480011 KO Colloquium on Linguistics Russian (2024W)

The 18th century in Russia was a period of profound modernisation, which was characterised above all by the reforms of Peter the Great (1682–1725). These reforms encompassed almost all areas of life, including politics, the military, administration, the economy, education and culture. Under the influence of Western and Central European educational traditions, translation played a central role in the transfer of knowledge between Russia and countries such as Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and France. In particular, the translation of historiographical works not only promoted an understanding of the history of other European states, but also contributed significantly to the development of Russian historiography as an independent discipline.

In this course, we will first examine the translations of historiographies from European languages into Russian in the context of a lecture. A particular focus will be on the historical background of these translations, both before and after the 18th century. We will look at the development of Russian historiography as an independent discipline and analyse the influence that the reception and translation of Western works had on this development. Another central component of the course is the examination of the most important personalities who played a key role in this process as translators. In addition, case studies will be used to shed light on the most significant translations and their reception. By analysing these translations, participants should gain a deeper understanding of the interaction between European and Russian historiography, as well as valuable insights into the linguistic peculiarities of Russian in the 18th century (syntax, morphology, lexis). The knowledge acquired will be tested in a short mid-term test.

After the theoretical and historical framework, students will be asked (depending on their language skills) to choose a text, work on it independently and present it in a presentation (length of presentation depends on the number of students).

Based on the selected texts, students will be asked to develop some of the special features of the translations in terms of language and historical context in an extended thesis paper.