Abbruzzetti 1

Maci Abbruzzetti

Ms. Stevens

British Literature

7 May 2022

Doktor Esperanto and La Stelo Verda: How Esperanto Affects Culture and Literature

Have you ever had a goal or dream that was really important to you? Maybe it was

something you’d experienced that made you want to take action, or a topic you became really

interested in after stumbling upon it by accident. These kinds of goals are common, but most

people never actually take that action or pursue that dream. L.L. Zamenhof, on the other hand,

did. Zamenhof dedicated many years of his life to the creation of Esperanto, a language designed

to be internationally learned and used. While the Esperanto-speaking community was small

during his life, it grew and expanded to all over the world in the years after his death and

continues to do so today. Though underrated, the constructed language of Esperanto affects

culture and literature in the places it spreads to.

1. Peace, Hope, and Aerkasteloj

It’s impossible to explain the true impacts of a constructed language without first laying

down the framework of how and why the language was created, and who it was created by. The

creator of Esperanto was a Polish Jew by the name of Ludwik Lazar Zamenhof. He was born in a

provincial town in Poland called Bialystock in December of 1859, back when the country was

controlled by Tsarist Russia. His family was very poor and they faced much persecution. His

mother is who passed the Jewish customs down to Zamenhof, while his father was an

emotionally-distant - and rather secular - language teacher; his profession plays an important role

in Zamenhof’s linguistic interest (Littlewood 281).

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The town and area that Zamenhof grew up in was filled with people from many European

countries. There were Russians, Poles, Lithuainians, Germans, and Tatars (Kiselman 2) who all

spoke their own languages and generally disliked each other; the Jewish people of Bialystock

were especially repressed under Russian leadership. Due to his upbringing in such a place and

having a father who taught languages, Zamenhof spoke four languages as a child: Russian,

Yiddish, Polish, and German (which his father taught at schools and universities). He grew to

take the opinion that the problems in society were a direct result of language barriers, which

drastically influenced his passions for linguistics and literature (Littlewood 281).

Harboring this belief, L.L. Zamenhof desired to create a new language of his own, one

that anyone could learn fast and use anywhere. When he was teenager, his family moved to

Warsaw for his father’s work where Zamenhof continued his linguistic studies, learning Latin,

Greek, French, English and Hebrew; he was most likely also familiar with Spanish, Italian, and

Lithuainian (Littlewood 281). All of this knowledge and passion accumulated into his main goal

and ultimate creation of Esperanto, also fueled by his philosophical standing and humanism.

He was just 18 years old when he presented his first usable version of Esperanto.

Unfortunately, the political situation of the time made it dangerous for Zamenhof to openly use

or discuss his new language and his father convinced him to leave his notes at home before he

left for Moscow to go to medical school in 1879. His father burned them all. Despite this,

Zamenhof recreated them from memory after returning from Moscow in 1881 (due to financial

struggle) while also finishing his medical degree and dealing with anti-semantic violence

(Littlewood 282). The fact that Zamenhof was willing to persist in the face of major difficulties

to create a whole new language only proves how much Esperanto and world peace meant to him;

Zamenhof had hope.

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When starting his medical career, Zamenhof first tried doing general practice but didn’t

like it. Instead, he traveled to Vienna, Austria to study ophthalmology. After the success of

becoming an ophthalmologist, he returned to Warsaw and got married, still extremely poor.

Regardless, Zamenhof published his first official Esperanto publication under the nom de plume

‘Doktor Esperanto’ in 1887, when Zamenhof was just 27; in Esperanto, the word esperanto

translates to ‘one who hopes’ (Littlewood 282). This step was only the first in Esperanto being

discovered, learned, and used internationally (around Europe, anyways, at least in the

beginning).

In his community, L.L. Zamenhof was considered to be a bit too eccentric. And he really

was quite obsessed with Esperanto and promoting peace. Zamenhof stopped religiously

observing his Jewish customs, because he no longer believed in religious views that didn’t

uphold the social harmony that he was trying to achieve with Esperanto, much to the detriment

of his career and reputation (Littlewood 282). For many of Zamenhof’s colleagues, family, and

neighbors (and later foreigners introduced to the language, even continuing today), the vision he

had of Esperanto could be described as just aerkastelo. Aerkastelo is an Esperanto idiom (of

course the language talked about is going to be used) which translates to ‘a castle in the sky’

(literally read: ‘an air castle’), whose closest English meaning is pipe dream; it was seen as a

frivolous desire that would obviously never come true. Zamenhof, on the other hand, didn’t give

up hope. World peace was what he wanted, and if he had to drag himself and his family through

years of poverty, he was going to do so (and, yes, he did).

