Neo Latin Ant The Vernacular In Renaissance France

In planning this volume, we had two aims. In the first place, we wanted to make a contribution to an important area of Renaissance studies, one which is now rapidly expanding. NeoLatin writing has at last come to be seen not just as a pedantic adjunct of humanist interest in the classics, but as a vigorous medium for intellectual and literary expression in its own right. At the same time, we conceived the volume as a tribute to Ian McFarlane from some at least of his friends and colleagues, honoring the major contribution he himself has made, and continues to make, to neo-Latin and French Renaissance studies. We are aware that his versatility as a scholar cannot be fully reflected in a volume devoted to a single topic and a single period of French culture, and we extend our apologies to the large number of colleagues who would no doubt have wished to associate themselves with this project had our frame of reference been broader. Nevertheless, we believe that our chosen subject not only falls within Ian McFarlane's main field of research, but also symbolizes the ideal of international communication and co-operation for which he has worked throughout his career. -- Editors

In Virgil's third Eclogue, Palaemon concludes the poetry competition between Menalcas and Damoetas by saying that he cannot choose between them, a judgment that is emblematic of the contest between Neo-Latin and vernacular poetry in Renaissance France. Both forms of poetry draw on similar roots, both are equally accomplished, and the contest between them is largely amicable. The Judgment of Palaemon illustrates the almost symbiotic relationship between Renaissance Latin and French poetry, while exploring poets' motivation for choosing one language over another, the different challenges each form of writing involved, and the extent of the collaboration between different language communities. It focuses on some of the major writers of the period, as well as less well known ones, and on genres specific to humanist poetry. It shows that composing in Latin was often considered more natural, at a time when many Frenchmen's mother tongue was a non-standard French dialect or distinct language.

Dynamics of Neo-Latin and the Vernacular offers a collection of studies that deal with the cultural exchange between Neo-Latin and the vernacular, and with the very cultural mobility that allowed for the successful development of Renaissance bilingual culture. Studying a variety of multilingual issues of language and poetics, of translation and transfer, its authors interpret Renaissance cross-cultural contact as a radically dynamic, ever-shifting process of making cultural meaning. With renewed attention for suitable theoretical and methodological frames of reference, Dynamics of Neo-Latin and the Vernacular firmly resists literary history’s temptation to pin down the Early Modern relationship between languages, literatures and cultures, in favour of stressing the sheer variety and variability of that relationship itself. Contributors are Jan Bloemendal, Ingrid De Smet, Annet den Haan, Tom Deneire, Beate Hintzen, David Kromhout, Bettina Noak, Ingrid Rowland, Johanna Svensson, Harm-Jan van Dam, Guillaume van Gemert, Eva van Hooijdonk, and Ümmü Yüksel.

This volume brings together case studies on key aspects of Neo-Latin and vernacular bilingualism in the early modern period, such as language choice, translations/rewritings, and the interferences between vernacular and Neo-Latin discourses.

From the dawn of the early modern period around 1400 until the eighteenth century, Latin was still the European language and its influence extended as far as Asia and the Americas. At the same time, the production of Latin writing exploded thanks to book printing and new literary and cultural dynamics. Latin also entered into a complex interplay with the rising vernacular languages. This Handbook gives an accessible survey of the main genres, contexts, and regions of Neo-Latin, as we have come to call Latin writing composed in the wake of Petrarch (1304-74). Its emphasis is on the period of Neo-Latin's greatest cultural relevance, from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Its chapters, written by specialists in the field, present individual methodologies and focuses while retaining an introductory character. The Handbook will be valuable to all readers wanting to orientate themselves in the immense ocean of Neo-Latin literature and culture. It will be particularly helpful for those working on early modern languages and literatures as well as to classicists working on the culture of ancient Rome, its early modern reception and the shifting characteristics of post-classical Latin language and literature. Political, social, cultural and intellectual historians will find much relevant material in the Handbook, and it will provide a rich range of material to scholars researching the history of their respective geographical areas of interest.

Neo-Latin Literature and Literary Culture in Early Modern Scotland is the first detailed examination of the vibrant culture of literature written by Scots in Latin in the late-sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The essays in this collection draw on several recent ground-breaking research projects to examine a wide variety of aspects of Scottish Latin culture, including: Scottish participation in Latinate humanist circles across Europe, particularly in France and England; scientific, philosophical and didactic Latin culture in Scotland prior to the Scientific Revolution; and the reception of classical literature in Scotland, particularly Virgil, Horace, and Ovid. It also features in-depth examinations and translated excerpts of several key works, including the Delitiae Poetarum Scotorum (Amsterdam, 1637) and The Muses' Welcome (Edinburgh, 1618). Contributors are: Alexander Broadie, Robert Cummings, Alexander Farquhar, Roger Green, L.B.T. Houghton, Miles Kerr-Peterson, Ralph McLean, David McOmish, Gesine Manuwald, William Poole, and Steven J. Reid.

Compiled by a team of international experts, this volume showcases the best of the huge abundance of literature written in Latin in Europe from about 1500 to 1800. A general introduction provides readers with the context they need before diving into the 19 high-quality short Latin extracts and English translations. Together these texts present a rich panorama of the different literary genres, styles and themes that flourished at the time, and include authors such as Erasmus, Buchanan, Leibniz and Newton, along with less well-known writers. From the vast array of material available, a varied and meaningful sample of texts has been carefully curated by the editors of the volume. Passages not only exhibit literary merit or historical importance, but also illustrate the role of the complete texts from which they have been selected in the development of Neo-Latin literature. They reflect the wide range of authors writing in Latin in early modern Europe, as well as the importance of Latin in the history of ideas. As with all volumes in the series, section introductions and accompanying notes on every text provide orientation on the material for students.

Latin was for many centuries the common literary language of Europe, and Latin literature of immense range, stylistic power and social and political significance was produced throughout Europe and beyond from the time of Petrarch (c.1400) well into the eighteenth century. This is the first available work devoted specifically to the enormous wealth and variety of neo-Latin literature, and offers both essential background to the understanding of this material and sixteen chapters by leading scholars which are devoted to individual forms. Each contributor relates a wide range of fascinating but now little-known texts to the handful of more familiar Latin works of the period, such as Thomas More's Utopia, Milton's Latin poetry and the works of Petrarch and Erasmus. All Latin is translated throughout the volume.

From ca. 1300 a new genre developed in European literature, Neo-Latin drama. Building on medieval drama, vernacular theatre and classical drama, it spread around Europe. It was often used as a means to educate young boys in Latin, in acting and in moral issues. Comedies, tragedies and mixed forms were written. The Societas Jesu employed Latin drama in their education and public relations on a large scale. They had borrowed the concept of this drama from the humanist and Protestant gymnasia, and perfected it to a multi media show. However, the genre does not receive the attention that it deserves. In this volume, a historical overview of this genre is given, as well as analyses of separate plays. Contributors include: Jan Bloemendal, Jean-Frédéric Chevalier, Cora Dietl, Mathieu Ferrand, Howard Norland, Joaquín Pascual Barea, Fidel Rädle, and Raija Sarasti Willenius.