Shaping Readerly Taste

Abstract

Making use of theoretical insights from ‘history of the bookʼ scholarship, this paper examines the way in which Mxit‘ar of Sebastia made use of paratexts (title pages, frontispieces, dedications, epigraphs, prefaces, illustrations, headings, epilogues, appendices, etc.) in his ‘publishing mission’ (to use Sahak Čemčemean’s appelation) to shape readerly taste and influence the way in which his books were read, received, and interpreted. Through introductory poems, illustrations, and playful word games, he presented himself as a second Maštoc‘ and his own students like the famous fifth-century disciples of that vardapet, who were meant to transmit and create in the same Armenian Christian literary tradition, under the aegis of the Roman Catholic Church.

Keywords

• History of the book. Mxit‘ar of Sebastia. Mxit‘arist congregation. Paratextuality. Reader response