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Ego-documents in European context

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Center for the Study of Egodocuments and History

The website of the Center for the Study of Egodocuments and History aims to promote the study of egodocuments in a historical context.

The word 'egodocument' refers to autobiographical writing, such as memoirs, diaries, letters and travel accounts. The term was coined around 1955 by the historian Jacques Presser, who defined egodocuments as writings in which the 'I', the writer, is continuously present in the text as the writing and describing subject.

This website presents the results of the inventory initiated by Rudolf Dekker of Dutch egodocuments written between 1500 and 1918.
 
It also provides information on the research project Controlling Time and Shaping the Self , headed by Arianne Baggerman: Education, Introspection and Practices of Writing in the Netherlands 1750-1914, which focuses on Dutch egodocuments.

The projects are funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).

Other parts of this website include:

  • Information on the meetings of the Auto/Biography Project Group 0f the Huizinga Institute, Research School of Cultural History.
  • Information on the series Egodocumenten published by Verloren Publishers.
  • Information on the series Egodocuments and History published by Brill Publishers.
  • Information on research institutions outside the Netherlands with whom collaboration has been established.
  • Links to relevant websites.