Chapter Matériaux pour l’étude du plurilinguisme en contexte ottoman. Le cas de Dosithée II de Jérusalem

Abstract

The Patriarch of Jerusalem, Dositheos II (1669-1707), had no classical education and was largely self-taught. Yet, he is known for his important work as an author and editor and for his many exchanges with people of different backgrounds. In his various activities, his “own language”, namely Greek, was certainly the one he used most often, but it was not the only one. Arabic, Ottoman Turkish, Romanian and Georgian were also part of his linguistic landscape. On the other hand, he possessed no knowledge of Latin or other Western languages. Based on Dositheos’ own account, taken from his History of the Patriarchs of Jerusalem (Bucharest 1715 [1722]), this study seeks not only to examine Dositheos’ multilingualism, but also to understand the authority he granted to the various languages, both learned and vernacular, with which he was confronted. More generally, the aim is to ask what paths a man like Dositheos might have taken to gain a place in the Republic of Letters.