Globalization and the Future of German

Globalization and the Future of German≥ Globalization and the Future of German With a Select Bibliography Edited by Andreas Gardt Bernd Hüppauf Mouton de Gruyter Berlin · New York Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague) is a Division of Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin. We gratefully acknowledge a printing subsidy from the Faculty of Arts and Science at New York University. ȍ Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines Ț of the ANSI to ensure permanence and durability. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Globalization and the future of German / edited by Andreas Gardt, Bernd Hüppauf. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 3-11-017918-0 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. German language Ϫ 21st century. 2. German language in the United States. 3. Language and languages Ϫ Study and teaching Ϫ United States. I. Gardt, Andreas, 1954Ϫ II. Hüppauf, Bernd. PF3088.G56 2004 4301.910905Ϫdc22 2004011660 ISBN 3-11-017918-0 Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at Ͻhttp://dnb.ddb.deϾ. ” Copyright 2004 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, 10785 Berlin. All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Cover design: Christopher Schneider, Berlin. Printed in Germany. Contents Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Globalization – Threats and Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bernd Hüppauf 1 3 Globalization and Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 The Past, Present, and Future of World English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 David Crystal English as Threat or Resource in Continental Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Robert Phillipson Global English – A New Lingua Franca or a New Imperial Culture? . . . 65 Hans Joachim Meyer English Rules the World. What Will Become of German? . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Rudolf Hoberg Language Policies in East and West. National Language Policies as a Response to the Pressures of Globalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Petra Braselmann The Impact of English on the Vocabulary and Grammatical Structure of German . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 German as an Endangered Language? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Peter Eisenberg Does “Denglish” Dedifferentiate our Perceptions of Nature? The View of a Nature Lover and Language “Fighter” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139 Hermann H. Dieter vi Contents Internationalizing Science and Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155 German as an International Language of the Sciences – Recent Past and Present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Ulrich Ammon The Future of German and Other Non-English Languages for Academic Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Konrad Ehlich Language and Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 The German Language and the Linguistic Diversity of Europe . . . . . . . 187 Wolfgang Thierse Language and National Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Andreas Gardt Yiddish and German: An On-Again, Off-Again Relationship – and Some of the More Important Factors Determining the Future of Yiddish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 Joshua A. Fishman The Past and Future of the Pennsylvania German Language: Many Ways of Speaking German; Many Ways of Being American . . . . 229 David L. Valuska and William W. Donner German in the USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 Language Policies of the Goethe-Institut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Nikky Keilholz-Rühle, Stephan Nobbe, and Uwe Rau The Kulturpolitik of German-Speaking Countries in the USA . . . . . . . . 253 John Lalande II Self-Inflicted Wounds? Why German Enrollments are Dropping . . . . . . 265 Robert C. Reimer Meeting the Challenge: The Future of German Study in the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 Helene Zimmer-Loew German in Wisconsin: Language Change and Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Peter Wagener Contents vii Language and the Creative Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 The Seductive Aesthetics of Globalization: Semiotic Implications of Anglicisms in German . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307 Prisca Augustyn Critically “Kanak”: A Reimagination of German Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . 319 Yasemir Yildiz Globalization: A Look at the Positive Side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 John M. Grandin Select Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349 List of Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373 . The implications. debate. equal to Greek or Finnish. The European Year of Languages was meant to boost positive attitudes and foster a love of Europe’s colorful plurality through a glowing image of its linguistic diversity. Presenting English as one of the many languages spoken in Europe.’ The situation of German is paradigmatic. a conference addressing the topic of the future of European languages with a specific focus on German as a paradig- .Preface It seems justified to say that in Europe language has never before been the subject of heated. It had by this time become obvious that English was now the dominant language world-wide. The year 2001 was declared the European Year of Languages. political and economic tendencies. The contrary seems to have been achieved. as was the case in the decades around the year 2000. However. After two years of preparation. or even public. The debate was particularly intensive in Germany. It gave rise to many conferences. it is obvious that linguistic changes cannot be discussed in terms of linguistic concepts only. critical voices pointed out that the positive presentation of the diversity of European languages was little more than a deception. and yet others considered it an inevitable implication of the tendency towards a global village that will only be possible if English is used as the language of communication all over the world. In public debate and academic publications the question was raised whether German was among the dying languages. It is no surprise that the language debate was particularly heated in Europe since European languages are losing