The monolingual habitus of German society challenging the interests of an autochthonous minority language: Linguistic landscapes in the Sorbian “capital” of Bautzen / Budyšin
- This paper analyzes the LL in the city of Bautzen / Budyšin in Germany, a town which is frequently considered the “capital” of the Slavonic minority of the Sorbs. It focuses on the societal role of Sorbian in relation to practices and ideologies of mainstream German society. The vast majority of signs in Bautzen / Budyšin are in German only. Sorbian is essentially restricted to explicitly Sorbian institutions and to local and regional administration. Interviews conducted in shops and on the streets reveal that paternalistic attitudes common to perceptions of language policies and minority languages in Germany dominate; practices maintain the common monolingual habitus in German society. Members of the majority population show little awareness of Sorbian issues, and Sorbian signage is seen as a generous gesture but considered essentially unnecessary. Only in most recent times, a reaction by the Sorbian community has challenged these practices and attitudes.
Author: | Heiko F. MartenORCiDGND, Maris SaagpakkGND |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:bsz:mh39-115159 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.17011/apples/urn.201909124143 |
ISSN: | 1457-9863 |
Parent Title (English): | Apples: Journal of Applied Language Studies |
Publisher: | Centre for Applied Language Studies |
Place of publication: | Jyväskylä |
Document Type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Year of first Publication: | 2019 |
Date of Publication (online): | 2023/02/13 |
Publishing Institution: | Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache (IDS) |
Publicationstate: | Veröffentlichungsversion |
Reviewstate: | Peer-Review |
Tag: | German; Sorbian; language attitudes; linguistic landscape; minority languages |
GND Keyword: | Autochthon; Bautzen; Einsprachigkeit; Linguistic Landscape; Minderheitensprache; Sorbisch; Sprachpolitik |
Volume: | 13 |
Issue: | 3 |
First Page: | 77 |
Last Page: | 106 |
DDC classes: | 400 Sprache / 400 Sprache, Linguistik |
Open Access?: | ja |
Linguistics-Classification: | Soziolinguistik |
Licence (German): | Urheberrechtlich geschützt |