- Text, Layout, and Medium
- A cura di Davide Amendola, Cristina Carusi, Francesca Maltomini, Emilio Rosamilia
The Thin Line Between mise en page and mise en abyme: An Examination of the Layout of Multiple Letters on Papyrus (1st-6th Centuries CE)
- Yasmine Amory
- © 2024 Author(s) |
- CC BY 4.0
- DOI: 10.36253/979-12-215-0456-9.08
Although letters are probably the most intensively studied type of documents in papyrology, their material and visual aspects have received little scholarly attention. Yet, in recent years there has been a noticeably growing interest in these aspects and their relation to the content of documents. Among the many examples of preserved letters, this chapter examines the formal features of one specific communication practice, namely the penning of multiple messages on a single support (papyrus, ostracon, or wooden tablet). This practice, which allowed the letter writer to save paper and time, since letters could easily encounter delays or never make it to their final destination, usually involved one individual addressing a group of people living together or in proximity, or a group of close individuals addressing the same person. Personal and social reasons could also come into play in choosing a single writing medium. The examination of this group of texts shows that multiple letters could be arranged according to four different types of layout: (1) by placing one message on top of another; (2) side by side; (3) by using the two faces of the writing medium; or (4) by shaping them into a single letter, in what I suggest we call the “shell letter.” By discussing each of these visual arrangements, this chapter investigates the reasons that may have led the scribe to prefer one layout to another, as well as the relationship between text, layout, and correspondents.
- Keywords:
- papyrology; multiple letters; communication practices; layout; “shell letter.”,
Ghent University, Belgium - ORCID: 0000-0002-4590-5781
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Informazioni sul capitolo
Titolo del capitolo
The Thin Line Between mise en page and mise en abyme: An Examination of the Layout of Multiple Letters on Papyrus (1st-6th Centuries CE)
Autori
Yasmine Amory
Lingua
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0456-9.08
Opera sottoposta a peer review
Anno di pubblicazione
2024
Copyright
© 2024 Author(s)
Licenza d'uso
Licenza dei metadati
Informazioni bibliografiche
Titolo del libro
Text, Layout, and Medium
Sottotitolo del libro
Documents from the Greco-Roman World between Epigraphy and Papyrology
Curatori
Davide Amendola, Cristina Carusi, Francesca Maltomini, Emilio Rosamilia
Opera sottoposta a peer review
Numero di pagine
426
Anno di pubblicazione
2024
Copyright
© 2024 Author(s)
Licenza d'uso
Licenza dei metadati
Editore
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0456-9
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0455-2
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0456-9
Collana
Edizioni dell’Istituto Papirologico «G. Vitelli»
ISSN della collana
2533-2414
e-ISSN della collana
2612-7997