L. L. Zamenhof saw the creation of his proposed international language, Esperanto, as a process of construction, rather like the building of a city. This new city of words would replace the walls of language difference that had previously separated the nations. His poems imagined a new “foundation” replacing the Tower of Babel and destroying the walls of Jericho. Unlike most other projectors of international languages, Zamenhof saw the creation of a community of Esperanto speakers, who could claim ownership of the language, as crucially important. The language began as text, but soon, as a result of its growing community of users, became a spoken language. The language owed its popularity to the emergence of an urban European middle class, eager to travel and learn about the world — at a time when the modern city was also emerging, its sense of identity defined above all by shared text and a common narrative. A common narrative and a shared text were also generated among the speakers of Esperanto, who were imbued with faith in technological progress and a corresponding belief in the achievement of common values. They developed common symbols and common modes of organization reflecting those that they found around them, notably the holding of annual international congresses in European cities, and other city-based activities. Zamenhof’s own beliefs were driven above all by his experience as a Central European Jew and by his exposure to early manifestations of the Zionist movement, which led him to dream of a kind of post-Zionist universalism embracing all creeds and races. Sadly, this was not to be: he could not put an end to anti-Semitism, nor bring about the kind of ecumenism of which he dreamed. That vision was lost in the rise of nationalism in World War I and beyond.

中文翻译：

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发明的城市，发明的语言：世界语和城市文本，1887-1914

LL Zamenhof 将他提议的国际语言世界语的创造视为一个建设过程，而不是一个城市的建设。这座新的文字之城将取代以前分隔国家的语言差异之墙。他的诗想象一个新的“基础”取代巴别塔并摧毁耶利哥的城墙。与大多数其他国际语言投影仪不同，柴门霍夫认为创建一个世界语使​​用者社区至关重要，他们可以声称拥有该语言的所有权。该语言最初是文本，但很快，由于其用户社区的不断增长，它变成了一种口语。这种语言的流行归功于欧洲城市中产阶级的出现，他们渴望旅行和了解世界——在现代城市也正在兴起的时候，它的身份感首先由共享的文本和共同的叙述定义。世界语讲者之间也产生了共同的叙述和共享的文本，他们对技术进步充满信心，并相应地相信实现共同价值观。他们开发了共同的符号和共同的组织模式，反映了他们在他们周围发现的那些符号和组织模式，特别是在欧洲城市举办年度国际大会和其他以城市为基础的活动。柴门霍夫自己的信仰首先受到他作为中欧犹太人的经历以及他对犹太复国主义运动早期表现形式的接触所驱动，这使他梦想着一种包含所有信条和种族的后犹太复国主义普遍主义。可悲的是，事实并非如此：他无法结束反犹太主义，也不会带来他所梦想的那种普世主义。随着第一次世界大战及以后民族主义的兴起，这种愿景消失了。