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Languages and Communities in Early Modern Europe

Hardback

Main Details

Title Languages and Communities in Early Modern Europe
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Peter Burke
SeriesThe Wiles Lectures
Physical Properties
Format:Hardback
Pages:226
Dimensions(mm): Height 229,Width 152
Category/GenreSociolinguistics
ISBN/Barcode 9780521828963
ClassificationsDewey:940 306.44094
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Tertiary Education (US: College)

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 16 September 2004
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

In this magisterial new study, Peter Burke explores the social and cultural history of the languages spoken or written in Europe between the invention of printing and the French Revolution, arguing that, from a linguistic point of view, 1450 to 1789 should be regarded as a distinct period. One major theme of the book is the relation between languages and communities (regions, churches, occupations and genders as well as nations) and the place of language as a way of identifying others as well as a symbol of one's own identity. A second, linked theme is that of competition: between Latin and the vernaculars, between different vernaculars, dominant and subordinate, and finally between different varieties of the same vernacular, such as standard languages and dialects. Written by one of Europe's leading cultural historians, this book restores the history of the many languages of Europe in a large variety of contexts.

Author Biography

Peter Burke is Professor of Cultural History and a Fellow of Emmanuel College at the University of Cambridge. He has published over twenty books which have been translated into over thirty languages.

Reviews

'... a historian of the first rank, a prolific pioneer of the study of 'cultural history'. This typically brilliant survey of European languages between the invention of printing and the French Revolution began as a series of lectures at Queen's University Belfast ... This is serious history deserving of a wide readership.' BBC History 'Peter Burke paints a broad canvas with assurance and virtuosity ...' Times Higher Education Supplement 'This is a rich and illuminating book, full of insight and often surprising detail. Its strengths lie above all in its diversity - in Burke's ability to offer a close-up of, say, the colonial presence of Portuguese or the decline of Catalan, while also moving happily among a whole range of different languages and writers. ... rewarding and insightful ...' Journal of Multilingual & Multicultural Development