Anachronism or Cultural Transfer? Latin Journals in the Public Sphere of the Hungarian Kingdom in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Abstract

Latin journalism in Europe flourished between 1600 and 1750. However, in the peripheral regions east of the German-speaking lands, including Hungary, periodicals began to appear in greater numbers only from the early eighteenth century. By that time, Latin journalism was losing its popularity in the central regions of Europe due to the widespread establishment of the vernacular press and the standardization of native languages. Yet, the editors of the newly established periodicals in Hungary could not follow this pattern due to several reasons. One solution to their problems was to develop the Latin-language press. This paper attempts to reconceptualize the role of late Latin journalism from the perspective of specific peripheral cultural circumstances, with a special focus on the periodical genre of ‘ephemerides’. The focus of the analysis is on Ephemerides Statistico-Politicae / Posonienses (1804–38), a popular and significant nineteenth-century Latin journal, and its supplementary annexes.