Word Salad? Names as sites of multilingualism in early modern pamphlets

In his essay 'On Names', Michel de Montaigne compared his approach to understanding names to that of composing a salad - 'a mixed dish of a variety of items'. Names held power in early modern society, reflecting status, background and aspiration. But names could also be contested, challenged and changed. This paper will consider the peculiar power that names had in early modern pamphlets, in particular those texts which moved between languages. How and when were names translated and why? The paper will suggest that considering names as a potential form of multilingualism opens up potential avenues for research into the fundamentals of early news writing, transnational news trends and print design. 

Sara Barker is Associate Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Leeds. Her research interests focus on pamphlets, printing, news, translation and material culture, particularly in France and Western Europe. She's an editor of the Manchester University Press series 'Studies in Early Modern European History' and is always happy to talk about possible proposals for that series. 

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