Review article
Renaissance to the East: Western Scholarship’s Blind Spot or Justified Neglect?
Vladimir Bubrin
; Toronto
Abstract
This paper examines why Renaissance scholarship in the West pays only passing attention to the developments south of Venice and east of Nuremberg–Leipzig–Wittenberg on the example of recently published reference books and books on reading and printing in the Renaissance: Paul F. Grendler’s Encyclopedia of the Renaissance (1999); The Oxford Companion to the Book (2009); Andrew Pettegree’s The Book in the Renaissance (2010); Guglielmo Cavallo’s & Roger Chartier’s A History of Reading in the West (1999); and Jean-François Gilmont’s The Reformation and the Book (1996). While a rich body of literature on the Renaissance exists in the areas peripheral to the mainstream (Croatia, Bohemia, Poland, Hungary), there is little evidence of any dovetailing of research in the West into areas beyond its traditional boundaries. This gives rise to questions: Is there a blind spot in Western scholarship when it comes to the Renaissance to the east? Can the disregard be explained or justified? Obstacles to a more inclusive scholarship are examined and opportunities for a greater integration of research are explored.
Keywords
Western Renaissance scholarship; Renaissance in Croatia and Eastern Europe; integration of Renaissance research; incunabula; 16th century book; Renaissance book market
Hrčak ID:
102531
URI
Publication date:
22.4.2013.
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