11-02-2024, 12:00 PM
Situating ciphers among alchemical techniques of secrecy
Sarah Lang
University of Graz
"This paper offers a contextual frameworkfor the historical analysis of alchemical ciphers. It argues that they differ from other ciphers due to their unique context: the alchemical tradition embodies a performative culture of secrecy, which employs avariety of techniques to achieve this performance. This paper contends that the distinction between ‘secret as content’ versus ‘secrecy as practice’ presents a useful framework for understanding alchemical rhetorics of secrecy and their relationship to alchemical cryptography. Additionally, it demonstrates how these principles can be applied in interpreting several examples."
https://www.ecp.ep.liu.se/index.php/hist...ew/698/604
Sarah Lang
University of Graz
"This paper offers a contextual frameworkfor the historical analysis of alchemical ciphers. It argues that they differ from other ciphers due to their unique context: the alchemical tradition embodies a performative culture of secrecy, which employs avariety of techniques to achieve this performance. This paper contends that the distinction between ‘secret as content’ versus ‘secrecy as practice’ presents a useful framework for understanding alchemical rhetorics of secrecy and their relationship to alchemical cryptography. Additionally, it demonstrates how these principles can be applied in interpreting several examples."
https://www.ecp.ep.liu.se/index.php/hist...ew/698/604