Authority and Identity : A Sociolinguistic History of Europe Before the Modern Age

This is a history of Europe unlike any other: a theory-informed history of its language use. The 'rise' and 'fall' of languages are recounted, along with an analysis of why periods of linguistic diversity are followed by hegemony. How did the sociolinguistic past differ from the sociolinguistic present? Language Use Is A Principal Means By Which We Distinguish Ourselves And Our Group From Others. In The Modern Age, Language Use Often Divides Ethnic Groups And Nations: Germans Are Germans Because They Speak German; French Citizens Must Accept That Standard French Is A Central Part Of Their National Identity. Sociologists Of Language Consider This Equation Of Personal Language Use And National Identity To Be A Product Of The Nationalism Which Developed In Europe From The Eighteenth Century On. Authority And Identity: A Sociolinguistic History Of Europe Before The Modern Age Is The First Attempt To Take The Theoretical And Methodological Insights Of Macrosociolinguistics And Apply Them To The History Of Europe Before 1500. It Analyses The Recurrent Tensions Felt Since Writing Technology First Began To Be Used In Europe Some 3,500 Years Ago Between Centrifugal And Centripetal Forces, Demonstrating How Similar Linguistic Ecologies Can Produce Different Kinds Of Linguistic Authority And Identity In Individuals And Groups Due To Differing Sociolinguistic Conditions. Sociology Of Language: An Introduction -- Linguistic Prehistory -- The First European Literacies -- The First Hegemonies -- Centrifugal And Centripetal Forces. Late Antiquity And The Early Medieval Period -- Competing Hegemonies: The High Middle Ages -- The Birth Of The Modern?: The Fourteenth And Fifteenth Centuries. By Robert Mccoll Millar. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 List of Illustrations......Page 7 Acknowledgements......Page 8 A Note on Naming......Page 9 Prologue......Page 10 1 Sociology of Language: An Introduction......Page 19 2 Linguistic Prehistory......Page 28 3 The First European Literacies......Page 50 4 The First Hegemonies......Page 77 5 Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces. Late Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period......Page 108 6 Competing Hegemonies: The High Middle Ages......Page 152 7 The Birth of the Modern?: The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries......Page 188 8 Conclusions......Page 207 Notes......Page 219 Bibliography......Page 226 Index......Page 246 Studies the history of literacy in Europe (Greek, then Latin, then various vernaculars), and the importance of literacy to formation of ethnic identities and nation-states.