The slow fall of Babel : languages and identities in late antique Christianity / Yuliya Minets.

Author/creator Minets, Yuliya author.
Format Book
PublicationCambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2022.
Copyright Date©2022
Descriptionxvi, 418 pages ; 24 cm
Subjects

Contents Introduction: Awakening to Linguistic Otherness -- Meeting the Alloglottic Other: The Socio-Linguistic Landscape of the Ancient Linguistic Landscape of the Ancient Mediterranean and the Spread of Christianity -- Languages and Identities in Greco-Roman and Jewish Antiquity -- The Tower of Babel and Beyond: Primordial Linguist Situation, Original Language, and the Start of Linguistic Diversification -- Speaking in Tongues in Christian Late Antiquity -- Foreign Languages and the Discourse of Otherness -- The Languages of Saints and Demons -- Conclusion: What's in the Language?
Abstract "This is the story of the transformation of the ways in which the increasingly Christianized elites of the late antique Mediterranean experienced and conceptualized linguistic differences. The metaphor of Babel stands for the magnificent edifice of classical culture that was about to reach the sky, but remained self-sufficient and selfcontained in its virtual monolingualism - the paradigm within which even Latin was occasionally considered just a dialect of Greek. The gradual erosion of this vision is the slow fall of Babel that took place in the hearts and minds of a good number of early Christian writers and intellectuals who represented various languages and literary traditions. This step-by-step process included the discovery and internalization of the existence of multiple other languages in the world, as well as subsequent attempts to incorporate their speakers meaningfully into the holistic and distinctly Christian picture of the universe"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in other formOnline version: Minets, Yuliya. Slow fall of Babel Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2021 9781108980821
Genre/formCriticism, interpretation, etc.
Genre/formHistory.
LCCN 2021027050
ISBN9781108833462 hardcover
ISBN1108833462 hardcover
ISBN9781108970495 paperback
ISBN1108970494 paperback
ISBNelectronic publication
ISBNelectronic book

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Joyner General Stacks BR115 .L25 M56 2022 ✔ Available Place Hold