Roots, Races, and the Return to Philology

Abstract

Noting recent indications of a renewed interest in philology, this essay provides accounts of both the flourishing of philology in the nineteenth century and the abandonment by scholars of philology on methodological and moral grounds in the twentieth century. It contends that while traditional philology cannot be considered a worthy model for contemporary scholarship, neither can it be simply repudiated or ignored, for it continues to exert a powerful if largely unacknowledged influence on scholarly practice.