ISBN:
9781501725135
,
1501725130
Language:
English
Pages:
Online Ressource (xiv, 215 pages)
,
color illustrations.
Series Statement:
Conjunctions of religion & power in the medieval past
Parallel Title:
Erscheint auch als Epstein, Steven, 1952- Speaking of Slavery
DDC:
306.3620945
Keywords:
Slavery History
;
Italy
;
Ethnicity History
;
Italy
;
Italy
;
History
;
Slavery History
;
Ethnicity History
;
Slavery History
;
Ethnicity History
;
POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Cultural Policy
;
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural
;
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Popular Culture
;
Slavery
;
Ethnicity
;
HISTORY / Europe / Italy
;
History
;
Italy
;
Electronic books
Abstract:
"In this Work, Steven A. Epstein shows that the ways Italians employ words and think about race and labor are profoundly affected by the language used in medieval Italy to sustain a system of slavery. The author's findings about the surprising persistence of the "language of slavery" demonstrate the difficulty of escaping the legacy of a shameful past." "For Epstein, language is crucial to understanding slavery, for it preserves the hidden conditions of that institution. He begins his book by discussing the words used to conduct and describe slavery in Italy, from pertinent definitions given in early dictionaries, to the naming of slaves by their masters, to the ways in which bondage has been depicted by Italian writers from Dante to Primo Levi and Antonio Gramsci. Epstein then probes Italian legal history, tracing the evolution of contracts for buying, selling, renting, and freeing people. Next he considers the behaviors of slaves and slave owners as a means of exploring how concepts of liberty and morality changed over time. He concludes by analyzing the language of the market, where medieval Italians used words to fix the prices of the people they bought and sold."--Jacket
Abstract:
The language of slavery -- The language of the law -- The human behavior of slavery -- The language of the great economy
Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index. - Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCO, viewed April 9, 2018)
URL:
https://www.degruyter.com/doi/book/10.7591/9781501725135
