V zanosu in obupu: Oblikovanje doslej največjega priročnika o slovanskih jezikih in jezikoslovju

Abstract

SLV: V ZANOSU IN OBUPU: OBLIKOVANJE DOSLEJ NAJVEČJEGA PRIROČNIKA O SLOVANSKIH JEZIKIH IN JEZIKOSLOVJU Od l. 2015 profesor Greenberg načrtuje in ureja Enciklopedijo slovanskih jezikov in jezikoslovja za založbo Brill (Leiden, Nizozemska), ki naj bi obsegala 1,5 milijonov besed in bo v elektronski obliki objavljena postopoma l. 2019, v tiskani pa bo izšla l. 2020. Projekt predvideva prispevke izpod peresa raziskovalcev z vseh področij slovanskega jezikoslovja ter iz sorodnih disciplin, od njih pa zahteva poročila o najnovejših dognanjih kot tudi pregled predhodno doseženega znanja. Sodelovanje z avtorji prispevkov za Enciklopedijo uredniku daje možnost, da se seznani s celotno slavistiko naenkrat. Enciklopedija bo mejnik v angleško pisani znanosti o slovanskih jezikih, saj dela takšne razsežnosti obstajajo za zahodnoevropske, klasične in biblijske jezike, ne pa za slovanske. Prvič bo predstavljen celovit pregled stroke in njenih dosežkov. Delo bo strnilo opis slovanskih jezikov, njihov razvoj od prazgodovine do naših dni ter stik z drugimi jeziki - starodavnimi in sodobnimi. Problematičnost te naloge pa se razkriva v zgodovinskem trenutku nastanka dela, ki predenj postavlja precejšnje izzive. Takšni so, denimo, razvrednotenje humanistike, čedalje večje pomanjkanje sredstev za izobraževanje in raziskovanje ter zahteva po rastočem dobičku s strani založb, ki je v nasprotju s potrebami raziskovalcev in bralcev. Vsa ta problematika se odvija v širšem kontekstu poznega kapitalizma in zožujočega se prostora za liberalne vrednote. Predavanje bo izpostavilo nova spoznanja in dosežke stroke kot tudi strukturne izzive, s katerimi se bo potrebno soočiti za ohranitev vitalnosti slovanskega jezikoslovja.

ENG: THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY. SHAPING THE LARGEST REFERENCE WORK OF SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS TO DATE. Since 2015 I have been planning and editing the Brill Encyclopedia of Slavic Languages and Linguistics, with a target word-count of 1.5 million words and scheduled for online publication in late 2019 and for print in late 2020. The project requires identifying the leading scholars worldwide in all parts of the field and asking them to prepare state-of-the art reports in their fields of specialization. As the editor-in-chief, this gives me a rare opportunity to be in contact with all of the field leaders in a single synchronic slice of time, read their reports and work with them to bring them to their best form as well as integrating them into the network of information that the project is producing. In English-language scholarship this marks a significant milestone: works of this kind have a tradition for West-European languages as well as Classical and Biblical languages, but for Slavic languages there is nothing of the kind. For the first time we will have a comprehensive overview of the field and its achievements in substantial detail. The work brings together description of Slavic languages, historical development from prehistorical origins to the present day and includes interdisciplinary approaches, such as genetics and archaeology, and considers the interaction of Slavic languages in contact with other languages, both ancient and contemporary. On the other hand, the work is emerging at a moment of great challenges to the field, including the devaluation of humanistic research, funding challenges in both education and research, publishers’ profit motives that clash with the access needs of researchers and readers, and all of these issues in the broader context of late capitalism and growing illiberalism. The lecture will highlight some of the recent insights and achievements of the field as well as structural issues to be addressed in the field in order to ensure its continued vitality.