Andrés Laguna: translation and the early modern idea of Europe

Abstract

The life and works of Andrés Laguna illustrate the role played by scholars, diplomats, and translators in the construction of a multilingual idea of Europe stitched together through the textual networks facilitated by printers and publishers. Laguna also exemplifies the intersection of science and literature with translation and the book market. His intellectual production, and in particular his philological abilities put at the service of scientific and literary translation, were of a piece with an early drift towards encyclopedism, and with moves not just for the establishment of an irenic via media in things theological and political, but also with the advocacy of a middling style that frequently resorted to common narrative techniques for the distribution of scientific knowledge. This led to the creation of a mixed prose style whose features overlapped with the discursive strategies used by certain varieties of popular prose fiction.