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In academia, a Festschrift (/ˈfɛstˌʃrɪft/; plural, Festschriften, /ˈfɛstˌʃrɪf.tən/) is a book honouring a respected academic and presented during his or her lifetime. The term, borrowed from German, could be translated as celebration publication or celebratory (piece of) writing. A comparable book presented posthumously is called a Gedenkschrift (memorial publication).
A Festschrift contains original contributions by the so honoured academic's close colleagues, often including his or her former doctoral students. It is typically published on the occasion of the honoree's retirement, sixtieth or sixty-fifth birthday, or other notable career anniversary. A Festschrift can be anything from a slim volume to a work in several volumes. Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt began in 1972 as a Festschrift to commemorate the 75th birthday of Joseph Vogt, a German classical historian, was planned as an four Volume Festschrift and has reached now 89 volumes (several planned for the next years, but paused since 1998). The essays usually relate to in some way, or reflect upon, the honoree's contributions to their scholarly field, but can often include important original research by the individual authors. Many Festschriften also feature a tabula gratulatoria, an extended list of academic colleagues and friends who send their best wishes to the honoree.
In the case of very prominent academics, several Festschriften might be prepared by various groups of students and colleagues, particularly if the scholar made significant contributions to several different fields. In Germany it is an honor to be designated to prepare such a collection, and being selected by a prominent academic to edit a Festschrift can symbolize the proverbial passing of the torch.
Endel Tulving, a Canadian neuroscientist, proposed that "a Festschrift frequently enough also serves as a convenient place in which those who are invited to contribute find a permanent resting place for their otherwise unpublishable or at least difficult-to-publish papers." (p.39, Tulving E. 2007. Are there 256 different kinds of memory? In The Foundations of Remembering: Essays in Honor of Henry L. Roediger, III, ed. JS Nairne, pp. 39–52. New York: Psychol.Press)
Since no English designation for such a book has been established, the German word Festschrift is widely used internationally. However, Festschriften are often titled something like Essays in honour of... or Essays presented to...
Academics who had a notable Festschrift
- Raymond Firth During his long and notable career, Sir Raymond Firth had three Festschriften published in his honour.
- James D. McCawley Two Festschriften, the earlier one (1972) subtitled Defamatory essays presented to James D. McCawley on his 33rd or 34th birthday and anthologizing pseudonymous articles. Some are by McCawley himself, notably the opening paper. The Festschrift was reprinted two decades later.
- Roman Jakobson Two Festschriften, the second (1966) taking up 3 volumes totaling 2464 pages.
- Jagdish Bhagwati Professor Bhagwati has been honored uniquely with six festschrifts.
Three festschrifts have been presented in Netherlands, UK and the United States, the latter two on Bhagwati’s 60 birthday and the former during a scientific conference held at Rotterdam at the time of the award of an Honorary Degree. On Bhagwati’s 70 Birthday, two festschrift conferences were organized.The sixth and final festschrift was organized on 5th August 2005.
Webfestschrift
Increasingly, Festschriften are being compiled and published by electronic means. An electronic Festschrift is often called a Webfestschrift (pronounced either /vɛb-/ or /wɛb-/). Although there are many valuable collections published online, the first public use of this term corresponds to Boris Marshak's Webfestschrift, Eran ud Aneran, published online on October 2003.
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