Specialist literature

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The specialist literature , also called specialist prose depending on the definition , is a sub-area of ​​non- fictional literature . It is therefore - in addition to non-fiction , a subset of which specialist literature is increasingly included - to the literary genre of non-fiction . In contrast to non-fiction, certain factual issues - often popular scientific processed and jargon free - for a layman representing audience, the literature on targeted "a specialized audience mostly overlooking professional use or gaining new scientific insights."

A sub-area of ​​the specialist literature, in turn, is the scientific literature , with the so-called standard works , which are aimed at scientifically educated people or serve their training.

Technical literature in detail

The specialist literature includes in particular:

Changes due to the digital revolution

The digital revolution has brought about the fact that today, even in the field of specialist literature, publications are increasingly being used on electronic or digital media , above all on CD-ROM or DVD and on special websites . In the area of ​​scientific articles, these are mostly the specially set up online platforms of the publishers who publish the respective journals. The best-known of these portals include ScienceDirect from Elsevier Verlag and SpringerLink from Springer science + business media . There are also of public facilities operated platforms that allow a largely free publication and use, such as the preprint - server arXiv .

The language (s) of science

Technical literature is produced in all the languages in which it is needed; however, since the second half of the 20th century it has appeared in English more and more frequently . As a result, the English language has increasingly taken on the role of the scientific lingua franca , which in the 19th century in Western Europe was held by German and partly also by French .

Even further back in the past, Latin and Greek and partly (Mediterranean) the Arabic language were the leading languages ​​of science in Europe and the entire Mediterranean area since the end of antiquity . German-language specialist literature has also existed since the Middle Ages.

See also

literature

  • Gerhard Eis : Medieval specialist literature. 2nd Edition. Stuttgart 1967 (= Metzler Collection, Department D, M. Volume 14).
  • Marietta Horster (ed.): Ancient specialist writers. Literary discourse and social context. Steiner, Stuttgart 2003 (Palingenesia, Volume 80), ISBN 3-515-08243-3 .
  • Gundolf Keil, Peter Assion (Ed.): Specialized prose research. Eight lectures on medieval art literature. Berlin 1974.
  • Christoph Meinel (Ed.): Specialist literature, library and natural science in the 19th and 20th centuries. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1993, ISBN 3-447-03913-2 .
  • Klaus Reinhardt: From knowledge to books. Write technical and non-fiction books. Bern 2008, ISBN 978-3-456-84521-0 .
  • Wolfram Schmitt: German technical prose of the Middle Ages. Selected texts. Berlin / New York 1972 (= short texts for lectures and exercises. Volume 190).

Web links

Wiktionary: Technical literature  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wiktionary: reference book  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jörg Robert: Technical prose. In: Encyclopedia of Modern Times Online. Edited by Friedrich Jaeger. doi : 10.1163 / 2352-0248_edn_a1018000 .
  2. ^ Gerhard Eis: Medieval professional prose of Artes. In: Deutsche Philologie im Aufriß. Edited by Wolfgang Stammler , 2nd edition. Volume 2, Berlin 1960, Col. 1103-1216.
  3. ↑ a b Sigrid Pohl, Konrad Umlauf: Warenkunde Buch . Structures, contents and tendencies of the German-speaking book market of the present. 2nd, renewed edition. Harrassowitz Verlag , Wiesbaden 2007, ISBN 978-3-447-05622-9 , pp. 117 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed April 18, 2013] 345 pages, paperback ).
  4. ^ Gerhard Eis: Mittelhochdeutsche Fachliteratur: Fachprosa. In: Ludwig Erich Schmitt (Hrsg.): Brief outline of Germanic philology up to 1500. II: History of literature. Berlin 1970, pp. 528-572.
  5. ^ Ria Jansen-Sieben: Middelnederlandse vakliteratuur. In: Gundolf Keil , Peter Assion (Ed.): Specialized prose research. Eight lectures on medieval art literature. Berlin 1974, pp. 24-69.
  6. ^ Bernhard Dietrich Haage, Wolfgang Wegner, Gundolf Keil, Helga Haage-Naber: German specialist literature of Artes in the Middle Ages and early modern times. Berlin 2007 (= Basics of German Studies. Volume 43).