Voices on Birchbark: Everyday Communication in Medieval Russia

By Jos Schaeken

In Voices on Birchbark Jos Schaeken explores the major role that writing on birchbark - an ephemeral, even 'throw-away' form of correspondence and administration - played in the vibrant medieval merchant city of Novgorod and other cities in the Russian Northwest. Birchbark literacy was crucial to the organization of Novgorodian society; it was integrated into a huge variety of activities and had a broad social basis; it was used extensively by the laity, by women as well as men, by villagers as well as landlords. Voices on Birchbark is the first book-length study of this unique corpus in English. By examining a representative selection of birchbark texts, Jos Schaeken presents fascinating vignettes of daily medieval life and a holistic picture of the pragmatics of communication in pre-modern societies.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9004389407
• ISBN13: 9789004389403
• Release Date: November 2018
• Publisher: Brill
• Length: 212 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.2" x 9.3"