TY - JOUR
T1 - China Baroqueries, ca. 1620
T2 - Francisco de Herrera Maldonado on the Chinese Language
AU - Luca, Dinu
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan [106-2410-H-003-005-MY3]. I wish to thank Juan Luis González García, who has responded to my inquiries on Herrera Maldonado, and to Guia Boni, who has kindly made available to me one of her articles. I owe much gratitude to Victoria Lupașcu, who has provided me access to a number of hard to find materials. I am very grateful to Devin Fitzgerald, who has shared his insights and a section of his manuscript dissertation on the would-be Chinese memorial summarized by Herrera in his text. I am particularly indebted to Nicolas Standaert, Wolfgang Behr, Ana Carolina Hosne, and Anna Busquets, who have read a quasi-final version of this article and generously offered their observations, corrections, and comments. Last but not least, many special thanks are due to Jonathan Correa, Mianda Cioba, and Adam Lifshey, who have taken great pains to check my translations from Spanish included in this piece. I am, of course, solely responsible for any remaining idiosyncrasies and inaccuracies.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, © 2019 The Seventeenth Century.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - This article focuses on the reflections on Chinese language and script included by Francisco de Herrera Maldonado (a minor figure in the Spanish Golden Age) in his little-known 1620 Historical Epitome of the Kingdom of China … By translating and commenting on the relevant contexts from both the Spanish original and its 1622 French rendition, I challenge the critical consensus that sees most of the Historical Epitome as a highly derivative text. I discuss this work’s many novel linguistic perspectives (on character composition, calligraphy, and Chinese grammar) against those in earlier European accounts on China, and emphasise the pioneering position Herrera Maldonado’s work should occupy in a history of European reflections on the Chinese language and linguistic otherness at large. I also argue that Herrera’s language chapter represents a partially failed attempt at building a Baroque spectacle of erudition and Chinese-character-based visual splendour, which anticipates Athanasius Kircher’s better-known efforts.
AB - This article focuses on the reflections on Chinese language and script included by Francisco de Herrera Maldonado (a minor figure in the Spanish Golden Age) in his little-known 1620 Historical Epitome of the Kingdom of China … By translating and commenting on the relevant contexts from both the Spanish original and its 1622 French rendition, I challenge the critical consensus that sees most of the Historical Epitome as a highly derivative text. I discuss this work’s many novel linguistic perspectives (on character composition, calligraphy, and Chinese grammar) against those in earlier European accounts on China, and emphasise the pioneering position Herrera Maldonado’s work should occupy in a history of European reflections on the Chinese language and linguistic otherness at large. I also argue that Herrera’s language chapter represents a partially failed attempt at building a Baroque spectacle of erudition and Chinese-character-based visual splendour, which anticipates Athanasius Kircher’s better-known efforts.
KW - Chinese language
KW - Chinese writing
KW - Herrera Maldonado
KW - Western perceptions of China
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U2 - 10.1080/0268117X.2019.1641144
DO - 10.1080/0268117X.2019.1641144
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85071167669
SN - 0268-117X
JO - Seventeenth Century
JF - Seventeenth Century
ER -