Making Sense As a Cultural Practice
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Jörg Rogge (ed.) Making Sense as a Cultural Practice Mainz Historical Cultural Sciences | Volume 18 Editorial The Mainzer Historische Kulturwissenschaften [Mainz Historical Cultural Sciences] series publishes the results of research that develops methods and theories of cultural sciences in connection with empirical research. The central approach is a historical perspective on cultural sciences, whereby both epochs and regions can differ widely and be treated in an all-embracing manner from time to time. Amongst other, the series brings together research approaches in archaeology, art history, visual studies, literary studies, philosophy, and history, and is open for contributions on the history of knowledge, political culture, the history of perceptions, experiences and life-worlds, as well as other fields of research with a historical cultural scientific orientation. The objective of the Mainzer Historische Kulturwissenschaften series is to be- come a platform for pioneering works and current discussions in the field of historical cultural sciences. The series is edited by the Co-ordinating Committee of the Research Unit His- torical Cultural Sciences (HKW) at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Jörg Rogge (ed.) Making Sense as a Cultural Practice Historical Perspectives The conference on Making Sense as a Cultural Practice and this print were spon- sored by the Research Unit Historical Cultural Sciences (HKW). This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 (BY-NC-ND). which means that the text may be used for non-commercial purposes, provided credit is given to the author. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Natio- nalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or uti- lized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any infor- mation storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. © 2013 transcript Verlag, Bielefeld Cover Layout: Kordula Röckenhaus, Bielefeld Typesetting: Mark-Sebastian Schneider, Bielefeld Printed by Majuskel Medienproduktion GmbH, Wetzlar ISBN 978-3-8376-2531-8 2016-09-08 16-21-14 --- Projekt: transcript.titeleien / Dokument: FAX ID 00da439726937184|(S. 1- 4) TIT2531.p - Seite 4 439726937192 Content Preface | 9 Welcome Address BY MECHTHILD DREYER, VICE-PRESIDENT FOR STUDIES AND TEACHING, JOHANNES GUTENBERG-UNIVERSITY MAINZ | 11 Introduction JÖRG ROGGE, MATTHIAS BERLANDI, JUDITH MENGLER | 13 COMMUNITIES The Parables of Jesus as Media of Collective Memory Making Sense of the Shaping of New Genres in Early Christianity, with Special Focus on the Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Mark 12:1-12) RUBEN ZIMMERMANN | 23 Social Groups, Personal Relations, and the Making of Communities in Medieval vita monastica CHRISTINA LUTTER | 45 KNOWLEDGE Writing a Life The “family book” by Bartolomeo Dal Bovo PAOLO PERANTONI | 65 Knowledge Making and Authorization Strategies A Study of an Eighteenth Century Norwegian Manuscript Culture ANE OHRVIK | 75 Making Sense of Europe ANNE ERIKSEN | 93 POLITICS How to Create Political Meaning in Public Spaces? Some Evidence from Late Medieval Britain JÖRG ROGGE | 109 Making Sense of Autocracy The Example of Ivan the Terrible JAN KUSBER | 121 The Dissemination of News in Early Modern Venice A Walk in the Company of the Informer Camillo Badoer SIMONE LONARDI | 135 Political Information and Religious Skepticism in Early Modern Italy FEDERICO BARBIERATO | 147 EMOTIONS How to Read a Renaissance Fool Visuality, Materiality, and Symbolic Practice ANU KORHONEN | 163 6L[WHHQWK&HQWXU\&ODVVL¿FDWLRQVRI3DVVLRQV and their Historical Contexts ALESSANDRO ARCANGELI | 181 MEDICINE Making Sense of Illness Gendering Early Modern Medicine MARJO KAARTINEN | 193 0DNLQJ6HQVHRIWKH&RQ¿QHPHQWRIWKH3RRU A Close Reading of the Speech Given at the Opening of the General Hospital in Paris EIVIND ENGEBRETSEN | 211 Making Sense of Diabetes Public Discussions in early West Germany 1945 to 1970 CAY-RÜDIGER PRÜLL | 225 List of Contributors | 241 Preface The collections of papers presented in this volume are the reworked contributi- ons to the conference “Making Sense as a Cultural Practice – Historical Perspec- tives” which took place in Mainz, 18-20th September 2012. Thanks to all the colleagues for their commitment and their readiness to deliver their papers within six month. I would like to thank the Research Unit Historical Cultural Sciences at the Jo- KDQQHV*XWHQEHUJ8QLYHUVLW\0DLQ]IRUÀQLFDOVXSSRUWDQGDOOWKHSHRSOHZKR helped to plan, organize and accomplish the conference, especially Kristina