Autori
Magnússon, Sigurður Gylfi
Ólafsson, Davíð

Titolo
Minor knowledge. Microhistory, scribal communities and the importance of institutional structures
Periodico
Quaderni storici
Anno: 2012 - Volume: 140 - Fascicolo: 2 - Pagina iniziale: 495 - Pagina finale: 524

The authors interpretation of manuscript exchange - the scribal community- as a sociocultural network questions the traditional view of thedevelopment of literacy and education in the world. In rural Iceland, formalinstitutions of the kinds that modern historians tend to concentrate onwere only one of the channels through which the popular desire for knowledgewas served - and in most cases not even the most important one. Setagainst this were groups of lay scholars - barefoot historians - and it seemsfair to see them, and in fact their scribal culture as a whole, as an informalinstitution, at least on a par with the official institutions. This institutionprovided ordinary people with the opportunity to obtain knowledge andseek entertainment, to organize and document their lives, to express theirfeelings and opinions, and to communicate and maintain relationships. It isargued in this article that the activities of the popular scribes of Icelandicpeasant culture were an essential factor in the education and culture of thepeople of Iceland, working in parallel with the institutions that ostensiblydirected these areas of society, with each influencing and being influencedby the other.



SICI: 0301-6307(2012)140:2<495:MKMSCA>2.0.ZU;2-V
Testo completo: http://www.mulino.it/download/article/10.1408/37891
Testo completo alternativo: http://www.mulino.it/doi/10.1408/37891

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