Project description
Bilingualism as a phenomenon of the Renaissance
Classical bilingualism, which gained popularity during the Renaissance and was championed by authors such as Erasmus (1466-1536), played a significant role in shaping Europe’s cultural identities. This was evident through the Republic of Letters, where the practice of switching between Latin and Greek became a daily occurrence, especially after Manuel Chrysoloras began teaching Greek in Florence in 1397. The ERC-funded ERASMOS project challenges the conventional belief that Latin-Greek bilingualism was primarily an ancient phenomenon. It will create a comprehensive heatmap of European humanism by cataloguing classical bilingual sources from the extended 15th century in a database. Digital tools will be developed to analyse literary multilingualism and study classical bilingualism.
Objective
ERASMOS hypothesizes that, in contrast to the tenet, the great age of Latin-Greek bilingualism, especially in its written form, is not to be situated in antiquity. Instead, classical bilingualism flourished in the Renaissance, a pivotal period in canonizing classics. After 1397, when M. Chrysoloras started teaching Greek in Florence, classical bilingualism developed into an authorial ideal championed by writers like Erasmus (d.1536). This ideal pervaded countless genres, far beyond classical standards. It turned into a common practice shaping Europe’s cultural identities across the Republic of Letters, where Latin-Greek code-switching occurred on a daily basis.
ERASMOS opens a new research avenue on Renaissance classical bilingualism in its own right, which offers broader opportunities. The project has 3 main aims. (1) It inventories classical bilingual sources from the long 15th century (1397–1536) in a database, in order to create a new detailed heatmap of European humanism. (2) It develops digital tools for the analysis of literary multilingualism, leading to a new form of digital humanities-assisted close-reading. Most notably, the novel “tongueprint” tool will allow us to automatically calculate the linguistic make-up of texts. This tongueprint aims to further integrate multilingualism into Neo-Latin studies by cross-fertilizing the field with historical sociolinguistics. (3) ERASMOS analyzes through DH-assisted close-reading the forms and functions of classical bilingualism, in comparison to its ancient pendant, thus testing the core project hypothesis.
ERASMOS, in sum, brings cultural-historical and digital-conceptual innovation. The tools developed will benefit humanities studies more broadly and will help us save a key part of European cultural history from oblivion. The project promises major advances in the study of Europe’s classical bilingualism, which connected the continent’s brightest minds in an age that fell prey to divisive ideological forces.
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsHost institution
3000 Leuven
Belgium