Languages and Communities in the Late-Roman and Post-Imperial Western Provinces
Alex Mullen editor George Woudhuysen editor
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:28th Dec '23
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read on Oxford Academic and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Languages are central to the creation and expression of identities and cultures, as well as to life itself, yet the linguistic variegation of the later-Roman and post-imperial period in the Roman west is remarkably understudied. A deeper understanding of this important issue is crucial to any reconstruction of the broader story of linguistic continuity and change in Europe and the Mediterranean, as well as to the history of the communities who wrote, read, and spoke Latin and other languages. Languages and Communities in the Late-Roman and Post-Imperial Western Provinces offers the first comprehensive modern study of the main developments, key features and debates of the later-Roman and post-imperial linguistic environment, focusing on the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, Gaul, the Germanies, Britain and Ireland. The chapters collected in this volume help us to understand better the embeddedness, or not, of Latin, at different social levels and across provinces, to consider (socio)linguistic variegation, bi-/multi-lingualism, and attitudes towards languages, and to confront the complex role of language in the communities, identities, and cultures of the later- and post-imperial Roman western world. This volume will be accompanied by two further volumes from the European Research Council-funded LatinNow project: Social Factors in the Latinization of the Roman West and Latinization, Local Languages, and Literacies in the Roman West.
It provides a first point of departure for understanding the linguistic situation of the Roman West in Late Antiquity and the post-imperial period, particularly with regard to the fate of Latin. We can therefore only rejoice at the publication of such an ambitious and at the same time illuminating volume, which will certainly serve as an impetus for further re-search. * Maria Jose Estaran Tolosa, PLEKOS *
The volume ends with a rich bibliography and three indexes that facilitate consultation. Mullen and Woudhuysen deserve credit for leading an innovative research project focused on the history of linguistic communication, in Latin and other languages, within the Roman Empire during the pivotal transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. The new linguistic structures emerging at that moment continue to underpin linguistic communication in the 21st century.I hope that this commendable initiative will continue and allow the researchers to extend their study further to the east where Latin and Greek, ancient Europe's most prominent ancient languages, intersect. * Joseph Reisdoerfer, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
The volume takes the first step towards an interdisciplinary conversation and offers an up-to-date overview of the linguistic situation in the western provinces in the later Roman and post-imperial period. * Yuliya Minets, Early Medieval Europe *
To summarise, this is a noteworthy volume: it demonstrates a keen sensitivity to sociolinguistic nuances, to the complexities of textual transmission and editorial practice, to varied approaches to epigraphic and literary sources, and to historiographical concerns such as disciplinary bias and scholarly preconceptions. Its thematic breadth and intellectual rigour render it demanding, yet indispensable for anyone interested in the linguistic landscape of the Western Provinces following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. It is particularly essential reading for scholars of late and early medieval Gaul and the Iberian Peninsula-beyond merely the Visigothic era. * Álvaro Cancela Cilleruelo, ExClass *
ISBN: 9780198888956
Dimensions: 240mm x 160mm x 20mm
Weight: 738g
364 pages