By most senses of the term yes. But there were things that functioned sort of like journals earlier. For example, Marin Mersenne in the early part of the 1600s functioned as a sort of clearing house for math. He corresponded with a large number of people and reported to different people what results others were up to. There were others who acted similarly. But, yes the idea of a regular journal is post-enlightenment. This if anything makes Eliezer's portrayal of wizarding culture more problematic, not less so.
Cheers for the info: will look that up. I suppose the question is whether there could realistically be a parallel evolution of something that from the HP references seems to us like a journal.
This may be old news to some people, especially the Russian speakers, but I didn't see an article about it here.
In 1999, Kirill Yeskov, a Russian paleontologist, wrote The Last Ringbearer, a 270-page take on Lord of the Rings from the point of view of a medic in Mordor's dying armies who is also a "skeptic and a rationalist." In fact, Mordor represents the forces of reason in this retelling of the story. As a Nazgúl (himself a former mathematician) explains, Mordor is "the little oasis of Reason in which your light-minded civilization had so comfortably nestled." Barad-dur is "that amazing city of alchemists and poets, mechanics and astronomers, philosophers and physicians, the heart of the only civilization in Middle-earth to bet on rational knowledge and bravely pitch its barely adolescent technology against ancient magic."
The story has been newly translated and is available in free PDF form -- in English and the original Russian. There's a recent review from Salon as well.