Overview
Offers a compelling, rigorously-documented account of Esperanto’s development among the nightmares of communism and fascism
Presents a story of the language movement that outlasted the particular political ideologies of modern nation states
Offers the reader insight into archival materials documenting the persecution and mistreatment of the speakers and supporters of Esperanto in the modern ideological landscape of the 20th century
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Keywords
About this book
Volume I examines the rise of the international language Esperanto, launched in 1887 as a proposed solution to national conflicts and a path to a more tolerant world. The chapters in this volume chart the emergence of Esperanto as an answer to a widespread democratic desire for direct person-to-person international communication regardless of political boundaries. Its early success was limited, mostly because of the Czarist regime's suspicion of direct communication with foreigners, and, later, similar suspicion by dictatorial regimes generally. As speakers of a "dangerous language," its adepts were harassed and persecuted, especially in Germany and the Soviet Union. This book argues that the fate of Esperanto over the 130 years of its existence serves as a barometer to measure the degree to which regimes tolerate spontaneous personal contact with other countries and allow the pursuit of self-education outside prescribed national or ideological constraints.
Volume II examines the position of Esperanto in Eastern Europe during the Cold War; in particular it explores Stalin’s final years and the gradual re-emergence of the Esperanto movement. At first, its revival was limited to the satellite countries, especially Bulgaria and Poland, but, with Stalinism’s gradual retreat, Esperanto organizations reappeared in most East European countries and eventually in the Soviet Union itself. The progress was uneven, and its details reveal the stresses and strains that became apparent as the solidarity of the Soviet bloc declined. This book will appeal to a wide readership, including linguists, historians, political scientists and others interested in the history of the twentieth century from the unusual perspective of language.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Humphrey Tonkin is President Emeritus of the University of Hartford, USA, where he served as University Professor of Humanities. He studied English and comparative literature at Cambridge and Harvard (Ph.D. 1966) and has written widely on literary topics and on international education and language policy. He has published numbers of translations from English to Esperanto and from Esperanto to English.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Dangerous Language
Authors: Ulrich Lins
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXXVII, 497
Number of Illustrations: 28 b/w illustrations, 3 illustrations in colour
Topics: Applied Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Language History, Russian, Soviet, and East European History, History of Germany and Central Europe