ConclusionUnframed

Abstract

Abstract The conclusion considers the use of manuscripts in literary studies as a matter of framing. If one does not regard manuscripts as part of the literary work, the manuscripts are just pragmatic and functional, cognition-enhancing tools for the writer. In that case, the manuscripts are outside of the frame. This book, however, is an invitation to look at works of literature as ‘unframed’ pieces of art. If there are extant manuscripts and other preparatory notes of a particular work, it is worth our while to take a look at them. Evidently ‘unframing’ a work of art is also a form of framing. Taking account of the context of its creative process is a choice. It is an approach that sees literature as an artefact that, while it was in the process of being made, left traces of alternative narratives, twists, phrasings; it is a form of critical framing that is interested both in the ‘factum’ (the artefact as finished product) and in the ‘facere’ (the making-of). This involves an enhanced awareness of the sociology of writing; of the ecologies of the creative process; of the concurrence of writing projects and their mutual impact; of the relevance of manuscripts to genetic narratology or narrative analysis across versions; and of the value of manuscript research for the study of intertextuality. It requires genetic editions and a set of reading strategies, to the development of which this book tries to give an impetus.