Postcards, Translators and Esperanto Pioneers
eBook - ePub

Postcards, Translators and Esperanto Pioneers

An Alternative History of International Communication

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  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Postcards, Translators and Esperanto Pioneers

An Alternative History of International Communication

About this book

The early twentieth century was a time when steamships, international postal services and the telephone were setting the pace of an early wave of globalisation in Europe. In this increasingly international scenario, what role did language play? To address the geopolitical problem of cross-border linguistic (mis)understanding, international auxiliary languages like Esperanto were created. But what happened to a constructed language when it travelled to different places?

This book tackles these questions by exploring the letters, postcards and activities of John Beveridge (1857–1943) and his family. This Scottish clergyman was a proficient Esperanto speaker, translator and co-founder of several Esperanto organisations. His long-standing engagement with the language left a unique archive that reveals how many Esperanto speakers exchanged letters across borders, produced literature for an international readership, organised congresses and used this language as an entry point into modernity and globalisation from their 'marginal' positions in the world.

By tracing this language-based form of grassroots internationalism, the book uncovers wide-reaching networks connecting a corner of Scotland with rural settings and villages in Finland, Bulgaria and Brazil. Ultimately, it asks: what do we learn about international communication and globalisation through the lens of Esperanto and postcards? Focusing on a constructed language and communication technologies that preceded the dominance of global English and social media, this book offers an alternative vantage point on the history of international communication.

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Yes, you can access Postcards, Translators and Esperanto Pioneers by Guilherme Fians,Bernhard Struck,Claire Taylor in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & 20th Century History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. List of figures
  6. Note from the authors
  7. Acknowledgements
  8. Introduction: Building worlds with words
  9. 1. Grassroots internationalism from small places: pen, ink and the forging of friendships in a constructed language
  10. 2. From learning the language to founding local clubs: the making of an Esperanto speaker
  11. 3. Gendered talk: Esperanto-speaking women and languages of egalitarianism
  12. 4. Speaking of the Lord to the master: John Beveridge, Ludwik Zamenhof and the Esperanto translation of the Bible
  13. Conclusion: The history of international communication via postcards and Esperanto
  14. Bibliography
  15. Index