Admission requirements
Only accessible for MA students Book & Digtal Media.
Description
In five and a half centuries of printing, the book as a textual form has acquired a huge range of symbolic meanings, of wisdom and authority, but equally of protest and subversion. Moreover, from our earliest exposure to books and print we learn to read the page not just for the meaning of the actual words it contains, but also for the typographic form they have been given. The mise-en-page and the mise-en-livre_—the way we place text two-dimensionally on the page and three-dimensionally in books—have become an indissoluble part of all textual meaning. Typography thus _extends the semantic richness of language through enlisting the possibilities of typographic form. Historically evolved conventions enable Homo typographicus, the species inhabiting our Order of the Book, to recognise instantly the genre to which a text belongs (say, poetry by its lines and stanzas, or a footnoted scholarly argument), and grasp the meaning and significance of the particular way a text has been articulated or segmented. All this takes place largely unconsciously. Now, Homo typographicus, is faced with an exciting new substrate for textual content: that of the digital medium. This gives us a unique opportunity to explore with fresh eyes to what extent the properties of a particular textual form (or ‘substrate’) help to define the range of meanings of the textual content, now as in the past.
The course will study the nexus between form and content with the help of primary and secondary sources, a hands-on exploration of some book production methods, and individual research projects.
Course objectives
Students will
Learn to recognise conventions of textual form and how they have contributed to make meaning;
Learn to understand how textual form is created in practice, through analogue and digital processes;
Gain some hands-on experience in creating textual forms;
Gain insight into the intricate relation between textual form and the social significance of literacy and reading.
Time table
The timetable will be available by June 1 on the website
Mode of instruction
Choose from:
Lectures
Seminars
Individual research
Course load
A brief calculation of the course load, broken down by:
Total course load for the course is 140 hours.
Attending lectures and seminars: 2 hours per week x 14 weeks = 28 hours
Reading/studying the compulsory literature and other homework assignments: 62 hours
Concluding paper (including reading / research): 50 hours
Assessment method
essay, assignments: 25% assignments; 75% final essay
presentation, abstract [to be decided]
In the case of a fail, you are entitled to rewrite the final course essay (plus if course assignments were insufficient, an additional assignment).
To complete the final mark, please take notice of the following:
1) the final grade for the course is established by determining the weighted average
2) the final grade for the course is established by (i) determination of the weighted average combined with (ii) additional requirements. These additional requirements generally relate to one or more of the subtests always be sufficient
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used to provide students with an overview of current affairs, as well as specific information about (components of) the course.
Reading list
D. F. McKenzie, Bibliography and the sociology of texts (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1986)
Bonnie Mak, How the page matters (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011)
David Olson, The world on paper: The conceptual and cognitive implications of writing and reading (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996)
David Pearson, Books as History: The importance of books beyond their texts (rev. edn., London, British Library, 2013)
Van der Weel, Adriaan, Changing our textual minds: Towards a digital order of knowledge (Manchester, Manchester UP, 2011)
Selected articles (full bibliography to be provided)
Registration
Enrollment through uSis is mandatory. If you have any questions, please contact the departmental office, tel. 071 5272144 or mail: ma-mediastudies@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Registration Studeren à la carte en Contractonderwijs
Not applicable
Contact details
Media Studies student administration, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 102C. Tel. 071 5272144; <ma-mediastudies@hum.leidenuniv.nl>
Coordinator of studies: Ms S.J. de Kok, MA, P.N. van Eyckhof 3, room 1.01b.