Latin: or, the Empire of a Sign

Latin was the pinnacle of Western culture from the Renaissance until recently, conveyed sacredness, obscenity, learning, pedantry, science, and trickery. Despite criticisms, it maintained a strong presence due to its accessibility, convenience, and time-consuming nature.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 368 pages
Publication date: 07 February 2023
Publisher: Verso Books

From the Renaissance until recently, Latin held the highest position in Western culture. Françoise Waquet provides an engaging and original account of the language's applications, detractors, and supporters, as well as the social hierarchies its practitioners inscribed. Latin was revitalized by the Humanists and the Catholic Church, serving as the primary means of education for generations, the language of worship for millions, and a conduit for scholarly communication across borders. It conveyed both sacredness and obscenity, knowledge and pedantry, science and trickery, and mumbo-jumbo. Few individuals, even among the clergy or the most learned scholars, have ever achieved proficiency in speaking Latin with any degree of correctness or fluency, let alone elegance.

Despite rationalist criticisms that Latin was inaccessible to the vast majority of people and inconvenient and time-consuming for the rest, it maintained a strong presence, some would argue, a tyranny, for an extended period. Why did Latin endure for so long, despite these objections?

Weight: 408g
Dimension: 234 x 153 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781804290491