Concepts of Language in the Long 18th Century, edited volume (18.03.2023)

CfP: Concepts of Language in the Long 18th Century (edited volume)

While scattered reflections on language-related topics are fairly numerous in the 17th and 18th centuries,language itself did not become the focus of theoretical interest until about 1750; at this point, language occupied only a marginal place in intellectual discourses. Within the next 50 years, however, a complex discussion on the topic developed, from which not only linguistics as an academic subject emerged, but in which language, its nature, and possibilities, became a central theme in a wide variety of discourses. The emergence of national philologies in the early 19th century, which were characterized by multiple mechanisms of cultural inclusions and exclusions as well as political implications in the wake of European nationalism, have been well documented and described [1]; to find a coherent narrative for the evolvement of language thinking between the early Enlightenment and Romanticism, on the other hand, seems to be much more complicated – despite a large number of studies devoted to specific individual topics, first and foremost, of course, that of the origin of language [2]. One reason for this may be that language was discussed as a key feature in a wide variety of cultural practices and academic fields, rather than being the defining object of an individual field of research. However, the fact that even contemporary approaches to the philosophy of language refer to the development of language thinking in the 18th century [3] warrants a renewed engagement with this topic. This volume aims to bring together contributions that address the topic of language from different thematic and theoretical perspectives, while keeping in mind the more global impact that specific questions of language thought had on the changing concept of language in the second half of the 18th century.

At the beginning of the 19th century, many lines of development in language thinking led to the language theory of Wilhelm von Humboldt, who combined cultural, historical, and cognitive aspects into a unified view in his transcendental theory of language [4]. For Humboldt, language is not merely a denotative system of signs referencing an otherwise independent reality, but vice versa; reality for him emerges through an act of linguistic pre-conceptualization and imagination. Taking up Vico’s idea of language as a “parlare fantastico” as well as Herder’s criticism of Kant’s understanding of pure reason, Humboldt proposes that language and every mental activity are intrinsically connected [5]. This, as Vico and Herder had argued before him, inevitably contextualizes language at large as well as specific linguistic features within individual cultures and cultural practices, and thus history. Language and culture enter into a close interrelation, whereby the focus is no longer on language purity and language correctness – as was the case with the language societies of the 17thcentury – but rather language is understood as being the constitutive element for individual cultures and thus national identity.

The goal for this volume is, thus, to explore interrelations between the various and diverse cultural practices, academic fields, and social issues connected with the topic of language in the long 18th century, in order to broaden the understanding and cultural impact of both language theory and language practices at the beginning of modern language thought.

The editor would particularly welcome contributions that explore the following questions:

• How do we understand the relation between language and “Volk”, as well as shifts in this relation between Enlightenment and Romanticism?
• How does the concept of languages as manifestation of national cultures change cultural exchange through transfer of ideas and translation in Europe?
• How did encounters with non-European languages and cultures either change or reinforce Euro-centric concepts and views on language?
• Which mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, and social stratification were prevalent in defining language in the 18th century?

Other guiding questions this volume intends to address are (without being limited to):

• What was the place of literature in the evolving concepts of language in the long 18th century (with literature taken in the wider sense as both individual works of literature and their style as well as the system including production, reception, and the economy of literary objects)?
• How did the differentiation of traditional rhetoric into a theory of linguistics on the one hand, and aesthetics and poetology on the other change the understanding of language – and what influence did aesthetics and poetology (including poetic practices) have on conceptualizations of languages in the first place?
• What are the interrelations between concepts of language and other discursive fields such as theology, philology, or sciences?
• What is the place of language thinking in early forms of anthropology (with anthropology taken in its double meaning as a theory and philosophy of the human being, and as ethnographic practice)?

Proposals may address individual authors, poetic practices, and particular discursive aspects, or direct attention to interrelations between themes, concepts, and individuals. While this volume is focused on ideas and concepts of language in the German speaking world, discussions in Germany certainly were embedded within a wider European context. The editor would therefore also like to welcome contributions that deal with the manifold interconnections of the language discussion in the long 18th century, especially between Germany, France, and England.

Potential contributors should submit a proposal of 350-500 words as well as a short biography to Jan Oliver Jost-Fritz (jostfritz@etsu.edu) by March 18. Contributors will be informed of their acceptance shortly after this date. Completed articles of 6.000-8.000 words will be due December 2023.

Publication is envisioned with Camden House, which has expressed strong interest in the project.

Please direct any questions to jostfritz@etsu.edu.

[1] See for instance Jakob Norberg. The Brothers Grimm and the Making of German Nationalism. Cambridge 2022; Tuska Benes. In Babel's Shadow: Language, Philology, and the Nation in Nineteenth-Century Germany. Detroit 2008; Jochen Bär. Sprachreflexion der deutschen Frühromantik. Konzepte zwischen Universalpoesie und Grammatischem Kosmopolitismus. Berlin 1999.

[2] Avi Lifschitz. Language and Enlightenment. The Berlin Debates of the Eighteenth Century. Oxford 2012; Cordula Neis. Anthropologie im Sprachdenken des 18. Jahrhunderts – Die Berliner Preisfrage nach dem Ursprung der Sprache (1771). Berlin 2003.

[3] Charles Taylor. The Language Animal. Cambridge, MA, 2016.

[4] Jürgen Trabant. Traditionen Humboldts. Frankfurt/M 1990.

[5] Wilhelm von Humboldt. Werke. Darmstadt 1963, 3: 547.