A network of knowledge

Hugo Schuchardt`s (HS) legacy which includes 13-14.000 letters (only the ones he received and preserved) and his extensive review work (220-250 pieces) are quantitatively by no means exceptional, although they hitherto have - with few exceptions - largely been ignored. We do not understand them adequately as long as we interpret this as the characteristic of a solitary individual, and we do not recognize the scholarly regular practice of networking. This represents a constitutive function in a new mode of scientific research and concept of science. The unprecedented growth and development of language sciences in the 19th century may be seen as the product of new networks of communication made possible by technological innovations. Pioneering scholars created new modes of discourse and thus re-conceptualized research in the humanities. New media and networks, the emergence of which were closely linked to industrialization, created the material basis for the consolidation, the internationalization and the intensification of the discussion; they extended the subject matter of research and conditioned the social appropriation (institutionalization) of research structures and contents through the also newly designed universities. The most determining factors were the establishment of a modern public postal service as well as innovative changes in typesetting technique and the invention of the rotary press and wood pulp paper. These advancements paved the way for the foundation of over 40 philological journals over 3 decades, in some cases published weekly. Such conditions expanded, accelerated and at the same time reduced the costs of dissemination and created new forms of scholarly discourse. We propose to investigate the groundbreaking importance of such a network in the history of science and ideas and it will document its fundamentals using the papers and the legacy of HS. We propose to map the structures of the then-existing network within which HS was only one - albeit very productive and creative - pillar onto a virtual electronic network built on the actual possibilities of information management. The function of the electronic `Hugo Schuchardt Archive` of providing writings and materials by and on HS will be preserved, but the project aims to significantly expand its scope. The virtual model of the network of knowledge will enable us to understand the historical processes of `obtaining knowledge` and render the development of scientific knowledge transparent. Other relevant parts of the epistolary legacy and reply-letters by HS will be edited in a critically annotated database. In addition, the manuscript and material resources (esp. on Creole languages) are to be processed and edited electronically. The transitions between letters and reviews are gradual, therefore we will extend the concept of oeuvre to precisely those aspects that settle the basis of their own conditions and development. A number of studies on individual topics that have influenced decisively the constitution phase of philology and linguistics will accompany the project work. The implementation of the network will aim at delivering a virtual architecture in a pan-European perspective, which will allow us to introduce other relevant representatives and ultimately will complete the network and demonstrate the evolution of the discourse in full width. We already have established contacts with foreign colleagues interested in collaborating on this important point. One projected extension will be the processing of relevant parallel materials for the network with respect to Rhaeto-Romance (Ascoli, Gartner etc.). Some print editions will complement the otherwise electronically oriented project work.

The "Network of Knowledge" project aimed at demonstrating that the development of scientific thought and research is better understood as a reflection of societal developments, conditions and its institutionalization, than simply as a succession of thoughts and insights. In particular, two necessary consequences are crucial for understanding the catalyzing effects for science: the postal system, which was established as a logistics tool for the organization of the industrial market after 1840, and major changes in the printing industry (Schnellpresse, rotary press, wood pulp paper, lino-type). Comparable to the effects of globalization and the Internet on the changes in todays scientific work, the project proposes a rating of the media developments of the 19th century (up to about World War I): the avalanche-like increase and acceleration of the communication paths led to new fields of research, facilitated accessibility of distant languages and cultures, thus metaphorically made the world smaller. It multiplied the publishing industry, and speeded up the processes of knowledge and its distribution. Consequently, it contributed to the canonization of the scientific disciplines and to their societal institutionalization.The empirical material strengthening these reflections, which are based on Benjamin's Passagenwerk, was provided by the very extensive legacy of the linguist and Romance philologist Hugo Schuchardt. With his originality and intense international network activities he played a key role in the history of the field as well as in the history of science (Neo Latin studies, founder of creole studies, theorist of language change, researcher of Basque, Caucasian, Celtic, and many others). The Graz University Library hosts his legacy of nearly 14,000 letters and various 10,000 pages of manuscript material. These papers not only illustrate the network, but also the fact that the scientific discussion, the provision of information and the development of new fields of study would have been impossible without these media innovations. The process from information to knowledge is directly mapped within this material. Nearly 5,000 of the scientifically relevant letters were digitized, edited, commented and made freely available in an open-access system during the project work. The website was in its most important respects re-designed. A thesaurus-oriented search system allows for keyword-oriented approaches. The project has succeeded in mapping the 19th century network onto a modern digital platform and making it accessible to the public. In further steps it is planned to establish the necessary connection to the manuscript legacy and to broaden and deepen the web presence with the help of other analogue legacies (Ascoli, Paris). The remarkable international resonance and active willingness of many colleagues to cooperate contributed significantly to the success of the project.One smaller side project: We initiated, e.g., the digitalization of Schuchardts ethnographic legacy stored in the Wiener Volkskundemuseum (around the key topic "Sachen und Wörter"). The museum has designed the web presence of this collection, which now allows a reciprocal linking from the text to the object and vice versa from the object back to the text (science to public).