The Ladino Language in the Domain of World Intellectual History

Abstract

In the domain of world intellectual history, the Sephardic language, otherwise called Judeo-Spanish or Ladino, occupies a special place. The article deals with terminological nominations corresponding to the language, accepted in the paradigm of modern philological studies; the concept of Judeo-Spanish which implies a heterogeneous dialect continuum, including various geographical varieties that formed outside the Spanish-speaking area and independently of the Spanish language; the multifaceted nature of the Jewish-Spanish in the projection on its history as a repository of collective memory and cultural heritage; the religious context of the appearance of Ladino; a certain tradition of understanding the Jewish-Spanish language as a place of memory and a metaphor for a lost home, which has developed in the ethnic mentality of the descendants of Sephardic Jews and has been fixed in the artistic and documentary narrative; conventional and institutional status of the Hebrew-Spanish language; modern formats and strategies for its promotion, as well as features of its positioning in the ethnic mentality of the descendants of Sephardim expelled from Spain and Portugal in 1492/1496. Currently the language of Sephardic Jews, transmitted to different continents along with its native speakers, continues to be a powerful means of legitimizing the symbolic unity (based on maintaining a sense of secondary identity) of representatives of this traditional community. Despite active divergent processes, Judeo-Spanish or Ladino has a special status in the world intellectual history in accordance with its historical, social and cultural context and serves as a traditional basis in the structure of historical ethnic memory.

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