Global premodern literature in the digital age: The Seven sages of Rome/ Sindbad/ Syntipas/ Dolopathos

The Seven sages of Rome, also known as the book of Sindbad, Syntipas, Sendebar, Dolopathos or Diocletian (7S for short), was one of the most popular premodern story matters, but is virtually unknown today. Recent technological and methodological advances in digital humanties and transregional studies have opened new possibilities for its exploration. This Special Collection conceptualises and exemplifies these new approaches. Our starting point is to see each manuscript, print, version of language tradition of the 7S as part of a multilingual whole rather than divided into national languages, paying attention to the translatedness of most medieval texts; the mix of different local and learned languages such as Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Persian or Latin; and the deliberate echoes of the style of another language and literary culture. From this multilingual perspective, recurring intersectional inequalities become visible in the plot between men and women, animals and humans, speech-impaired and able-bodied characters. Gender is particulary integral to the plot, as most versions vilify women’s speech but at the same time feature multiple characters who do fit into a binary gender role as either male or female, making it particularly interesting for a history of trans* imaginations.