Abstract
The chapter brings material together for the first time to identify acts of editing through time, demonstrating the consistent ambiguity that comes with the role, and the elusiveness of ‘fixity’. Focusing on the long nineteenth century, it pinpoints the emergence of a distinct professional practice in the shape that we recognise today. Greenberg applies the concept of intermediality to consider the mutual influence of different genres, concluding that editing in its modern form is the result of the cross-cutting influence of three factors: the need for accuracy and speed (newspapers); the demand for a consistent voice and identity (magazines); and the technical demands of narrative (books). Overarching all, the chapter traces the shift in sources of authority from religion to secular institutions, and the abiding concerns of editorial mediators to manage error and ensure the survival of texts.
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Greenberg, S.L. (2018). An Expectation of Error: The Emergence of Modern Editing. In: A Poetics of Editing. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92246-1_4
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