Literatursprache und Publikum in der lateinischen Spätantike und im Mittelalter

Erich Auerbach originally composed these essays during his exile in Istanbul, where he famously wrote his masterpiece Mimesis while isolated from the intellectual resources of Europe. This specific volume collects his scholarly investigations into how the evolution of linguistic standards reflected the changing relationship between authors and their audiences throughout late antiquity and the Middle Ages.

The work is a hallmark of Auerbach’s philological method, which seeks to understand literary form as a direct product of social history. By tracing the shift from the elite, traditional Latin of the classical era to the more fluid, accessible vernaculars that eventually shaped medieval culture, Auerbach provides an essential bridge between classical studies and modern literary theory. It remains a foundational text for historians of literature interested in the democratization of reading and writing.