Editorial Politics: Transmission and Reception of Religious and Confessional Knowledge in the Ottoman Empire

The workshop explores how religious knowledge is transmitted through texts and images as they move between manuscripts and printed forms, and how these processes shape meaning and interpretation. It examines translation practices and their historical relevance, as well as the reasons, goals, and contexts behind changes made to original works. The focus will be on authority, authorship, and inter-communal relations in the multi-confessional Ottoman Empire in the 18^th century. One example are Armenian translations of Greek Orthodox treatises by Eustratios Argenti on Baptism and the Eucharist.

Particular attention is given to how adaptations influence the circulation and understanding of religious / confessional texts and images, how editorial decisions affect the translation and publication of confessional writings, and how traces of source languages (such as Greek or Latin elements) appear in translated texts. The workshop also considers the scripts and languages used in translations, adaptations, and edited printed materials.

The scope of the workshop includes, but is not limited to:

• the transmission of knowledge through texts and images from original manuscript forms to printed versions, and vice versa, with particular attention to the extent of alterations occurring during these processes
• translation techniques and their historical and cultural contexts
• the logic, purpose, objectives, and circumstances underlying interventions in original texts
• the role of adaptations in the circulation and reception of specific texts and images
• editorial policies shaping the translation and printing of confessional writings
• traces of source languages in translated texts (e.g., Graecisms, Latinisms)
• scripts and languages used in translations, adaptations, and edited printed texts

Organisers

The workshop is jointly organised by Anna Ohanjanyan, current Senior Fellow at the College for Social Sciences and Humanities and Associate Professor at Yerevan State University, and Margarita Voulgaropoulou, Professor of Art History at Ruhr University Bochum. 

Registration 

Please register by 11 June 2026 (in person or online):

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Location

College for Social Sciences and Humanities, Essen

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