Queering the language of dynasty in imprints and bibliographic metadata

Abstract

Queer history and queer bibliography have taught us that names matter. This paper uses queer history and methodology to rethink nomenclature related to the early modern conception of the family printing dynasty and to show how heteronormative assumptions manifest in metadata and other forms of bibliographic description. It asserts that classification and the creation of metadata have never been neutral acts. Drawing on radical challenges to systems of knowledge organization made by librarians from the 1970s onwards, it suggests that such systems can and should restructure around new ideas of family that take into account queer lives, histories, and language. For the early modern period, this means acknowledging dynastic structures that were frequently nonnormative, deviating from the traditional business inheritance from father to son. To demonstrate the shortcomings of current metadata practices and the potential for reassessment, this paper utilizes three case studies related to the vague use of the terms “widow” and “heir” in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French, Flemish, and Dutch imprints. It presents practical solutions in making metadata more accurate, including a new perspective on the print workshop as a space of collaboration, an expansion in roles expressed within a record, and increased emphasis on interoperability and open linked data. Rethinking systems of power—and acknowledging the labor that cataloging and metadata creation entail—allow for a queer bibliography that acknowledges the messiness of identity and legacy but is also precise and accurate.