Helena Sanson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264836
- eISBN:
- 9780191754043
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264836.003.0006
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
This chapter first outlines the linguistic situation of Italy in the first decades of the nineteenth century. It then investigates the role that schooling had in spreading Italian in the ...
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This chapter first outlines the linguistic situation of Italy in the first decades of the nineteenth century. It then investigates the role that schooling had in spreading Italian in the post-unification period, with particular attention given to issues that concerned the female sex, now that state schools catered for young girls as well as boys. Controversies surrounding women's education were as alive as ever in the second half of the nineteenth century, with a decisive role being played by the question of how mothers could effectively and competently contribute to make Italian the language used in the family. If mothers could not instruct their children to use the national language competently — something that was now perceived as a good citizen's duty — female teachers, the ‘maestre’, were called to step in. They were entrusted with the quasi-religious task of spreading education and language to children, irrespective of the hardships and sacrifices that their poorly paid and unjustly undervalued profession imposed upon them. In a difficult linguistic situation, in which access to Italian still had to be gained with effort and study, Tuscan women (even if uneducated) were, contrary to the majority of women across the peninsula, in the privileged position of being considered the repository of an unspoilt form of language which flowed naturally from their lips. Some renowned non-Tuscan men of letters actively sought their help and assistance to give the language of their works that spontaneity they so much aspired to and did not possess.Less
This chapter first outlines the linguistic situation of Italy in the first decades of the nineteenth century. It then investigates the role that schooling had in spreading Italian in the post-unification period, with particular attention given to issues that concerned the female sex, now that state schools catered for young girls as well as boys. Controversies surrounding women's education were as alive as ever in the second half of the nineteenth century, with a decisive role being played by the question of how mothers could effectively and competently contribute to make Italian the language used in the family. If mothers could not instruct their children to use the national language competently — something that was now perceived as a good citizen's duty — female teachers, the ‘maestre’, were called to step in. They were entrusted with the quasi-religious task of spreading education and language to children, irrespective of the hardships and sacrifices that their poorly paid and unjustly undervalued profession imposed upon them. In a difficult linguistic situation, in which access to Italian still had to be gained with effort and study, Tuscan women (even if uneducated) were, contrary to the majority of women across the peninsula, in the privileged position of being considered the repository of an unspoilt form of language which flowed naturally from their lips. Some renowned non-Tuscan men of letters actively sought their help and assistance to give the language of their works that spontaneity they so much aspired to and did not possess.
Patrick Stevenson
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198299707
- eISBN:
- 9780191708053
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198299707.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
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 ...
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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? The first part of the book 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. It begins by showing how the modern linguistic conflict between east and west in Germany has its roots in a long tradition of debates on the relationship between language and national identity. The book then describes the use of linguistic strategies to reinforce the development of a socialist state in the GDR and argues that they ultimately contributed to its demise. The second part considers the social and linguistic consequences of unification. The book 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 personal interactions, the media and advertising — have hindered progress towards national unity.Less
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? The first part of the book 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. It begins by showing how the modern linguistic conflict between east and west in Germany has its roots in a long tradition of debates on the relationship between language and national identity. The book then describes the use of linguistic strategies to reinforce the development of a socialist state in the GDR and argues that they ultimately contributed to its demise. The second part considers the social and linguistic consequences of unification. The book 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 personal interactions, the media and advertising — have hindered progress towards national unity.
Otto Dann
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263822
- eISBN:
- 9780191734960
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263822.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
In the second half of the eighteenth century, a qualified kind of ethnogenesis can be observed among the educated classes of the Western world. In the course of their social emancipation a new ...
