AHA Session 226
Renaissance Society of America 2
Renaissance Society of America 2
Saturday, January 9, 2027: 1:30 PM-3:00 PM
Galerie 4 (New Orleans Marriott, 2nd Floor)
Chair:
Ray Schrire, Tel Aviv University
Papers:
Session Abstract
How do we make sense of languages and texts, especially those that are ancient, fragmentary, variant, or resistant to interpretation? This question has long driven scholars to compile, analyze, interpret, and compare such materials—practices collectively known as philology. Today, philological methods are dispersed across university departments, prompting historians to investigate their origins, deployment, and pivotal role in the formation of the modern humanities. Recent studies have extended these inquiries, tracing philology’s intersections with histories of science and race, colonialism and empire, antiquarianism and collecting, archaeological decipherment, and linguistic and cultural nationalism. This panel presents new research that draws on analytical tools from other disciplines—and from the histories of those disciplines—to rethink the study of languages and texts across time. Drawing on early modern and modern examples, speakers will take stock of recent trends in the history of philology while broadening its scope to include overlooked figures, sources, and geographies. Together, the papers assess philology’s evolving disciplinary shape and chart fresh directions for its historical understanding.
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