University of Gothenburg
Ana Mihaljevic
  2. News and events
  3. Find events
  4. Tracing Women from Corpus to Dictionary: Croatian Church Slavonic Contexts and Lexicographic Challenges

Tracing Women from Corpus to Dictionary: Croatian Church Slavonic Contexts and Lexicographic Challenges

Research
Culture and languages

Ana Mihaljević will explore how women are represented in the Croatian Church Slavonic corpus and how words referring to women have been treated in historical dictionaries. The seminar addresses both textual and lexicographic perspectives, highlighting the challenges of working with socially sensitive vocabulary in historical sources, as well as recent corpus-based approaches to describing such material. All interested are welcome!

Lecture,
Seminar
Date
11 May 2026
Time
15:15 - 17:00
Location
Room C452, Humanisten, Renströmsgatan 6 and Zoom
Participants
Ana Mihaljević, Old Church Slavonic Institute, Zagreb
Good to know
Seminar language: English

The seminar is relevant to medieval studies, gender studies, lexicography, Slavic studies, and related fields. No prior knowledge of Old Church Slavonic is required.

For zoom link, please contact antoaneta.granberg@sprak.gu.se
Organizer
Department of Languages and Literatures, the research area Language in Society, and the Slavic Research Seminar

Abstract

This presentation examines the position of women in the Croatian Church Slavonic corpus and the lexicographic treatment of words referring to women in historical dictionaries. Medieval culture has traditionally been male-dominated: men were generally the primary bearers of literacy and cultural production, as well as the main protagonists within texts. As a result, women remained on the margins, and their role in Croatian Glagolitic heritage has not been extensively studied.

Within the project Women And The Feminine In Mediaeval And Early Modern Glagolitic Culture, the position of women in the Croatian Middle Ages is being explored on several levels. This presentation will outline some aspects of what is currently known about women in the Croatian Glagolitic corpus and in early Croatian dictionaries, focusing on identifying women mentioned in the corpus and analysing the contexts in which they appear.

The second part of the presentation will address the lexicographic treatment of words denoting women. It will highlight some of the challenges related to representing women in earlier dictionaries, as well as more recent attempts to describe such words in a modern, corpus-driven dictionary that is sensitive to socially marked vocabulary while still faithfully reflecting the historical contexts in which women appear.

 


 

Last modified