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In the second half of the eighteenth century, a qualified kind of ethnogenesis can be observed among the educated classes of the Western world. In the course of their social emancipation a new political identity emerged, one orientated towards the fatherland, the state, and its population. This new ethnic consciousness bridged older identities such as estate, profession or religion. It originated in connection with the great eighteenth-century social movement of patriotism, which became more and more politicised. The philosophical discourse about the nature of language, which had existed since antiquity, intensified immensely during the eighteenth century. John Locke and George Berkeley in Britain and Étienne Bonnot de Condillac in France provided important stimuli in this respect. Johann Gottfried Herder was the first to take vernacular languages and popular poetry seriously as expressions of the culture of illiterate peoples. This chapter examines how national languages were invented and looks at the divergent situations in which the first national languages were used in Europe.Less
In the second half of the eighteenth century, a qualified kind of ethnogenesis can be observed among the educated classes of the Western world. In the course of their social emancipation a new political identity emerged, one orientated towards the fatherland, the state, and its population. This new ethnic consciousness bridged older identities such as estate, profession or religion. It originated in connection with the great eighteenth-century social movement of patriotism, which became more and more politicised. The philosophical discourse about the nature of language, which had existed since antiquity, intensified immensely during the eighteenth century. John Locke and George Berkeley in Britain and Étienne Bonnot de Condillac in France provided important stimuli in this respect. Johann Gottfried Herder was the first to take vernacular languages and popular poetry seriously as expressions of the culture of illiterate peoples. This chapter examines how national languages were invented and looks at the divergent situations in which the first national languages were used in Europe.
Monika Baár
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199581184
- eISBN:
- 9780191722806
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199581184.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
Chapter 5, ‘Language as Medium, Language as Message’, is dedicated to the role of language in the scholars' life‐work. It discusses their contribution to the renewal of the national language. It ...
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Chapter 5, ‘Language as Medium, Language as Message’, is dedicated to the role of language in the scholars' life‐work. It discusses their contribution to the renewal of the national language. It demonstrates the possibilities which language provided for arguments about the antiquity, continuity, unity and uniqueness of national history. It then goes on to address problems of intellectual transfer, originality and imitation. On the basis of textual analysis an attempt is made to illustrate how translations and adaptations were exploited as shortcuts in the process of creating national culture. These include the Lithuanian version of Robinson Crusoe, translations of historiographical texts from German into Hungarian and the use of translations for the creation of modern political language in Romania.Less
Chapter 5, ‘Language as Medium, Language as Message’, is dedicated to the role of language in the scholars' life‐work. It discusses their contribution to the renewal of the national language. It demonstrates the possibilities which language provided for arguments about the antiquity, continuity, unity and uniqueness of national history. It then goes on to address problems of intellectual transfer, originality and imitation. On the basis of textual analysis an attempt is made to illustrate how translations and adaptations were exploited as shortcuts in the process of creating national culture. These include the Lithuanian version of Robinson Crusoe, translations of historiographical texts from German into Hungarian and the use of translations for the creation of modern political language in Romania.
Shobna Nijhawan
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198074076
- eISBN:
- 9780199080922
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198074076.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Women's Literature
This chapter discusses how women’s periodicals contributed to debates over Hindi as a national language and literature and analyses the language used in women’s periodicals. It is organized ...
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This chapter discusses how women’s periodicals contributed to debates over Hindi as a national language and literature and analyses the language used in women’s periodicals. It is organized chronologically and thematically around the Hindi movement. Many writings in women’s periodicals rejected the mainstream Hindi nationalist agenda of standardized and Sanskritized Hindi. Instead, they chose to publish in a language that came close to the lingua franca of the targeted audiences and which nevertheless claimed the status of a national language. Moreover, writers who were not always native speakers of a Hindi dialect retained the flexibility of Hindi and created a language different to the one envisioned by the Hindi literati. Therefore, Hindi women’s periodicals were vital not only in shaping and creating political discourse on women and society but also envisioned the creation of modern Hindi as a national language and the language of the people.Less
This chapter discusses how women’s periodicals contributed to debates over Hindi as a national language and literature and analyses the language used in women’s periodicals. It is organized chronologically and thematically around the Hindi movement. Many writings in women’s periodicals rejected the mainstream Hindi nationalist agenda of standardized and Sanskritized Hindi. Instead, they chose to publish in a language that came close to the lingua franca of the targeted audiences and which nevertheless claimed the status of a national language. Moreover, writers who were not always native speakers of a Hindi dialect retained the flexibility of Hindi and created a language different to the one envisioned by the Hindi literati. Therefore, Hindi women’s periodicals were vital not only in shaping and creating political discourse on women and society but also envisioned the creation of modern Hindi as a national language and the language of the people.
