Research Area D Encyclopaedias (D5)

Project Leaders: Barbara Mittler, Madeleine Herren-Oesch

Even before the term ‘encyclopaedia’ was used, both secular and religious authorities as well as other interest groups claimed the right of fixing a canon of knowledge in encyclopaedic form. This way of organising knowledge can be described as a structured compilation of single entries, providing information without requiring extensive reading which, in the twentieth century, would be called a hypertext. Research on encyclopaedic works analysed the various links between Asian and European encyclopaedias. How did Asian and European encyclopaedia influence each other by mutual translation/adaption, and how did this specific type of hypertext effectuate images of otherness?