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The Vernacular

Walter Cohen

in A History of European Literature: The West and the World from Antiquity to the Present

The collapse of the classical empires opens the way to the rise of the vernacular, arguably the turning point in the history of European and world literature. The replacement of one spoken vernacular ... More

The collapse of the classical empires opens the way to the rise of the vernacular, arguably the turning point in the history of European and world literature. The replacement of one spoken vernacular by another is the result of conquest, but, almost always, only if the invaders represent a large enough percentage of the resulting population to prevail. Though the emergence of written vernaculars exhibits recurrent causes and characteristics across Eurasia, systematic differences result in multiple vernaculars in some regions, no more than one in others. On this basis, a distinctive feature of medieval European literature emerges—the importance of intra-vernacular literary leadership. That literature is best understood through the tension between Latin Christendom’s restrictive self-definition and a more expansive definition of Europe based on the present-day contours of the continent.Less

Peripheries of Power: Toward an Ambulatory History

in Eccentric Spaces, Hidden Histories: Narrative, Ritual, and Royal Authority from The Chronicles of Japan to The Tale of the Heike

This chapter examines written vernacular narrative as it emerges out of and then defines itself against the dominant in Chinese. It focuses on the late Heian vernacular historical tale Ōkagami, which ... More

This chapter examines written vernacular narrative as it emerges out of and then defines itself against the dominant in Chinese. It focuses on the late Heian vernacular historical tale Ōkagami, which is interpreted both as a transmogrification and an early nomadization of court history that characterized the emergence of rule by retired sovereigns. It discusses the generic identity of vernacular narrative as it moved from the world of orality into the sphere of written discourse and reviews modern critique of phonocentricism. This chapter also considers the practical consequences of representing Japanese sounds and meanings with Chinese graphs and the relationship between authoritative versus non-authoritative discourse.Less

Dante Alighieri

Florian Coulmas

in Guardians of Language: Twenty Voices Through History

A Florentine nobleman who was driven into exile for political reasons, Dante Alighieri devoted his life to elevating his native Tuscan speech to an elaborate supraregional language. His project of ... More

A Florentine nobleman who was driven into exile for political reasons, Dante Alighieri devoted his life to elevating his native Tuscan speech to an elaborate supraregional language. His project of promoting vernacular writing for literary purposes amounted to a writing reform, although there was no political authority in Italy to institutionalize it. The new poetic language that Dante distilled from Italian dialects, putting Tuscan at the centre, was both closer to the language of the common people than Latin and capable of expressing the finest sentiments. Examining Dante’s theoretical writings about the ‘vulgar language’, this chapter shows that he practised what he preached and that he is, therefore, rightly celebrated as Italy's ‘national poet’.Less

The Development of Modern Scots Orthography

Jennifer Bann and John Corbett

in Spelling Scots: The Orthography of Literary Scots, 1700-2000

The later Older Scots period is marked by a language shift that saw a drastic reduction in the domains in which Scots was written. The corresponding shift towards the norms of written standard ... More

The later Older Scots period is marked by a language shift that saw a drastic reduction in the domains in which Scots was written. The corresponding shift towards the norms of written standard English was probably not always the result of a conscious choice on the part of Scottish writers. It is unlikely that many of those few who were literate during the Older Scots period actually thought of themselves as writing ‘Scots’ as such – it is more likely that, if they considered the issue at all, they would have considered themselves literate in the vernacular, or non-Latin, language they spoke, in the same way as a literate Englishman might also write in the vernacular tongue.Less

The history of the regulation and exploitation of women’s speech and writing in Japan

Momoko Nakamura

in Women in the History of Linguistics

This chapter describes how women’s relationship to Japanese language has been defined, assessed, and exploited within the field of Japanese linguistics. After a brief history of language studies in ... More

