New philological practices: semantic edition of A. P. Chekhov’s texts

Abstract

The authors present the concept of semantic digital publication of A. P. Chekhov's texts, giving special attention to the research project Chekhov Digital implemented in Southern Federal University and the Southern Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The goal of the project consists in creation of semantic marling of the compilation of writer’s works supported by the standards for digital publication Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) that allows presenting the text in format that can be processed by a computer, as well as the standards for electronic format of Russian-language literary texts displayed in the Semantic edition of the texts of L. N. Tolstoy. The crucial task of the project consists in provision of digital tools useful for the researchers, including convenient semantic search, statistical processing and visualization tools. The main source is the Academic Compilation of Complete Works and Letters of A. P. Chekhov in 30 volumes (1974-1983). Currently, a preliminary structure of markup is developed for some categories that exist in Chekhov's texts, notes, commentaries, and description of the volumes of Academic Compilation of Complete Works and Letters of A. P. Chekhov, which arranging semantic search of information, make editorial notes computer-readable, and more adjusted to studying not only the traditional approach, but also computer methods. It is underlined that text markup would expand due to inclusion of new categories; and the semantic edition itself would broaden its network due to inclusion of reference and editorial-peered texts that are beyond the scope of the Academic Compilation of Complete Works and Letters of A. P. Chekhov. Semantic edition Chekhov Digital gives grounds for a new type of commentary that incorporates meanings and facts, complicates and enriches the interpretation of text. Such edition is valuable for the researchers, pedagogues, students, and audience interested in the topic.