Medieval Slavic Manuscripts and SGML: Problems and Perspectives (review)

Abstract

Reviews Medieval SlavicManuscripts andSGML:Problems andPerspectives. Marin Drinov, Sofia, 2000. 371 pp. Notes. Figures. Bibliographical references. Price unknown. THIS volume of articles has grown out of a project begun in I994 in the Department of Old Bulgarian Literature of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The aim of this project is the creation of a machine-readable Repertorium of OldBulgarian Literature andLetters, a corpus of medieval Slavonic texts in a form capable of analysiswith the aid of the new technology. At the time this volume was written, over six hundred texts from about seventy manuscriptshad been included, a small number in terms of what exists, but still daunting for manual processing; as the number increases, the value of mechanical assistancewill become more evident. Withinthe thematicunityprovidedby itsorigins,thisvolume isnevertheless something of a 'c6opHIK CbC cmeceHo c-b4AbpXKaHH4e'. Some of the articles focus on particulargroups of manuscriptsfrom among those so far included in the repertory,othersdiscussthe theory and practice of encoding them and theircontents, and yet othersareconcerned with the technology used. It is the firstgroupwhich will be of most immediate interestto traditionalphilologists, and it shouldbe noted in thiscontext that though the book may not be an easy read for anyone unfamiliarwith computer applicationsto the humanities, it is neverthelessconcerned with many of the questions that studentsof medieval texts have traditionally addressed. The preliminary results presented here, almost all in studies of various types of miscellany, provide an illustrationof the application of new technology to them. Inevitably, structuralconsiderations are prominent, both because this aspect of study is one to which computing can be most immediately applied, and because the very process of encoding demands a closer attention to textual structurethan it has usually received. Many of the articles comment on how these considerations have affected the process of encoding and the development of the 'Template for Slavic Manuscripts'which the projectuses. The resultsgiven here are farfrom displayingthe fullpotential of computer assisted processing, both because the numbers of manuscriptsstudied are in most cases still comparatively small, and because the analytical structureis stillin the process of development. The complexity of this development is well illustratedin the articlesby A. Miltenova and A. Bojadziev, certain aspectsof the description being far more highly evolved than others. At the same time the detailsgiven here do raisequestionsabout the hierarchicalstructureof the descriptions, in particularthe subordination to the orthographical system of many featureswhich may be regardedas linguistic.It could at least be argued thatthesebelong at anequivalentandnot a subordinatelevel.The discrepancy between the sections of a descriptionas used by Miltenova and Bojadzievand the differentlevelsof theTEI structureisin factcommented on by M. Dobreva later in the volume; this should lead us to question the appropriatenessof the 722 SEER, 79, 4, 200I TEI standards for this type of work a question already implied by the enormous and ever-growingextension file that it requires. Particularlyinterestingto readerswith a backgroundin the humanities are the articleswhich approach the subjectfrom the other side, from the point of view of the computer scientist. Dobreva is right to stress the necessity of adheringto establishedproceduresinproductdevelopment;sheandM.Jordanova also drawattentionto a numberof practicalissues,notablytheproblems caused by entering data in transcription. They could be more forceful in drawing the necessary conclusion that data should be entered in the originalcyrillicand converted automaticallyto SGML entities, which are the only standardfor text encoding and interchange.This can be done easilywith the existing technology. The various transcriptionselaborated by R. Lazov then become redundant or, if required for any purpose, can be generated from the SGML. The editing of such a disparatevolume must have been a taxing exercise, and though there are some lapses there arereferenceson pp. 97 and I 76 to a non-existent Appendix i, and a number of proper names appearin unusual forms it has been accomplished remarkablywell by a team only one of whom has Englishas his native language. The book is a usefuladdition to the small but growing literatureon the subject.It is particularlyto be hoped that it will come to the attention of those engaged in computer applicationsin the humanitiesoutsidethe field of medieval Slavonic manuscripts. University ofPortsmouth R. M. CLEMINSON Herrity, Peter. Slovene. A Comprehensive Grammar. Routledge, London and New York,2000. xii + 372 pp. Bibliography.Index. / 25.00 (paperback). HALF a century has elapsed since R...