Introduction: The great upheaval: multilingualism and lingua francas in the Early Modern period

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

In recent years, our whole notion of what constitutes a language has been thrown into disarray. We have become aware that they are not, after all, watertight entities, territorially bounded and the property of ‘native speakers’ with their own unique take upon the world, but instead ‘social constructions’ held in place by ‘metadiscursive regimes’. One of the results of this upheaval has been a reassessment of linguistic history to determine just when the ‘monolingual mindset’ took root. Though scholars agree that the seeds of these nationalistic impulses were sown in the Early Modern period, many believe that, at that time, multilingualism was the natural state of affairs, with something akin to ‘translanguaging’, practised routinely in intercultural ‘contact zones’. This chapter examines this hypothesis by taking a closer look at the linguistic dynamics operating in Europe and beyond in the centuries between 1400 and 1800, looking not only at the shifting relationships that existed between the various tongues vying for status as Latin, the great lingua franca of the Middle Ages, entered in decline, but also at some of the myths and theories that circulated to sustain them.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationLanguage Dynamics in the Early Modern Period
EditorsKaren Bennett, Angelo Cattaneo
Place of PublicationNew York
PublisherRoutledge
Pages1-18
Number of pages18
ISBN (Electronic)978-1-003-09244-5
ISBN (Print)978-0-367-55214-5, 978-0-367-55215-2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2022

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