Vivien Law – författare

The works of the seventh-century writer Virgilius Maro Grammaticus are among the most puzzling medieval texts to survive. Ostensibly a pair of grammars, they swarm with hymns, riddles, invented words and imaginary writers. Conventionally interpreted either as a benighted barbarian's unfortunate attempt to write a 'proper' grammar, or as a parody of the pedantic excesses of the ancient grammatical tradition, these texts have long been in need of an alternative reading. Why should a grammarian attack the very notion of authority, thereby destabilizing his own position? The search for an answer leads us via patristic exegesis and medieval wisdom literature to the tantalizingly ill-documented reaches of heterodox initiatory traditions. Vivien Law's book opens important new perspectives on the intellectual life of the early Middle Ages and on the decoding of medieval literature in general.

The works of the seventh-century writer Virgilius Maro Grammaticus are among the most puzzling medieval texts to survive. Ostensibly a pair of grammars, they swarm with hymns, riddles, invented words and imaginary writers. Conventionally interpreted either as a benighted barbarian's unfortunate attempt to write a 'proper' grammar, or as a parody of the pedantic excesses of the ancient grammatical tradition, these texts have long been in need of an alternative reading. Why should a grammarian attack the very notion of authority, thereby destabilizing his own position? The search for an answer leads us via patristic exegesis and medieval wisdom literature to the tantalizingly ill-documented reaches of heterodox initiatory traditions. Vivien Law's book opens important new perspectives on the intellectual life of the early Middle Ages and on the decoding of medieval literature in general.

This authoritative and wide-ranging book, first published in 2003, examines the history of western linguistics over a 2000-year timespan, from its origins in ancient Greece up to the crucial moment of change in the Renaissance that laid the foundations of modern linguistics. Some of today's burning questions about language date back a long way: in 1400 BC Plato was asking how words relate to reality. Other questions go back just a few generations, such as our interest in the mechanisms of language change, or in the social factors that shape the way we speak. Vivien Law explores how ideas about language over the centuries have changed to reflect changing modes of thinking. A survey chapter brings the coverage of the book up to the present day. Classified bibliographies and chapters on research resources and the qualities the historian of linguistics needs to develop, provide the reader with the tools to go further.

This authoritative and wide-ranging book, first published in 2003, examines the history of western linguistics over a 2000-year timespan, from its origins in ancient Greece up to the crucial moment of change in the Renaissance that laid the foundations of modern linguistics. Some of today's burning questions about language date back a long way: in 1400 BC Plato was asking how words relate to reality. Other questions go back just a few generations, such as our interest in the mechanisms of language change, or in the social factors that shape the way we speak. Vivien Law explores how ideas about language over the centuries have changed to reflect changing modes of thinking. A survey chapter brings the coverage of the book up to the present day. Classified bibliographies and chapters on research resources and the qualities the historian of linguistics needs to develop, provide the reader with the tools to go further.

This book examines how national and ethnic identities are being reforged in the post-Soviet borderland states. The first chapter provides a conceptual and theoretical context for examining national identities, drawing in particular upon post-colonial theory. The rest of the book is divided into three parts. In Part I, the authors examine how national histories of the borderland states are being rewritten especially in relation to new nationalising historiographies, around myths of origin, homeland, and descent. Part II explores the ethnopolitics of group boundary construction and how such a politics has led to nationalising policies of both exclusion and inclusion. Part III examines the relationship between nation-building and language, especially with regard to how competing conceptions of national identity have informed the thinking of both political decision-takers and nationalising intellectuals, and the consequences for ethnic minorities. Such perspectives on nation-building are illustrated with substantive studies drawn from the Baltic states, Ukraine, and Belarus, Transcaucasia, and Central Asia.

This book examines how national and ethnic identities are being reforged in the post-Soviet borderland states. The first chapter provides a conceptual and theoretical context for examining national identities, drawing in particular upon post-colonial theory. The rest of the book is divided into three parts. In Part I, the authors examine how national histories of the borderland states are being rewritten especially in relation to new nationalising historiographies, around myths of origin, homeland, and descent. Part II explores the ethnopolitics of group boundary construction and how such a politics has led to nationalising policies of both exclusion and inclusion. Part III examines the relationship between nation-building and language, especially with regard to how competing conceptions of national identity have informed the thinking of both political decision-takers and nationalising intellectuals, and the consequences for ethnic minorities. Such perspectives on nation-building are illustrated with substantive studies drawn from the Baltic states, Ukraine, and Belarus, Transcaucasia, and Central Asia.

This is a collection of ‘linguistic autobiographies' by 23 British linguists who played a major role in the development of the subject in Britain during the second half of the twentieth century. Includes contributions from 23 major British linguists. Provides an overview of the rapid growth of linguistics in the last 50 years. Reflects on the achievements of British linguistics since the Second World War.