Modern Languages and Linguistics

Abstract

The establishment of the honour school of Modern Languages at Oxford University, in 1903, took place in a period which witnessed innovations in language study all over Europe. These were related in large part to the spread of popular education and greater international scholarly interchange, led by the outstandingly successful German educational establishments. In Britain, interest in Oriental languages had been nurtured particularly by colonial contacts, though theologians were of course interested in the Semitic languages. Those who advocated the study of modern European languages, in universities as well as in schools, had to contend against upholders of the pre-eminence of classical studies, a conflict which reflected differing political and cultural predilections. The powerful conservative opposition to modern linguistic studies in Oxford, and among Oxford MAs, is a recurrent theme of this volume. They were seen as smacking of opportunism and dilettantism, and, more important, as a potential threat to the hallowed dominance of Greek and Latin.