Abstract
Several Esperanto Studies scholars have built on archival research and ethnographic fieldwork to explore the Esperanto-speaking community. With these research techniques, one can better understand, for instance, how and why people effectively use the language and how Esperantists perceive terms such as Homaranismo and samideano. Yet, what could we find by using ethnographic fieldwork, as well as literature review and archival research, to study Esperanto Studies? An initial approach shows how this research field is broadly based on consensus. This contrasts with the main disciplines that feed Esperanto Studies with theories – such as linguistics, sociology, anthropology, history and literature studies – which develop through constant clashes between scholars who support different methodological and theoretical approaches. Based on the analysis of publications and conferences on Esperanto Studies and Interlinguistics, this article analyzes how Esperanto Studies in many ways follows the idealized attitude of the Esperanto-speaking community regarding mutual understanding – which, in turn, leaves aside the more controversial and contentious features that characterize scientific debates. Ultimately, I argue for a more direct dialogue – and (why not?) more controversies – between Esperanto Studies perspectives, so that this research field can contribute more broadly to the disciplines that originated it.
Translated title of the contribution | Against the exceptionalism of Esperanto (and Esperanto Studies): First steps towards an ethnography of this research field |
---|---|
Original language | Other |
Pages (from-to) | 108-131 |
Number of pages | 24 |
Journal | Esperantologio / Esperanto Studies |
Volume | 3 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 21 Nov 2022 |
Keywords
- Theory in Esperanto Studies
- Interdisciplinarity
- Scientific progress
- Scientific controversies
- Linguistics
- Ethnography