Page412
thecommunicativechallengeposedbyLatin,byChristiandoctrineandby
classicalculture.NotkervonStGallen(c.950–1022)wasuniqueamong
translatorsintheOldHighGermanperiodwithregardtoboththevarietyof
textshetranslatedandhismodeoftranslation.ApartfromChristiantheological
literature,heturnedhisattentiontophilosophicalandpoetictexts,suchas
Boethius’sPhilosophiaeConsolatioandVirgil’sBucolica,respectively.
Drawingontheefforts,linguisticandphilosophical,ofpreviousgenerationsof
translatorsandGermanauthors,heeffectivelytransferredthemostcomplex
ideasandsubtlenotionsfromLatinintoinnovative,yetintelligibleGerman.At
thesametime,heworkedwithinthedidactictraditionoftheperiod,translating
forhisstudents’sake.
TheMiddleHighGermanperiod(eleventhtofourteenthcenturies)
ItishardtoimaginetheevolutionofmedievalGermanintoaliterarylanguage
withouttheassistanceaffordedbyLatin.ExistingsidebysidewithLatinduring
theMiddleHighGermanperiod,theGermanlanguagegraduallyopenedup
newandincreasinglyspecializedareasofusage.Thegrowingnumberand
typologicalvarietyoftranslationsproducedduringthisperiodreflectan
increasingneedforcommunicationonmanylevels,practical,speculativeand
entertaining:theological,philosophical,legal,educationalandaesthetic.This
need,inturn,ledtofurtherexpansionanddifferentiationofGermanonthe
normativelevel,particularlyoflexicalinventories,butalsoofsyntax.After400
yearsoflinguisticdevelopment,intenselyinfluencedbyLatin,theGerman
languagefinallyreachedthestagewhenitcouldreadilycopewiththeformaland
intellectualchallengeposedbyLatintexts.Forexample,around1210,Albrecht
vonHalberstadtnotonlytranslatedOvid’sMetamorphosesintoGerman,he
alsotransposedthemintothecontemporaryidealizedworldofcourtlygallantry.
MiddleHighGermantranslationsofThomasAquinas’sandMeisterEckhart’s
writingseffectivelydemonstratethattheGermanvernacularwasnowcapableof
expressingthesubtletiesoftheologicalandphilosophicaldiscourses.Bythe
fourteenthandfifteenthcenturies,literaryGermanhadevolvedintoa
comprehensivecommunicativesystemcoveringallareasofhumanactivityand
interest.Inthisprocess,translationsandrelatedformsofinterlingualand
interculturaltransferofmainlyLatinandFrenchsourcetexts,modelsand
materialsplayedanimportantpart.Asfarastextproductionandreceptionare
concerned,Latin–Germanbilingualitywastherule.Clericsaswellaseducated
laymenwroteinLatin,orinGerman,orinboth.MeisterEckhartandHeinrich
Seuse,forinstance,usedLatinandGermanalternately,dependingontheir
audiences;andJohannGeilervonKaysersberg,themostpopularfifteenth
centurypreacher,draftedmostofhisGermansermonsinLatin.AsGerman
graduallyemancipateditselffromLatinliterarytradition,translations,parallel
texts,compilations,adaptationsandparaphrases,especiallyofliteraturefor
specialpurposes,warrantedthecontinuingcontactsbetweenthetwocultures.
Eventually,inthefifteenthcentury,autochthonousGermantexts,covering
specificareasofknowledge,weretranslatedintootherEuropeanlanguages,
includingLatin.
FrenchinfluenceonMiddleHighGermanbegantobefeltintheeleventh
century;itincreasedduringthetwelfthandthirteenthcenturies,continued
throughthefourteenthandweakenedinthefifteenthcentury.Thisinfluence
manifesteditselfinnumerousloanwords,theformationofwordsand
phraseology,butscarcelyinMiddleHighGermansyntax.Whileinthetwelfth
andthirteenthcenturies,MiddleHighGermancourtlyepicsandlyricalpoetry
wereinspiredbyFrenchmodels,thisliterarycurrentdidnotinterrupttheLatin
tradition.Rather,itranalongsidethemainstreamofreligiousandprofane
literatureinmedievalLatinandMiddleHighGerman.Despitetheapparent
effectsofFrenchliteratureonMiddleHighGermanliterature,directborrowings
appeartohavebeenrelativelyrare.Frequently,theexactstatusofGermantexts
visàvispresumedFrenchsourcesisdifficulttoascertain.Forinstance,
scholarsareuncertainwhetherthedeviationsofHartmannvonAue’sErecfrom
ChrétiendeTroyes’ErecetEnideareduetoHartmannexercising
considerablepoeticlicence,orwhetherhedrewonanunknownFrenchsource
text,orevenonanintermediateDutchversion.IntheirhandlingofFrench
material,Germanpoetstendedtoexerciseconsiderablefreedom,adapting,