The Multi- and Interdisciplinary Relevance of Fragment Studies: Two Cases from a State Archive in Italy

Abstract

Abstract: This essay aims to provide a contribution to the global discourse of fragmentology. The authors envisage fragmentology as a discipline that includes research on various materials like clay, papyrus, parchment, and paper and from both European and non-European contexts. At the same time, the authors argue for the greater role of fragment philology as a constituent part of fragmentology. After presenting their definition of both a fragment as a concept and fragmentology as a discipline, the essay problematizes the role of textual philology in fragmentology. Authors then present the practical application of their propositions on the basis of an in-depth analysis of two case studies from the Italian State Archive, a bifolium from a Latin antiphonary and a group of strips from a Middle Dutch lectionary.