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UID:20127-6ae699d96bc0708152fbc05bf71d41ed@events.la.psu.edu
DTSTAMP:20261016T011615Z
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261026T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261026T163000
SUMMARY:Work-in-Progress Workshop
DESCRIPTION:\nTitle: Archival Tales of Loss and Recovery\n\nScott Smith\
	, English and Comparative Literature\n\nAbstract: This work in progress 
	comes from a book project that examines the uses of writing in early med
	ieval England as a means to establish and maintain the possession of lan
	d as property over time. The book argues that this mode of writing can b
	e read as a legal fiction\, defined as an assumption accepted into legal
	 practice as an operative fact that enables certain legal procedures and
	 outcomes. Writing about land came to function as such a fiction\, becom
	ing a form of belief in which the written instrument provided the best (
	if not the only) means of establishing possession and protecting it from
	 dispute and counterclaim in the long term. At the same time\, land text
	s frequently developed defensive measures against outcomes that contradi
	cted the fiction of instrumental writing\, which were many. Consequently
	\, writing about land was driven to increased invention and elaboration\
	, in content\, style\, and form. This process did work to reify and rein
	vest the power of writing\, but it also reinscribed its repeated failure
	s.\n\n"Archival Tales of Loss and Recovery" follows a chapter that reads
	 dispute narratives as individual\, situational texts that were produced
	 to clarify past controversy and provide conclusive claims about right o
	wnership. This work in progress examines a cluster of related documents 
	from the archive of St. Andrews Cathedral\, Rochester\, all of which con
	cern the same three estates and their contentious history. I read these 
	documents\, which include both individual items and texts copied within 
	a house cartulary\, as an aggregate text whose collective contents overw
	helm their practical purpose. The documents do establish\, in the end\, 
	Rochester’s claims\, but their narrative content also exposes the vulner
	ability of proprietary writing to shifts in politics and patronage. In s
	uch situations\, writing is not enough.\n\nA PDF of the draft will be ci
	rculated to the listserv a week before the workshop.\n\n&nbsp\;\n\nFor m
	ore details: https://events.la.psu.edu/event/work-in-progress-workshop/
X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:<html><head></head><body><p><strong>Title: 
	Archival Tales of Loss and Recovery</strong></p><p>Scott Smith, English 
	and Comparative Literature</p><p>Abstract: This work in progress comes f
	rom a book project that examines the uses of writing in early medieval E
	ngland as a means to establish and maintain the possession of land as pr
	operty over time. The book argues that this mode of writing can be read 
	as a legal fiction, defined as an assumption accepted into legal practic
	e as an operative fact that enables certain legal procedures and outcome
	s. Writing about land came to function as such a fiction, becoming a for
	m of belief in which the written instrument provided the best (if not th
	e only) means of establishing possession and protecting it from dispute 
	and counterclaim in the long term. At the same time, land texts frequent
	ly developed defensive measures against outcomes that contradicted the f
	iction of instrumental writing, which were many. Consequently, writing a
	bout land was driven to increased invention and elaboration, in content,
	 style, and form. This process did work to reify and reinvest the power 
	of writing, but it also reinscribed its repeated failures.</p><p>"Archiv
	al Tales of Loss and Recovery" follows a chapter that reads dispute narr
	atives as individual, situational texts that were produced to clarify pa
	st controversy and provide conclusive claims about right ownership. This
	 work in progress examines a cluster of related documents from the archi
	ve of St. Andrews Cathedral, Rochester, all of which concern the same th
	ree estates and their contentious history. I read these documents, which
	 include both individual items and texts copied within a house cartulary
	, as an aggregate text whose collective contents overwhelm their practic
	al purpose. The documents do establish, in the end, Rochester’s claims, 
	but their narrative content also exposes the vulnerability of proprietar
	y writing to shifts in politics and patronage. In such situations, writi
	ng is not enough.</p><p>A PDF of the draft will be circulated to the lis
	tserv a week before the workshop.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>For more details: <
	a href='https://events.la.psu.edu/event/work-in-progress-workshop/'>http
	s://events.la.psu.edu/event/work-in-progress-workshop/</a></p></body></h
	tml>
LOCATION:Grucci Room, 102 Burrowes Building
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