Success came in little waves at first. Later in 1887, he managed to get enough money to

publish his Esperanto book three more times in different languages: Polish, French, and German

(his first one was published in Russian). Two more years later, Swedish and English versions
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were also published (Kiselman 1). This meant multiple countries were being introduced to

Esperanto and its ultimate linguistic goal of being an international language that promoted peace

and hope for a unified world. After Zamenhof refreshed his ophthalmology practice in Vienna in

1901, his business began to prosper and he started meeting and talking with foregin Esperantists

who supported his vision. By 1905, there were enough speakers to hold a conference - the very

first of many throughout the centuries into today - in Boulogne, France (Littlewood 282).

Finally, Dr. Esperanto’s aerkastelo was becoming a reality.

2. Esperanto and International Cultures

Ever since the first Esperanto booklets were published the language was spreading

around Europe, being learned and further spread by the people who took an interest in it. As the

years passed, more people were exposed to the concept of Esperanto and the peaceful ideal it

was trying to achieve. The more Esperanto-speakers traveled and the more languages the

booklets were published in, the more people from other countries outside of Europe could also

learn about it, eventually growing into local and international communities of Esperantists.

Politics and cultural differences influenced the way Esperanto was spread and accepted, but

Esperanto also affected the cultures of those it was - and is - spoken in.

2.1 - Esperanto in France

France was one of the first countries that was introduced to Esperanto; it arrived in 1888.

At first, most of the French people weren’t interested in accepting or learning Esperanto due to

their pessimistic view of constructed languages. According to Marquis L. de Beaufort, founder

and president of La Société Française pour la Propagation de L'Espéranto, explains:

“This was due to the fact that here more than elsewhere the idea of an

international auxiliary artificial language had been undermined by the fiasco of

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Volapük. Many people taken in by the grammatical simplicity of that language…

gave it a warm welcome… But when it was found that in practice the words of

that tongue were ill-sounding, difficult to enunciate and easy to confuse… this

futile invention was very speedily rejected. Unfortunately the failure of Volapük

was somehow identified with the underlying idea itself. Because Volapük failed

its purpose… people concluded that no other artificial language could ever be a

success,” (Beaufort 520).

Volapük was another constructed language that came a bit before Esperanto and had time to

spread around and gain popularity in Europe; it had the same appeal of being easy to learn. This

discouraged attitude towards Esperanto made it difficult to get the French interested in it. Their

culture had been open to the peaceful, international concept and the first language that fit that

was warmly welcomed, only for it to not work out. It makes sense that the French would become

doubtful of future attempts, like Esperanto.

Despite this skepticism, Marquis L. de Beaufort took matters into his own hands and

published a book in French called Complete Handbook of Esperanto which included a double

dictionary. Along with this, he emphasized the clear and logical structure of Esperanto grammar

in juxtaposition to the irregularities and peculiar form of the French language inorder to show

why the French people should take up Esperanto (Beaufort 521). His efforts were successful and

the French began to gravitate towards the new international language; he believed the general

French openness for such concepts was “because of the great need it seemed to fill” (Beaufort

520). Esperanto spread throughout France after his book was published and more French

Esperantists started fighting for it.

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The introduction of Esperanto had a major impact on the culture and society of France.

As it rapidly spread around the country, many smaller groups of La Société Française pour la

Propagation de L'Espéranto popped up in many French cities. The language was taught in French

army and navy barracks by lieutenants and captains. One lieutenant, Lieutenant Bayol, even

wrote about how using Esperanto in the Red Cross institution was essential. New periodicals for

medicine and science started up, purely written in Esperanto; there was also a Commission

appointed by the Municipal Council of Paris for teaching Esperanto at higher primary schools.