BRIAN Ó CUÍV
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199583744
- eISBN:
- 9780191702365
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199583744.003.0014
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter examines developments in Irish language and literature during the period from 1845 to 1921. It explains that during the 1840s, Irish had ceased to be the everyday language of all but a ...
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This chapter examines developments in Irish language and literature during the period from 1845 to 1921. It explains that during the 1840s, Irish had ceased to be the everyday language of all but a small proportion of the people of the island. However, during the 1920s, the status of being the national language was accorded to Irish under a native government representing the people of the greater part of Ireland. The chapter attempts to explain how this anomalous situation came about.Less
This chapter examines developments in Irish language and literature during the period from 1845 to 1921. It explains that during the 1840s, Irish had ceased to be the everyday language of all but a small proportion of the people of the island. However, during the 1920s, the status of being the national language was accorded to Irish under a native government representing the people of the greater part of Ireland. The chapter attempts to explain how this anomalous situation came about.
Joshua L. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195336993
- eISBN:
- 9780199893997
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195336993.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature
Academics experienced some of the same accusations of disloyalty and mistrust as Mencken during World War I, which led to the firing of faculty members for treasonous teachings. It was in this ...
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Academics experienced some of the same accusations of disloyalty and mistrust as Mencken during World War I, which led to the firing of faculty members for treasonous teachings. It was in this embattled and uncertain context that the literary canon of “American literature” and the field of linguistics as the scientific study of language were constituted. Professors of English noted that one of their most evident methods of demonstrating national loyalty as a profession was to highlight their expertise in the study of what was presumed by many to be the national language. Like Mencken, they sought to capitalize on the growing fascination with U.S. English and the governmental interest in legitimating the existence of an undeclared national language. This chapter situates the new methodology of linguistics in the 1920s in this postwar environment. Linguists participated in the larger historical trends of interwar language institutionalization, and the field of study was constituted in relation to the language politics of the day both in terms of its existence as an academic field and its coalescing methodologies.Less
Academics experienced some of the same accusations of disloyalty and mistrust as Mencken during World War I, which led to the firing of faculty members for treasonous teachings. It was in this embattled and uncertain context that the literary canon of “American literature” and the field of linguistics as the scientific study of language were constituted. Professors of English noted that one of their most evident methods of demonstrating national loyalty as a profession was to highlight their expertise in the study of what was presumed by many to be the national language. Like Mencken, they sought to capitalize on the growing fascination with U.S. English and the governmental interest in legitimating the existence of an undeclared national language. This chapter situates the new methodology of linguistics in the 1920s in this postwar environment. Linguists participated in the larger historical trends of interwar language institutionalization, and the field of study was constituted in relation to the language politics of the day both in terms of its existence as an academic field and its coalescing methodologies.
Patrick Stevenson and Jenny Carl
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748635986
- eISBN:
- 9780748671472
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748635986.003.0004
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
The focus in this chapter is on the complex ‘layering’ of language policy – an exploration of the multiple levels at which language policies are formulated and the conflicts between them, from ...
