Research project LUXSCRIBENS

The Art of Letter Writing in Luxembourg from the 1800s until 1950 (LUXSCRIBENS)

The project at a glance

  • Start date:
    01 Jan 2025
  • Duration in months:
    36
  • Funding:
    Fonds National de Recherche Luxembourg AFR/FNR
  • Principal Investigator(s):
    Machteld VENKEN

About

Luxembourg’s multilingual background, including Luxembourgish, German, and French, has marked the country for a long period and proves particularly interesting in the context of letter writing. This project explores the evolution of letter writing in Luxembourg from the Napoleonic era to post-Second World War (1800s – 1950), focusing on the unique multilingual aspect of Luxembourgish. Luxembourg’s absence from previous studies on letters and their societal impact presents an opportunity to delve into the linguistic development of the language. It allows us to highlight the transition from a purely oral to a written language, beginning with the emergence of Luxembourgish literature in the nineteenth century. This development of a written language is a key aspect in recognising and establishing Luxembourgish as a national language. The multilayered methodological approach combines research on letter evolution, training an adapted HTR model for transcribing historical letters using the AI-powered Transkribus software for automatic transcription and addressing methodological questions unique to Luxembourgish—a language lacking standardised writing until 1984. The project aims to advance the current understanding of the so-far neglected corpus of nineteenth-century correspondences and early to mid-twentieth-century letters to gain insight into the language use and adjustment to the geopolitical changes marking this period of Luxembourg’s history. It contributes to understanding language use, variation and standardisation in a multilingual context, revealing connections to political realities and communication patterns.

Organisation and Partners

  • Contemporary History of Luxembourg
  • Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH)

Project team

  • Machteld VENKEN, PI
  • Frédéric CLAVERT, Project member
  • Nina Janz, Project member, NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Amsterdam Netherlands (external)

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