Amanuensis

History

In ancient Rome, an amanuensis (Latin āmanuēnsis, “secretary”, from ab-, “from” + manus, “hand”) was a slave or freedperson who provided literary and secretarial services such as taking dictation and perhaps assisting in composition. Amanuenses were typically Greek, might be either male or female, and were among the higher-status slaves in ancient Rome who were considered to add value to their masters' lives rather than serving as mere instruments of production. Literary slaves had certain privileges under the law and could be manumitted at a younger age.

Amanuenses played an extensive role in medieval writing and the dissemination of texts. Visionaries in particular relied on amanuenses to translate their experiences into written form. One question in studies of the Christian mystic Margery Kempe, not known to have received a formal education, is the extent to which her amanuenses shaped her self-titled book, completed in 1438. The work of the amanuensis when the author was minimally or not literate likely involved taking dictation, reading back, getting feedback from the author for revision, and possibly shaping the text further during transcription. An amanuensis might bring literary polish to visionary experience, as Adam of Eynsham, for instance, is thought to have drawn on the underworld book of the Aeneid to shape the "rather rambling and confused" visions of his brother Edmund. An amanuensis might act as a translator as well as transcriber. For example, Petrus of Alvastra (aka Peter Olafsson) wrote down the visions of Bridget of Sweden as she recounted them in Swedish, and then translated them into Latin.

Other uses

In Finland, an amanuenssi is an administrative employee of a university, research institution or museum. In Finnish universities, amanuenses can be involved with student guidance counseling, organising course activities, etc.

Job titles

In French, the term "Écrivain Public" (Public Writer) help people to write personal or professional things according to the client.

Notes

References

1. "Use of amanuenses (or scribes) during exams". University of Birmingham.
2. "Exam arrangements for disabled students". University of Glasgow.
3. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' 3rd ed. (2003)
4. Eric Fenby (1936) ''Delius as I Knew Him'', G. Bell & Sons, Ltd., London
5. (2023-03-17). "amanuensis". Wiktionary.
6. [[Susan Treggiari]], "Jobs for Women", ''American Journal of Ancient History'' 1 (1976), p. 78.
7. Forbes, Clarence A.. (1955). "Supplementary Paper: The Education and Training of Slaves in Antiquity". Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association.
8. Stagl, Jakob Fortunat. (2023-03-06). "Favor libertatis: Slaveholders as Freedom Fighters". De Gruyter.
9. W. Martin Bloomer, “Schooling in Persona: Imagination and Subordination in Roman Education”, Classical Antiquity 16:1 (1997), p. 76, n. 44, citing K. Bradley, ''Slaves and Masters in the Roman Empire'' (1984), p. 92, with reference to [[Gaius (jurist). Gaius]], ''Institutes'' 1.19; 39.
10. Eileen Gardiner, introduction to ''Medieval Visions of Heaven and Hell: A Sourcebook'' (Garland, 1993), p. xxvi.
11. Rory G. Critten, ''Author, Scribe, and Book in Late Medieval English Literature'' (D. S. Brewer, 2018), p. 77.
12. William Provost, "The English Religious Enthusiast", in ''Medieval Women Writers'' (University of Georgia Press, 1984), p. 297.
13. Holdsworth, C. J.. (1963). "Visions and Visionaries in the Middle Ages". History.
14. Diane Cady, "Issues of Sexuality, Gender and Ethnicity", in ''The Medieval British Literature Handbook'' (Continuum, 2009), p. 207.
15. "Amanuenssi". jyu.fi.
16. "écrivain public".