RTG 582: Symbols in Medieval Society

Basic data for this project

Description

'Symbol' and 'ritual' have become central categories of historical and ethnological cultural anthropology. This is due to their special suitability for the recording of the regularity and the (hidden) significance of the processes of communication and interaction of alien societies. Differentiating these terms by definitions (e.g. from everyday habits) and interpreting their function and meaning, however, poses epistomological problems. With these problems in mind, the European Middle Ages suggest themselves as a paradigm for an investigation of societal symbolism.Medieval societies emerged from various cultural traditions and systems of symbols. These differed markedly as to their origins and their stages of development and created, by manner of competition and interference, new living conditions and new forms of behaviour and expression. At the same time the plurality of cultures early on made pertinent the problems of understanding and translation. It also generated a consciousness of dealing with formalised communication and a sensibility for the readability of signs which had not been necessary in more simple and homogenous societies. Furthermore, all the areas of life were permeated by a transcendental significance developed from the system of allegorical interpretation of the world, of man, of history and of society which had been derived from the Jewish and Patristic traditions of bible exegesis and which endowed symbols with an ontological dignity.Single aspects of this culture of interpretation and meaning have been examined before but as yet it has not been itself the subject of an interdisciplinary investigation. It is, therefore, the aim of the research training group to comprehend the culture of interpretation and meaning in its function for the constitution and evolution of medieval society with an interdisciplinary amalgamation of representative research projects.