Essay collection
THE TRANSFORMATION OF VERNACULAR EXPRESSION IN EARLY MODERN ARTS AND SCHOLARSHIP
Intersections: Yearbook for Early Modern Studies, vol. 19,
published by Brill (Leiden, The Netherlands)
The humanist call to revive classical antiquity inspired a parallel reappraisal of local traditions in early modern culture. Although initially considered to be old-fashioned, crude and unremarkable, artistic forms with obvious regional connotations began to be embraced as a powerful alternative to purely classicizing cultural ideals. Whether conceived of as a counter-strategy to international movements, as a return to the native past, or as a straightforward continuation and cultivation of vernacular traditions, “the local” acts as a mark of distinction in the early modern cultural context.

We take as a given that transformations of vernacular expression in the early modern literary, visual and scholarly arts are distinguished from mere passive literary and artistic influence and have interpretative significance. Building on this premise, our volume will examine the conceptualization, strategies and functions of both the cultivation of the vernacular and cultivation by the vernacular in early modern cultural production. Particularly, we are interested in contributions that address one or several of three interrelated areas:

1. The historicity of the vernacular.
Should we perceive vernacular models as historical re-constructions, recognizable by a determined, historicized style?
Or, were vernacular examples perceived as timeless values, as something akin to the universal value of Ciceronian rhetoric?

2. The politics of vernacular expression.
How does the deployment of local forms intersect with contemporary political or religious issues? Were vernacular models from a distinct historical past thought to register the societal or religious values that had given them shape? If so, did the employment of those models constitute a deliberate revival of these past conditions? Does the regional offer a counter-courtly position? How does printing, with its potential of wide dissemination of texts and images, corroborate with the use of the local?

3. The art of vernacular cultivation.
Would artists and viewers have understood native visual concepts or pictorial elements as a kind of visual vernacular language? If so, was this visual vernacular understood in opposition to styles originating in other regions or to an “international” classical style, or was there a more complex dialogue between different modes of expression? To what extent are local literary styles validated with reference to oral tradition? Can one speak of a humanist endeavour to write vernacular literary style into an “alternative canon” – one that does not prioritize classical literature?

The collection will be volume 19 of Intersections: Yearbook for Early Modern Studies, published by Brill Publishers. The volume is scheduled to appear in 2010, and will be edited by Joost Keizer, Todd Richardson and Sophie van Romburgh. Proposals for contributions, about 300 words, should be sent electronically no later than 1 April 2008, to:

Joost Keizer (Art History, University of Leiden),
J.Keizer@let.leidenuniv.nl, or
Todd Richardson (Art History, University of Leiden),
T.Richardson@let.leidenuniv.nl, or
Sophie van Romburgh (English, University of Leiden),
S.van.Romburgh@let.leidenuniv.nl

The submission deadline for essays will be 1 May 2009.