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Latin or the empire of a sign: from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries

Latin or the empire of a sign: from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries

by Francois Waquet (Author), Francois Waquet (Author), John Howe (Translator)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2001

    $4.52
Synopsis

This work explores the institutional contexts in which the language was adopted and transmitted as well as the privilege it came to confer on those that studied it. Waquet demonstrates how Latin became a symbol of status and ultimately shows that rather than disappearing this has given way to a nostalgic exoticism such that water companies and car-models now use Latin names.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 346
 Edition: First
 Publisher: Verso Books
Published: 23 May 2001
ISBN 10: 1859846157
ISBN 13: 9781859846155

Media Reviews
. .. [a] fascinating and lively survey of the place of Latin western culture during the past 400 years. -- Independent

. .. a lucid, learned retelling of the fortunes of the Latin language in the modern era. A scholarly work, this will nonetheless appeal to general readers as well. -- History

. .. an eloquent obituary ... -- Spectator

. .. detailed and wide-ranging ... -- Los Angeles Times Book Review

. .. richly researched and delightful ... with scholars of Waquet's generosity and ability, the old language might yet have a future. -- New Criterion

. .. the book is valuable if for no other reason than for the historical light is sheds on contemporary debates over the value of a 'traditional' education--and for reminding us that a classical education is sometimes more about class than about education. -- Washington Times

A splendid book: original in method, suggestive in argument, and a pleasure to read. -- London Review of Books

And for something completely differently serious, read part of Europe's future in part of its past: the fascinating Latin: or the Empire of a Sign . --A.C. Grayling, Guardian, Summer Choice 2002

It is a wonderful survey of the uses to which we have put Latin. --A. N. Wilson

Latin is dead and this book is its epitaph ... it is the merit and interest of Waquet's survey that she finds Latin not only deployed for the liturgy, but also to describe things carnal, pornographic, or otherwise shameful. -- Daily Telegraph

Waquet.s wonderful, readable book (in Howe's fine translation) provides an intellectual history of the Latin language ... Waquet memorabluy charts Latin's reception in scholarly, comic, tender and exhaustive detail through learned, literary and popular sources. -- Choice
Author Bio
Francoise Waquet is a director of research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. Among her books are Latin, and in French, Les fetes royales sous la Restauration ou l'Ancien Regime retrouve and La Republique des Lettres (with Hans Bots).