Patterns of Knowledge Circulation in Early Modern East-Central Europe: Tracing Jewish Kabbalistic Textual Units in Multiple-Text Manuscripts

This presentation will provide initial insights into the first comprehensive study of the networks of production and circulation of Jewish esoteric texts in early modern East-Central Europe (1500-1750). This study, which is funded by the German Research Foundation and has begun in 2019, aims to collect datasets and quantitatively analyse the transmission and reception of Jewish esoteric traditions recorded in manuscript form. In doing so, the study makes use of network analysis methods and utilises digital database environment (provided by LAB 1100) that facilitates analysis and visualisation of data with complex temporal, geographical and relational attributes.

The scholarship on Jewish books, both in manuscripts and in print, and kabbalah has centred chiefly on studying individual figures, narrowing the focus of study to singular individuals and groups. Such an approach, although important, stops short of unearthing broader patterns and dissemination of ideas, which could be available through analysis o

23-10-2020 14:20 - 15:00