Over time, nearly every area of French society was permeated with Esperanto (Beaufort 522-23).

This is what the Marquis has to say on the matter: “I am not given to illusions, and I have had

twenty years of experience fighting for our cause; and upon mature consideration I consider that

my country has been totally conquered by Esperanto” (Beaufort 524). The introduction and

growth of Esperanto in France made the country more sympathetic to the concepts and goals of

international languages.

2.2 - Esperanto in Japan

Outside of Europe, Esperanto was also spreading to Asian countries such as Japan. The

history of Esperanto in Japan is an interesting one and the language is directly related to many

political and cultural revolutionary acts. Esperanto was introduced to Japan sometime before

1906 and had an extreme boom that year. In May, the Nippon Esperanto Societo was Japan’s

first national association, which was taken in by the Nihon Esuperantisto Kyōkai, created a

month later, which became a major Esperanto association in Japan. There were also multiple

newspapers discussing Esperanto by July, along with established Esperanto clubs in major cities

and promotional lectures which were extremely popular (Rapley 512). Japan quickly became the

home of the largest Esperanto-speaking community outside of Europe.

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Despite many people thinking the boom of Esperanto would be a fad, there was a very

influential concept ingrained in Japan that explains why the language was so popular and spread

around the country so quickly. When Esperanto first entered Japan, it was the Meiji period of the

country’s history. This period had a preoccupation with the concept of transnational

communication and was focused on linguistic modernization; the country was working on a

unified writing system at the time as well (Rapley 513). Emphasis on linguistic modernity and

cultural borders allowed for a perfect opportunity for a simple, international language like

Esperanto to seep into Japan.

Before Esperanto was introduced to Japan, there was a notably rising necessity for Japan

to be using a different language; the nation was coming out of its long isolation and was

beginning to come across a need for reform to catch up and reconnect to the rest of the world.

Mori Arinori, one of the most famous contributors to early Meiji linguistics debates, wrote many

things as to why Japan needed to change its language. In a letter to American scholar, William

Whitney, he describes:

“The spoken language of Japan being inadequate to the growing necessities of the

people of that Empire, and too poor to be made, by a phonetic alphabet,

sufficiently useful as a written language, the idea prevails among us that, if we

would keep pace with the age, we must adopt a copious and expanding European

language… Indeed a new language is demanded by the whole Empire. It having

been found that the Japanese language is insufficient even for the wants of the

Japanese themselves… The only course to be taken, to secure the desired end, is

to start anew, by first turning the spoken language into a properly written form,
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based on a pure phonetic principle. It is contemplated that Roman letters should

be adopted” (qtd. in Rapley 516).

For the Japanese in the Meiji period, their own language was no longer fulfilling its goal of

proper communication, especially on an international level. Japanese was falling out of favor

with the Japanese; they wanted and felt they needed something else entirely to properly function

with other countries, not to mention their internal struggle with a writing system. Specifically,

Mori explains Japan’s desire for a language that is European, has a phonetic writing system, and

uses Roman letters. While Esperanto wasn’t in Japan at this time, these requirements persisted

throughout the whole Meiji period, meaning that a language such as Esperanto could easily

fulfill the linguistic goal of the Japanese people, explaining the shocking boom that Esperanto

had when it was first introduced - the Japanese people were yearning for something exactly like

it.

In search of a new, international language, Japan decided to pick up Volapük as it

decreased in popularity in Europe. It was given the title Sekaigo, ‘world language’, although the

use of Volapük was short-lived and Esperanto later gained the name Sekaigo (Rapley 523).

Esperanto was embraced by Japan because they needed a language that gave them the ability to

easily communicate with other nations as they came out of their isolation. On another note,

however, linguistics is not the only thing affected by the introduction of Esperanto. A leading

Japanese socialist, Ōsugi Sakae, learned Esperanto during one of his many prison sentences (he

even attended the first Esperanto conference in France) and taught it to young Chinese anarchists

as a way to reveal the truth about Asian revolutionary struggles (Rapley 511-12). The Meiji

period that promoted linguistic modernity allowed Esperanto to boom in the country. In turn,
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Esperanto became an important piece in Japanese history and an influential part of Japan’s

linguistic cultures.

