It is common wisdom that language is culturally embedded. Cultural
change is often accompanied by a change in idiom, in language or in
ideas about language. No period serves as a better example of the
formative influence of language on culture than the Renaissance. With
the advent of humanism new modes of speaking and writing arose. But not
only did classical Latin become the paradigm of clear and elegant
writing, it also gave rise to new ideas about language and the teaching
of it. Some scholars have argued that the cultural paradigm shift from
scholasticism to humanism was causally determined by the rediscovery,
study and emulation of the classical language, for learning a new
language opens up new possibilities for exploring and describing one's
perceptions, thoughts and beliefs. However, the vernacular traditions
too rose to prominence and vied with Latin for cultural prestige. This
volume, number XXIV in the series Groningen Studies in Cultural Change,
offers the papers presented at a workshop on language and cultural
change held in Groningen in February 2004. Ten specialists explore the
multifarious ways in which language contributed to the shaping of
Renaissance culture. They discuss themes such as the relationship
between medieval and classical Latin, between Latin and the vernacular,
between humanist and scholastic conceptions of language and grammar,
translation from Latin into the vernacular, Jewish ideas about different
kinds of Hebrew, and shifting ideas on the power and limits of language
in the articulation of truth and divine wisdom. There are essays on
major thinkers such as Nicholas of Cusa and Leonardo Bruni, but also on
less well-known figures and texts. The volume as a whole hopes to
contribute to a deeper understanding of the highly complex interplay
between language and culture in the transition period between the
fourteenth and sixteenth centuries.
