De to var på hver sin måde førende repræsentanter for den retning inden for international sprogforskning, som blev kendt under navnet fonologi, og brevene er et enestående forskningshistorisk vidnesbyrd. Samtidig giver deres korrespondance en langt mere personlig dimension til et felt, hvor de videnskabelige artikler normalvis er upersonlige redegørelser for det ene og det andet sagforhold. 

Brevene viser os spændingen mellem Roman Jakobsons visionære tilgang og Eli Fischer-Jørgensens insisteren på at være tro mod de fonetiske fakta. De demonstrerer også, hvordan diskussionerne om forholdet mellem fonologi og fonetik uundgåeligt bliver flettet sammen med livet i sprogforskersamfundet, sådan som det udvikler sig på kongresser og i akademiske institutioner. Særligt forbindelserne mellem Roman Jakobson og den konkurrerende Louis Hjelmslev-dominerede strukturalisme i København vil være interessant for en bredere kreds af læsere. 

Foruden brevene og det indblik, der gives i datidens samfundsudvikling, indeholder bogen en grundig introduktion til de to hovedpersoner og korrespondenter, og læseren føres ind i både den jakobsonske fonologis første tid og sprogvidenskabens tidlige struktur som et system af (lingvist-)kredse, tidsskrifter og kongresser. Udgaven er grundigt kommenteret og forsynet med nyttige registre.

Det er håbet, at udgivelsen af denne vigtige brevveksling vil stimulere interessen for den stadig levende arv fra denne generation af store lærde og eminente personligheder inden for feltet. Og så giver læsningen af brevene i øvrigt også mulighed for at følge udviklingen af et smukt venskab fra start til slut.

ENGELSK SALGSTEKST: 

For more than 30 years, from 1949 till 1982, the two influential linguists Roman Jakobson (1896-1982) and Eli Fischer-Jørgensen (1911-2010) regularly exchanged letters. The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters has published the entire collection of preserved letters in which we are introduced to two strong personalities: the Russian born linguist Roman Jakobson and the Danish phonetician and general linguist Eli Fischer-Jørgensen, both members of the Royal Academy, Eli being the first ever Danish woman elected a member.

They were both leading representatives within the field known as phonology, and their letters are no doubt to be considered important documents in the history of international linguistics. Moreover, reading the letters provides a personal dimension to a field in which the usual scholarly articles are often devoid of personal content. 

The letters show the tension between Roman Jakobson’s visionary approach and Eli Fischer-Jørgensen’s insistence on staying true to phonetic facts, just as they show how the discussions of the relationship between phonology and phonetics are inescapably related to the linguistic community’s life and its way of evolving in congresses and academic institutions. Furthermore, the correspondence reflects on the connections between Roman Jakobson and the competing Louis Hjelmslev-dominated structuralism seen in Copenhagen which is thought to be of interest to a wider spectrum of readers.  

Besides the interesting background information concerning the general development of society at the time, the book also provides a thorough introduction to the people behind the correspondence as well as a contextualization of the letters both as to the early days of Jakobsonian phonology and as to the early structure of linguistics as a system including social circles, journals and congresses. The edition is of course fully annotated and contains a variety of useful indexes.

By bringing these letters to the public, particularly to researchers concerned with the history of structuralist linguistics, we hope to stimulate interest in the ever-present legacy from this generation of impressive scholars and eminent personalities. And – let us not forget – the letters also provide a peek into the course of a beautiful friendship fro