3. Esperanto’s Place in Literature

As Esperanto spread around the world, it is only natural that speakers would also begin to

write their own literature and translate already written works. This process started almost

immediately after the first Esperanto booklets were published. Originally, the development of

Esperanto literature was split into three groups: before WWI, before WWII, and after WWII

(Pietiläinen 271). Currently, there are four recognized periods.

The first (1887-1920) was a period of translations. Very few authors outside of Zamenhof

were publishing their own Esperanto works during this time. Only three distinguished authors are

associated with this period - and their demise lead to the end of it: Antoni Grabowski, a poet and

translator; Kazimierz “Kabe” Bein, a prose translator; Vasili Devyatnin, another poet. The first

period was officially closed by the beginning of WWI (Pietiläinen 272).

The second (1921-1945) was a period of poetical development. Some people believe

drama was also developed during this period, but not everyone agrees. This period is marked by

the energetic boom of original Esperanto poetry showing linguistics and artistic accomplishment

in the Esperanto movement. Parnasa Gvidlibro (“Guidebook to Parnassus”) was a guidebook

published in 193 that taught people how to write poetry in Esperanto. It was written by Kálmán

Kalocsay, a Hungarian poet and translator, and Gaston Waringhien, a French poet; their works

defined the ideal poetic style that Esperanto poetry should emulate (Pietiläinen 272). This was

the period of maturation in Esperanto literature.

The third (1946-1974) was a period of continued advancement and innovation in spite of

major persecution in Europe, particularly in Germany and Russia. While many authors from the
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second period continued to write, Esperantists faced major political persecution in Germany

(which began in the 1930s) and in Soviet-controlled countries. Certain Esperanto newspapers in

Soviet countries were shut down, like the Literatura Mondo (“Literary World”) during the Cold

War. In spite of this, there was an increase in Esperanto newspapers by the rest of Europe. A

couple major ones were the Nica Literatura Revuo (Literary Review of Nice) and the Norda

Prismo (Northern Prism). A popular work created by Scottish poets, called Kvaropo (“Quartet”)

was considered an epoch-making literary work (Pietiläinen 272-73).

During the third period, Esperanto literature became more international than it had ever

been before. Esperanto authors appeared in Brazil (among other Latin American countries),

China, Japan, and South America. In essence, the third period is an extension of the second

period, although there was a larger emphasis on prose as well as poetry. Because most of

Esperanto’s literary evolution is mostly seen in poetry (things like novels and drama kind of just

fluctuated throughout the decades), William Auld, a Scottish poet - the one who came up with

the original idea of three literary divisions - later proposed four new division specifically for

poetry: primitive romanticism (everything up to 1917), Mature romanticism (1918-1931),

Parnassism (1932-1956), and Post-Parnassism (1956-present) (Pietiläinen 273).

The fourth (1975-present) is the most diverse period in Esperanto literature. Every

literary creation written in Esperanto since 1975 is contained in this period. As such, a ton of

literary development has occurred. This period is mostly defined by more experimental styles of

poetry and a boom of novels. There are many different styles and schools of Esperanto literature

and more and more are able to write and publish works in a more modern time.

In the 1970s, there was a drastic increase in original Esperanto novels being written and a

decrease in poetry. A novel-writing contest for Esperantists in 1975 (awarded in 1980) led to the
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1980s having the largest number of Esperanto books being published (1987, Espernato’s

hundredth anniversary, consequently had the highest number). Ever since then, a rather steady

number of Esperanto novels have been continuously published every year (Pietiläinen 274).

Due to the significance of prose in the fourth period, there are certain elements that are

evident of the changes. A main difference is the length of the novels, as times became more

modern the average number of pages increased. Another difference is the representation of

different styles and genres; there are action, adventure, psychological, science fiction, love, and

an interesting abundance of crime (about a fourth of Esperanto novels are about crime). Many

original Esperanto novels in the fourth period also are written experimentally and often also have

a humanistic tone. An extra phenomenon of the fourth period is the introduction of Esperanto

music, especially rock and folk (Pietiläinen 277).