Müller-Bongard. Jörg Rogge Mainz, May 2013 9 Welcome Address BY MECHTHILD DREYER, VICE-PRESIDENT FOR STUDIES AND TEACHING, JOHANNES GUTENBERG-UNIVERSITY MAINZ The Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz is one of the oldest universities in Germany and with more than 36,000 students one of the largest as well. Accor- ding to our mission statement, our university is a place of learning in the unity of research and teaching. It is characterized by a diversity of subject disciplines, VSHFLÀF ÀHOGV RI H[FHOOHQFH DQG FRVPRSROLWDQLVP -RKDQQHV *XWHQEHUJ8QL- versity Mainz is divided into ten faculties including Mainz University Medical Centre (UM) and two art schools – unique within the German academic landsca- pe. Covering almost the entire spectrum of university specialties, our university offers a wide range of courses across more 145 subjects – from the humanities, economics and business administration, social sciences, law, the natural scien- ces, medicine and dentistry up to artistic subjects, sport theology and interpre- ting/translation. This variety of subjects does not only provide our students a JUHDWSHUVRQDOIXOÀOPHQWIUHHGRPEXWDOVRHQVXUHVH[FHOOHQWWHDFKLQJDQGDQ interdisciplinary and internationally research. As an inter-faculty and interdisciplinary institution for the networking and promotion of empirical cultural sciences, the Special Research Unit Historical Cultural Sciences is not only a prime example for interdisciplinarity but also for internationality. The Special Research Unit links several departments and different acade- mic disciplines within our university intending to interconnect and stimulate research within the cultural sciences. It combines empirical work and profound theoretical and methodological considerations in a historical perspective. The 5HVHDUFK8QLWLVÀQDQFLDOO\VXSSRUWHGIURPWRE\WKH6WDWHRI5KL- QHODQG3DODWLQDWH DQG DLPV DW GHYHORSLQJ D VSHFLÀF KLVWRULFDOFXOWXUDO SURÀOH within the University’s general academic portfolio. I am very pleased about all the activities of the Special Research Unit Historical Cultural Sciences: 11 Mechthild Dreyer • establishing a research library “Historical Cultural Sciences” at our univer- sity • LQYLWLQJVHYHUDORXWVWDQGLQJVFKRODUVLQWKHÀHOGRI´7KHRULHVDQG0HWKRGVRI Historical Cultural Sciences” as fellows of our Gutenberg Research College • hosting an interdisciplinary research symposium three to four times each se- mester in order to increase synergies between the different academic disci- plines • establishing a new historical-cultural book series called “Mainzer Historische .XOWXUZLVVHQVFKDIWHQµ ² WZHOYH YROXPHV DUH DOUHDG\ SXEOLVKHG ÀYH RQHV will appear in 2013 • initiating a project to develop a handbook on key concepts of the Historical Cultural Sciences, which will be published in 2013 One of the main concerns of the Research Unit is to strengthen the interna- tional networking and to implement the existing international co-operations in active formats, such as this third international conference. The conference in 2012 aims to examine how, in different contexts, the construction of sense was organized and implemented as a cultural practice. To broaden the perspective on this question, the Special Research Unit invited several scholars focussing on aspects of constructing meaning. The former conference as well as this volume shall introduce Historical Cultural Sciences in Mainz and to the international VFLHQWLÀFFRPPXQLW\,WLQGLFDWHVWKHVXFFHVVIXOHIIRUWVRIRXUVFKRODUVDQGWKHLU HIÀFLHQWLQWHUQDWLRQDOFRRSHUDWLRQZLWKRWKHUUHVHDUFKJURXSVDQGLWDGGLWLRQDOO\ DOORZVWRIXOÀODQRWKHULPSRUWDQWWDVNZKLFKLVWKHVXSSRUWDQGEULQJLQJWRJHWKHU of young academics. Our university gains much from such exchanges, and we greatly appreciate the contacts we have been able to make and maintain. The Special Research Unit Historical Cultural Sciences in Mainz are pursuing an excellent path – especially the conference and its volume is a good example for the way our university actively participates in the global academic community. Therefore I would like to thank Jörg Rogge and his team for organizing the con- ference and publishing its papers in the following volume. 12 Introduction1 JÖRG ROGGE, MATTHIAS BERLANDI, JUDITH MENGLER I. The general theme of this volume is based on the assumption that human beings want to understand themselves, their environment and reality, and thus give them a sense. In the cultural and social formations of the past, practices exist for the generation and integration of moments having and giving a sense with the objective of strengthening the cultural and social cohesion. Such practices and processes of cohesion have a constructive