, illumination and editing to dissemination and distribution of written and printed documents. Big data, digital humanities, codicology, history – whatever the method, we invite you to examine the theme from its beginnings in Sumeria and far into the future. What is the power of the written word? What has it achieved?