Friday, November 13, 2015

Editing Within the History of Civilization


As long as there has been written text, there have been individuals to make corrections to ensure its accuracy and suitability based on context.  In the early days, when stories were passed on orally, those who eventually scribed the information would generally not have exact quotes, forcing them to depict things to the best of their knowledge and ability.  More exact manuscripts were produced when the writers would verbally relay their ideas to scribes for immediate transcription.  However, the scribes were still responsible for inserting grammatical elements, such as the correct punctuation.

At a later time, though not formally referred to as editors, scholars had the responsibility of compiling and comparing all of the earlier manuscripts.  Their goal was to produce a reliable and complete text based on the multiplicity of manuscripts and their understanding of the history and language.  The most influential and well-known example of this would be the Bible.  Another example is Shakespeare.  No authentic manuscripts of his plays survived, leaving the production of them in the hands of gifted “editors” who retransmitted the pieces based on a thorough understanding of Shakespeare’s works.  It wasn’t until 1552 the first developed study of the methodology of textual criticism was produced.  It was at this point that “editors” were given a more technical standard for their work. (learn more)

With the development of printed text, there has been less of a need to compare and compile manuscripts, as publications are more easily standardized.  This has shifted the role of an editor to primarily the technical aspects.  An expert in the field explained that, in recent years, the most striking development has been the effect of computer technology.  The basic tasks of editing, solving problems in the use of language and the set of mechanical items like punctuation, have changed very little.  But, computers have made it easier to show those problems and the suggested solutions to authors.  The speed of the publication process has also increased considerably.

2 comments:

  1. It's interesting to see how the role of an editor has changed from compilation and writing to more focused on, as you said, the "technical aspects". Editors are so crucial to writing and to the publication process-- even focusing on the technical aspects today still helps with the compilation and clarity of a text.

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  2. You paint a clear picture of how rapid the editing and publication process has become thanks to correctional technology and mass printing. Today, we have companies like Google scanning entire books to create a digital library. Not only are books disseminated at express rates, but the information is available immediately too.

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