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The focus in this chapter is on the complex ‘layering’ of language policy – an exploration of the multiple levels at which language policies are formulated and the conflicts between them, from supranational EU and transnational corporate/commercial strategies promoting multilingualism in various forms, through national domestic and foreign cultural policies continuing to foster the idea of ‘national’ languages, to local-level lobbying of indigenous and migrant minority groups – and on the ways in which these policies/policy discourses impact on individual and collective lives by creating particular kinds of space.Less
The focus in this chapter is on the complex ‘layering’ of language policy – an exploration of the multiple levels at which language policies are formulated and the conflicts between them, from supranational EU and transnational corporate/commercial strategies promoting multilingualism in various forms, through national domestic and foreign cultural policies continuing to foster the idea of ‘national’ languages, to local-level lobbying of indigenous and migrant minority groups – and on the ways in which these policies/policy discourses impact on individual and collective lives by creating particular kinds of space.
Patrick Stevenson and Jenny Carl
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748635986
- eISBN:
- 9780748671472
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748635986.003.0003
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This chapter constructs a historical context for the study of language(s) in central Europe, emphasising its multilingual and multiethnic nature and the tension between the emergence of ‘national’ ...
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This chapter constructs a historical context for the study of language(s) in central Europe, emphasising its multilingual and multiethnic nature and the tension between the emergence of ‘national’ languages and the persistence of linguistic minorities. The main argument is that by focusing on the changing position of, and experiences with, one language – German – across the region it is possible to explore the complex ways in which language is implicated in social change at local, national, and transnational levels. At the same time, the authors emphasize that ‘context’ is understood as a dynamic and continuous process, not a static backdrop. The study concentrates on the relationship between policies and experiences with language in Hungary and the Czech Republic (as multi- and as monolingual spaces), and so this chapter provides historical profiles of language use, language contact, language learning, language spread and language decline in these two countries, drawing on documentary and secondary sources. It also includes an account of the master narratives / dominant discourses on ‘Germans’ or ‘German-speakers’, against which the personal narratives in Chapters 5 and 6 can be pitched.Less
This chapter constructs a historical context for the study of language(s) in central Europe, emphasising its multilingual and multiethnic nature and the tension between the emergence of ‘national’ languages and the persistence of linguistic minorities. The main argument is that by focusing on the changing position of, and experiences with, one language – German – across the region it is possible to explore the complex ways in which language is implicated in social change at local, national, and transnational levels. At the same time, the authors emphasize that ‘context’ is understood as a dynamic and continuous process, not a static backdrop. The study concentrates on the relationship between policies and experiences with language in Hungary and the Czech Republic (as multi- and as monolingual spaces), and so this chapter provides historical profiles of language use, language contact, language learning, language spread and language decline in these two countries, drawing on documentary and secondary sources. It also includes an account of the master narratives / dominant discourses on ‘Germans’ or ‘German-speakers’, against which the personal narratives in Chapters 5 and 6 can be pitched.
John Joseph
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748624522
- eISBN:
- 9780748671458
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748624522.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
Language, this book argues, is political from top to bottom, whether considered at the level of an individual speaker's choice of language or style of discourse with others (where interpersonal ...
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Language, this book argues, is political from top to bottom, whether considered at the level of an individual speaker's choice of language or style of discourse with others (where interpersonal politics are performed), at the level of political rhetoric, or indeed all the way up to the formation of national languages. By bringing together this set of topics and highlighting how they are interrelated, the book functions as a textbook on any applied or sociolinguistic course in which some or all of these various aspects of the politics of language are covered. The chapter headings include: how politics permeates language (and vice-versa); language and nation; the social politics of language choice and linguistic correctness; politics embedded in language; taboo language and its restriction; rhetoric, propaganda and interpretation; and power, hegemony and choices.Less
Language, this book argues, is political from top to bottom, whether considered at the level of an individual speaker's choice of language or style of discourse with others (where interpersonal politics are performed), at the level of political rhetoric, or indeed all the way up to the formation of national languages. By bringing together this set of topics and highlighting how they are interrelated, the book functions as a textbook on any applied or sociolinguistic course in which some or all of these various aspects of the politics of language are covered. The chapter headings include: how politics permeates language (and vice-versa); language and nation; the social politics of language choice and linguistic correctness; politics embedded in language; taboo language and its restriction; rhetoric, propaganda and interpretation; and power, hegemony and choices.