While Esperanto has a very detailed literary history, Esperanto literature also can have an

international literary impact. Esperantists on one side of the world can read Esperanto novels

written on the other side of the world, which is obvious, but this allows information and opinions

on occurring events to be spread around even they typically couldn’t. A book about something

political, when published in the author’s language and country, could spell negative

consequences for that author (if it was allowed to be published in the first place), while nothing

would come their way if they published it in Esperanto instead. This option was extremely

popular with Esperantist Holocaust survivors. In addition, publishing books in Esperanto could

be beneficial for authors, because Esperantists take special interest in their literature and things

written in the language are often more popular than the version in the author’s native tongue,

perhaps saving it from failing (Pietiläinen 280-81).

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The other important factor to Esperanto’s impact on literature is indirect; it is the authors

that are impacted by Esperanto and whose works are influenced by it. A popular author who is an

example of this is J.R.R. Tolkien. When Esperanto was 20, in the early 1900s, it attracted an

adolescent Tolkien who had already begun fostering his hobby for creating languages. Tolkein

learned Esperanto and used it as one of his guides for creating his first attempt at a constructed

language; his love of linguistics is described as “a ‘secret vice’ that ultimately led to the writing

of Tolkien’s epic legendarium of Middle-earth” (Smith 27). He was even given a position on the

Board of Honorary Advisors to the Education Committee of the British Esperanto Association

(Smith 27). Without Esperanto, Tolkien’s first draft would have been drastically different, which

would have, in turn, changed his final products.

4. Final Conclusions

Today, there are an estimated 200,000 - 2 million speakers of Esperanto worldwide, with

that number only growing as more people learn it and as Esperantists teach it to their children.

Esperanto is easily identifiable by its symbol: La Stelo Verda, “The Green Star”. Zamehof

designed this symbol purposely. The green represents hope, and the five points of the star

represent each continent. He also wrote the Esperanto anthem, La Espero, “The Hope”, later in

his life. These are things that are extremely important to Esperanto and its culture.

Esperanto is a constructed language designed by L.L. Zamenhof as a way to unite the

fighting countries into a more peaceful and accepting way of life. Though he struggled through

life, he gained success with Esperanto and the language quickly spread throughout the world,

impacting countries such as France and Japan, and inspiring popular authors like J.R.R. Tolkien.

Regardless if people don’t believe in its goal, Esperanto has left a lasting influence on history,

culture and literature across the world.

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Works Cited

De Beaufort, L. “Esperanto in France.” The North American Review, vol. 184, no. 610,

1907, pp. 520-524, JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/25105810?seq=1. Accessed 3

May 2022.

Kiselman, Christer. “Esperanto: Its Origins and Early History.” Prace Komisji Spraw

Europejskich, vol. 2, 2008, pp. 39-56, file:///media/fuse/drivefs-

3be92b9a3c5086bd5541e42af89769e6/root/esperanto%20more%20history.pdf. Accessed

3 May 2022.

Littlewood, Kenneth R. “Ludwik Zamenhof: A Colleague of Rare Distinction.” Clinical

and Experimental Ophthalmology, vol. 35, no. 1, 2007, pp. 281-283, LiLI,

file:///home/chronos/u-10787bfdea72156aab3139bb06d33d452f520408/MyFiles/

Downloads/Esperanto%20history.pdf. Accessed 15 Apr. 2022.

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Pietiläinen, Jukka. “Current Trends in Literary Production in Esperanto.” Language

Problems & Language Planning, vol. 29, no. 3, 2005, pp. 271-285,

file:///home/chronos/u-10787bfdea72156aab3139bb06d33d452f520408/MyFiles/

Downloads/Esperanto%20literature.pdf. Accessed 15 Apr. 2022.

Rapley, Ian. “Sekaigo: Esperanto, International Language, and the Transnational

Dimension to Japan’s Linguistic Modernity.” Japan Forum, vol. 32, no. 4, 2020, pp.

511-530, LiLI,

file:///home/chronos/u-10787bfdea72156aab3139bb06d33d452f520408/MyFiles/

Downloads/Esperanto%20in%20Japan.pdf. Accessed 15 Apr. 2022.

Smith, Arden R. “Tolkien and Esperanto.” VII: Journal of the Marion E. Wade Center,

vol. 17, 2000, pp. 27-46, JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/45296768?seq=1.

Accessed 3 May 2022.