Language and German Disunity A Sociolinguistic History of East and West in Germany, 1945-2000

by Stevenson, Patrick

• ISBN13: 9780198299707
• ISBN10: 0198299702
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-03-13
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book investigates the history of national disunity in Germany since the end of the Second World War from a linguistic perspective: what was the role of language in the ideological conflicts of the Cold War and in the difficult process of rebuilding the German nation after 1990? In the first part of the book, Patrick Stevenson explores the ways in which the idea of 'the national language' contributed to the political tensions between the two German states and to the different social experiences of their citizens. He begins by showing how the modern linguistic conflictbetween east and west in Germany has its roots in a long tradition of debates on the relationship between language and national identity. He then describes the use of linguistic strategies to reinforce the development of a socialist state in the GDR and argues that they ultimately contributed toits demise.The second part considers the social and linguistic consequences of unification. The author discusses the challenges imposed on east Germans by the sudden formation of a single 'speech community' and examines how conflicting representations of easterners and westerners - for example, in personalinteractions, the media, and advertising - have hindered progress towards national unity.German division and re-unification were crucial to the development of Europe in the second half of the twentieth century. This fascinating account of the relationship between language and social conflict in Germany throws new light on these events and raises important questions for the study ofdivided speech communities elsewhere. The book will interest sociolinguists, historians, sociologists, and political scientists.

Author Biography

Patrick Stevenson studied at the Universities of Oxford, Sussex and Reading. He is currently Reader in German and Head of German Studies at the University of Southampton. He has published widely on many aspects of German sociolinguistics.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Abbreviations	xi
Introduction	1	(14)
Part I 1945--1990 Language, Nation, and State
Germany and the Questione della Lingua	15	(40)
Political change and linguistic crises	15	(9)
Language, society, and politics	24	(18)
Linguistic and sociolinguistic difference	42	(13)
Building and Unbuilding the GDR	55	(60)
The Byzantine architecture of official discourse	55	(14)
Rituality in the discourses of everyday life	69	(24)
The polyphony of Wende discourses	93	(22)
Part II 1990--2000 Relocating `East' and `West'
Conflicting Patterns in the Use and Evaluation of Language	115	(71)
The linguistic challenge of unification	115	(15)
Communicative dissonance	130	(22)
Linguistic variation and social mobility	152	(20)
Language ideologies and social discrimination	172	(14)
The Discursive Construction of Difference	186	(44)
Narratives of collective memory	186	(12)
Representations of self and other	198	(14)
Manufacturing and contesting identities	212	(18)
Conclusions	230	(9)
Bibliography	239	(30)
Index	269