« Slave » ne signifie pas « esclave »
There is still a false translation of the ethnonym ‘Slav’ as ‘slave’ in historical sciences. This is most likely the result of centuries of efforts aimed at humiliating the Slavs through various forms of distorting the truth about their history, heritage, culture and themselves. Methods of devaluing...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | fra |
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Université Abderrahmane Mira
2024-06-01
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| Series: | Multilinguales |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/multilinguales/12494 |
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| Summary: | There is still a false translation of the ethnonym ‘Slav’ as ‘slave’ in historical sciences. This is most likely the result of centuries of efforts aimed at humiliating the Slavs through various forms of distorting the truth about their history, heritage, culture and themselves. Methods of devaluing proper names in order to revalue or change their meaning are a popular method of propaganda struggle, in which, unfortunately, historians and linguists have also long participated, showing a servile attitude towards decision-makers defining a specific historical policy in a given country. It is regrettable that so far we have not managed to eliminate from the academic narrative and the public sphere the false theses about the slave meaning of the name ‘Slav’, as well as the association of this people with servility and serfdom. This is not only a false but also harmful image, especially in the era of European unitarism and the assumed community of interests beyond historical divisions. In this short treatise, I try to present this problem along with explanations of the possible origin of this version of etymology and provide other, more probable sources of the words. The study states that attempts to humiliate the Slavs through, among others, reducing their name to the meaning "servant, slave" are the work of Jewish merchants dealing in the trade of "Slavic, living goods" and they began to call all slaves by this ethnonym. The Carolingians quickly and eagerly picked up this new term, popularizing it in Europe, and then introducing the term into medieval Latin and Old German. Over time, this linguistic technique of questionable nature also found its way into other European languages, including Jewish and Arabic, which may show us both the scope and path of human trafficking in those times. It is surprising that this shameful practice is also attributed to the Slavs themselves, who allegedly sold their kinsmen for profit. However, such claims are only speculations without any basis in sources. Historical records do not say anything about this, and what is more, they present the Slavs as a people who particularly respect their own freedom and that of other nations. |
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| ISSN: | 2335-1535 2335-1853 |