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Dialect poetry
(842 words)

The language of belles-lettres was frequently in the crucible of national “high” or standard languages in the early modern period. Examples include the langue littéraire in France and the literaturny jazyk of the Slavonic languages. In German too, the language of refined literature in the 18th and 19th century played a decisive role in the formation of High German, and both defined and exemplified the idea of “good German.” Alongside these literary languages, however, other types exist, the most striking being dialects. Dialects are not corrupt forms of a standard languag…

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Stellmacher, Dieter, “Dialect poetry”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_018290>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20170626



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