This chapter describes how women’s relationship to Japanese language has been defined, assessed, and exploited within the field of Japanese linguistics. After a brief history of language studies in Japan in the Introduction, the second section analyses the norms for women’s speech in conduct books (etiquette manuals) since the thirteenth century. The third section summarizes the arguments concerning women’s contribution to the development of kana script in the Heian period (794–1185). The fourth section examines the changing values assigned to two speech styles linguists have prominently attributed to women: jogakusei kotoba (‘schoolgirl speech’) of the late nineteenth century and nyōbō kotoba (‘court-women speech’) since the fourteenth century. The last section considers the shifting evaluations assigned to the works by two individual women, the Japanese translation of Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886) by Wakamatsu Shizuko and the codification of Ainu oral narrative by Chiri Yukie. Conclusions outline three major findings of the chapter.Less

Introduction

Rita Copeland and Ineke Sluiter (eds)

in Medieval Grammar and Rhetoric: Language Arts and Literary Theory, AD 300 -1475

This section focuses on the diffusion of grammatical and rhetorical theory in Latin teaching and especially in English vernacular writing. It presents texts that represent aspects of this diffusion ... More

This section focuses on the diffusion of grammatical and rhetorical theory in Latin teaching and especially in English vernacular writing. It presents texts that represent aspects of this diffusion and approaches them through related developments in the language arts where new critical interests and cultural values were accommodated by old frameworks. It also considers the continuity with older practices and outlooks, especially with respect to the teaching of Latin language and composition, by citing key ancient and medieval preceptive works in grammar and compositional rhetoric. Finally, the extension of grammatical pedagogy into non-traditional areas is discussed.Less

Exoticism as the Appropriation of Travail

Shayne Aaron Legassie

in The Medieval Invention of Travel

This chapter explains the cultural logic of medieval exoticism and its implications for reading travel writing about East Asia during the period. In the Middle Ages, the prestige-value of exotic ... More

This chapter explains the cultural logic of medieval exoticism and its implications for reading travel writing about East Asia during the period. In the Middle Ages, the prestige-value of exotic commodities derived in large part from the labor involved in transporting them from their place of origin to their place of consumption. In many settings, the exchange, ownership, and display of exotica were politically symbolic in nature. This cultural reality invites a reconsideration of how two of the most widely studied works of medieval travel writing--the ​Itinerarium of William of Rubruck and the ​Divisament dou monde of Marco Polo and Rustichello da Pisa--render the subjective experiences of their traveling protagonists.Less

“In the Hands of All the People”: Ledi Empowers the Laity

Erik Braun

in The Birth of Insight: Meditation, Modern Buddhism, and the Burmese Monk Ledi Sayadaw

This chapter explores Ledi Sayadaw’s efforts after 1900 to popularize study and practice among the laity. He exploited print culture, producing many vernacular writings, he went on wide-ranging ... More

This chapter explores Ledi Sayadaw’s efforts after 1900 to popularize study and practice among the laity. He exploited print culture, producing many vernacular writings, he went on wide-ranging preaching tours, and he founded numerous social organizations during his extensive travels— all to teach doctrine and moral behavior. Ledi’s program helped to empower lay people to collective action by arguing for Buddhism as the most scientific and superior of world religions. The chapter examines a speech by Ledi, in which he argues that lay people have the responsibility to protect and promote Buddhism. In this role, Ledi saw mastery of the Abhidhamma as the most powerful means that the laity could deploy, once again underlining the importance of philosophy and study to Burmese Buddhism. Rather than laicization or monasticization, Ledi’s multipronged effort supported a leveling between monk and layperson and an intensification of lay life that reconstructed Burmese Buddhism.Less

King Sejong the Great

Florian Coulmas

in Guardians of Language: Twenty Voices Through History

King Sejong the Great was as an enlightened monarch who ordered a writing reform and the creation of a new writing system for the Korean language. The purpose was to enable his people to become ... More

King Sejong the Great was as an enlightened monarch who ordered a writing reform and the creation of a new writing system for the Korean language. The purpose was to enable his people to become literate more easily than with the highly involved Chinese writing system which took many years of study to master. This chapter examines the preconditions of his project, the technical difficulties of the design, and the impediments to promoting vernacular writing. The fact that the new easy-to-learn writing system threatened the status of the Chinese-educated elite is also discussed.Less