Descripción del proyecto
Un estudio más detallado de la identidad lingüística en la Europa medieval
En la Europa medieval, las cuestiones relacionadas con la identidad lingüística tenían una gran importancia. Ante este tapiz polifacético, los investigadores examinan la relación entre lengua e identidad, así como la demarcación de lenguas afines. El proyecto TVOF, financiado por el Consejo Europeo de Investigación, pone en entredicho las narrativas predominantes. Su equipo se centrará en el periodo crucial de 1100-1450 para examinar el papel del francés como lengua supralocal y transnacional. De este modo, pretende dilucidar la repercusión del francés en la aparición de una identidad europea durante la Edad Media. Gracias a la colaboración internacional de especialistas de diversas disciplinas, el proyecto ofrece un nuevo planteamiento para comprender la compleja interacción de la lengua y la cultura en la configuración de la historia europea.
Objetivo
Two questions about linguistic identity lie at the heart of this project. What is the relation historically between language and
identity in Europe? How are cognate languages demarcated from each other? Normative models of national languages
helped shape Europe. Yet they did not become hegemonic until the 19th century. Indeed, they were imposed (not always
successfully) on a linguistic map of Europe more fluid and complex than most histories of national languages allow. In the
Middle Ages multilingualism was common, as was the use of non-local languages, notably Latin, but also French. This
project undertakes a revaluation of the nature and value of the use of French in Europe during a crucial period, 1100-1450,
less in terms of its cultural prestige (the traditional focus of scholarship) than of its role as a supralocal, transnational
language, particularly in Western Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. The project fosters collaboration between, and
cuts across, different intellectual and national scholarly traditions, drawing on expertise in codicology, critical theory,
linguistics, literature, and philology; it involves scholars from a range of European countries and North America, entailing
empirical research around a complex and widely disseminated textual tradition vital to medieval understandings of
European history and identity, L’Histoire ancienne jusqu’à César. This case study will ground and stimulate broader
speculative reflection on the two core questions concerning linguistic identity. While the project builds on prior critiques of
the construction of, and investment in, national languages and literary traditions, it has a broad historical scope, and will
offer an innovative, genuinely international perspective, in terms of both its object of study and method. Indeed, its final aim,
through and beyond its consideration of French as a lingua franca, is to interrogate that language’s role in the emergence
of a European identity in the Middle Ages.
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdatabases
- humanitieslanguages and literaturelinguisticsphonology
- humanitieshistory and archaeologyhistorymedieval history
- humanitieslanguages and literatureliterature studiesliterary theoryliterary criticism
- humanitieslanguages and literatureliterature studieshistory of literature
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-ADG - Advanced GrantInstitución de acogida
WC2R 2LS London
Reino Unido