Il parlait assez bien français et plusieurs langues: Foreign Language Acquisition and the Diplomatic Self-Fashioning of Prince Boris Ivanovich Kurakin

IF 0.2 4区 社会学 0 HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY
Ernest Zitser
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Using the example of Prince B. I. Kurakin (1676–1727), the Imperial Russian diplomat who served as extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador to France (1724–1727), this article seeks to contribute to the ongoing discussion about the possible reasons for the adoption of French as the language of international communication in general and eighteenth-century diplomacy in particular. It asks when the Moscow-born Gediminid prince learned to speak French and how this non-native speaker of the language became proficient enough to impress a finicky and fastidious interlocutor like Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon (1675–1755). The author suggests that the answer to these questions lies not in Russia or France, but in Poland and Italy; and not in the halls of formal educational institutions, but in the networks of personal connections that were sustained as much by face-to-face communication as by written correspondence. This brief biographical survey of the development of Prince Kurakin’s “linguistic personality” demonstrates the mediating role of modern, vernacular languages (Russian, Polish, Italian) in the transition from Latin to French as the lingua franca of international diplomacy. It also emphasizes the intimate connection between foreign language acquisition and diplomatic self-fashioning, showing how linguistic knowledge could be instrumentalized for both personal and professional advancement. In doing so, it illustrates the active role that individual brokers – especially, but not exclusively, aristocratic royal servitors with broad linguistic skills and extensive international connections, like Prince Kurakin and the duc de Saint-Simon – played in creating the very notion of an early modern “European” style of diplomacy based on the cultural dominance of the French language.
他的法语说得相当好,还能说几种语言:鲍里斯-伊万诺维奇-库拉金亲王的外语学习与外交自我塑造
库拉金王子(1676-1727 年)是俄罗斯帝国的外交官,曾任驻法国特命全权大使(1724-1727 年),本文以库拉金王子为例,试图为正在进行的关于法语成为国际交流语言,尤其是十八世纪外交语言的可能原因的讨论做出贡献。文章询问这位出生于莫斯科的盖迪米尼德王子是何时学会说法语的,以及这位母语非法语的人是如何熟练掌握法语,从而打动像圣西蒙公爵路易-德-鲁弗罗伊(Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon,1675-1755 年)这样挑剔苛刻的对话者的。作者认为,这些问题的答案不在俄罗斯或法国,而在波兰和意大利;答案不在正规教育机构的殿堂,而在人际关系网络中。这篇关于库拉金王子 "语言个性 "发展的简短传记展示了现代方言(俄语、波兰语、意大利语)在从拉丁语到法语作为国际外交通用语言的过渡中的中介作用。该书还强调了外语学习与外交官自我塑造之间的密切联系,展示了语言知识如何为个人和职业发展服务。在此过程中,它说明了个别中间人--特别是(但不完全是)像库拉金王子和圣西蒙公爵这样拥有广泛语言技能和国际联系的贵族王室侍从--在创建基于法语文化主导地位的早期现代 "欧洲 "外交风格的概念方面所发挥的积极作用。
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来源期刊
Quaestio Rossica
Quaestio Rossica HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-
CiteScore
0.30
自引率
0.00%
发文量
70
期刊介绍: Quaestio Rossica is a peer-reviewed academic journal focusing on the study of Russia’s history, philology, and culture. The Journal aims to introduce new research approaches in the sphere of the Humanities and previously unknown sources, actualising traditional methods and creating new research concepts in the sphere of Russian studies. Except for academic articles, the Journal publishes reviews, historical surveys, discussions, and accounts of the past of the Humanities as a field.
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