ABSTRACT
Mario Casari
“This language is more universal than any other”: Values of Arabic in early modern Italy
The learning of the Arabic language in Europe between the medieval and early modern periods developed along several main lines of contact, which shaped the relationship between Christian Europe and the Islamic world. This essay recalibrates some key aspects of the history of Arabic studies in Europe in the early modern period, with the aim of showing that by the end of the sixteenth century, in Italy and particularly in the Roman context, all areas of knowledge and paths of access related to Arabic merged into a synthesis represented by the Medici Press project (1584–1614). This chapter is thus organized around brief sections dedicated to the diverse natures of ‘Arabic’ and the different approaches to its learning, as well as the ways these interweaved in the ‘paysages sonores’ – soundscapes – of early modern Italy. All these sections help elucidate the achievements of the Medici Press
