To consider a text canonical is to invest it or its author with prestige, authority, or even timeless value. Canons set standards and define what is deemed worthy of transmission. Canonical texts or authors become part of reference frames and contribute to shaping shared identities. Hence, the distinction between those who belong to the canon and those who do not inevitably operates a dynamics of inclusion and exclusion. It is not clear, however, who, if anyone, is the agent of such operations and what decides how canons are shaped. The question is all the more pertinent as canons are much more fluid than is often assumed. Authors that once were held in high esteem fall out of the canon, while texts that barely left any traces before may acquire canonical status by being frequently cited or recommended.
MECANO sets out to investigate the processes of canon formation, developing a new model to understand the mechanics of canon formation and knowledge transmission from Greco-Roman Antiquity—a period that made, and keeps making, a profound impact on the European culture. The model will show how the processes of citation, reference, translation, and adaptation make texts and authors acquire or lose canonical status as a dynamic process. By looking at canon formation across time – from Antiquity itself, through the Middle Ages and up until the 20th century – our project gains a longitudinal perspective necessary to study this process in its various realisations.
The methodologies employed within MECANO combine qualitative approaches to intellectual history and reception studies with applications of digital and computational methods (such as text reuse detection, named entity recognition, and network analysis) on extensive text corpora. In doing so, the project fosters advanced digital literacy among researchers in the historical humanities, thus meeting an increasing demand for digitally skilled professionals with a humanities background across a wide range of sectors.
Finally, by looking at canon formation and canon transformation across times, languages and cultures, MECANO is inevitably concerned with the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion implied in knowledge transmission. Articulating these dynamics will put MECANO researchers in a position to engage in contemporary societal debates about inclusive education, cultural identity and diversity. An important part of the expected project output will include reflections on the instability of canons and their subjectivity, made accessible to the broader public in the form of short videos, blog posts, and work packages for schools.
