The first of the IHR European History 1150-1550 seminars 2022 will take place on 13 January 2022, between 5.30 and 7pm GMT.
Professor Torsten Hiltmann (FU Berlin) will deliver the paper ‘Orality – Literacy – Digitality: Medieval Perspectives on the Digital Age.’
This talk argues that, rather than the invention of the printing press, the processes of digitalisation in the present resemble the rise of the written word in the Middle Ages, which reshaped all aspects of society, from institutions and law to education and trade. Our knowledge of this medieval transition allows us to better understand our own, modern-day engagement with digital media. Intermediary steps such as recording and emulating the spoken word in the medium of text show how new media remained initially tied to customary ways, but would soon enable entirely new practices of use that alter culture and society irrevocably.
The seminar, which takes place on Zoom, is free. Please register online here.
Medieval Art Research 