Dynamics of Neo-Latin and the Vernacular

Noak, Bettina

Glossemata and knowledge-transfer: Andreas Wissowatius and Abraham Rogerius

The influence of paratexts in the process of knowledge-transfer is one of the research desiderata in the early modern period (see e.g. von Ammon/ Vögel, Die Pluralisierung des Paratextes in der Frühen Neuzeit, 2008). The presentation will deal with a specific form of paratexts, namely the glossemata. In the light of Gérard Genettes theories I will discuss the example of Andreas Wissowatius‘ (Andrzej Wiszowaty, 1608-1678) commentaries on Abraham Rogerius‘ (died in 1649) book De open deure tot het verborgen heydendom (1651). Wissowatius incorporates the ethnological knowledge about Hinduism, presented by Rogerius, into the European tradition of the humanities. Thereby he undertakes the attempt of an ‚enclosure‘ and a cultural translation of the religious and moral ideas of South-Indian Hinduism. His glossemata are thus a significant example of ‚cultural exchanges‘ between the European and the Asian world.