their traditional position and societies are concerned about the reduction of their national language to a ‘small language. Some commentators denied this possibility while others were seriously afraid of the future. lectures and hearings considered worthy of media coverage. with a future reduced to the private sphere or folklore. since they are inextricably intertwined with social. Whichever side one takes in this debate. as well as possible responses to the continuing rise of English differ greatly between languages and nations. not every one agreed. Skepticism and even deep pessimism in relation to the future of European languages ensued. was seen by many commentators as an ill-conceived attempt to cover up the real situation. Official publications of the EU made an attempt to demonstrate the bright future of Europe’s linguistic diversity. In contrast to the celebration of languages. The question is raised whether this will lead to an ideal community of uninhibited communi- . It is the power center of the drive towards English as a global language and. Publication in English. The editors responded to the concern expressed about the problem of linguistic diversity by including abstracts of all essays in German. The decision to publish this volume in English rather than in German gave rise to strong criticism and warrants a brief explanatory comment. will lead the book to reach a new readership unfamiliar with the issues elaborated on in this anthology. Yet. The first chapter deals with the general effects that globalization has on language. particularly where assumptions about the ‘nature’ of language are made. at the same time. This has become evident in German speaking countries in the debate about foreign words and phrases. expanded by six solicited essays. This volume contains revised contributions to the conference. A guiding principle that the editors adopted was to reflect the broad spectrum of the debate that is not limited to academic positions. This is the major concern of language societies which have contributed to the intense public debate in recent years. Furthermore. The intention was to use this distance to create a different framework and to re-adjust the debate by defining the issues in a different way. it is reasonable to assume. the European language debate is all but unknown in English speaking countries and the specific situation of German is even less well known. The book is addressed to a target group that can be called international readership. it is distanced both geographically and mentally from the sites of political debate in Europe.x Preface matic example was held in 2002 at New York University. Globalization manifests itself in the increased use of English as a second language world-wide. in the corresponding decrease of importance of other languages in second language acquisition and in the increasing presence of English in everyday life in non-English speaking societies. the relationship between questions of language and globalization has been neglected. open to all groups of society. Language is a public good and controversy over its current state and future development is a legitimate aspect of public discourse. It was hoped that the focus on the effects of globalization – rather than on the fear of domination – would lead to a reconstitution of the terms of the debate and liberate it from the sterile perspective of confrontation that perceives languages as being engaged in a struggle for survival. New York seemed an ideal place for a re-examination of these issues. Language policy is a field where scholarly research and public interest intersect and it is no surprise that not every argument used in this debate stands up to closer academic scrutiny. In the past ten years a large number of books on the language question have been published in German. entertainment and material goods. . universities and other institutions of learning and study in Europe has been the subject of comprehensive research in recent years. The fourth chapter deals with various aspects of this question. Chapter five therefore concentrates on the role German plays in education and the public life in the United States. not much has been published on the presence of German in America. the dominance of English as the language of globalization is often held responsible for erasing cultural differences and creating a uniform and faceless world. It is their specialist languages that make the impact of English most obvious. From early on and. For many scientists. Not only individual words and phrases are incorporated. The situation of German in schools. What is at stake is less the replacement of one language by another. whether (American) English is becoming a new means of expanding cultural and economic hegemony. contributions deal with historical traditions of defining identity through language and also address current developments. or. Australia and Canada. addressing German in the context of a multilingual Europe and America. The increasing international importance of English has had obvious consequences for the international standing of German (and French. However. In their attempt to keep their educational programs internationally attractive. universities in German speaking countries have begun offering entire degree programs in English. alternatively. Using the examples of Yiddish and Pennsylvania German.) as a second language. with renewed urgency since the late 18th century. Italian. both of individuals and of societies as a whole.Preface xi cation where English as the new lingua franca enables individuals and groups to participate in an increasingly global market of information. The third chapter is concerned with the linguistic consequences of the internationalization of science and technology. Russian etc. publishing in English has become common practice and they regard linguistic diversity in their professional sphere as a hindrance for efficient communication. involving the print and electronic media and has provided language societies with a specific and popular agenda. For those who regard this as a genuine threat the question of language policy and strategies for supporting the various national languages is inevitable. This controversy has gained considerable public appeal in the past years. language played a major role in the construction of cultural and political identity in Germany. but whole areas of communication have shifted to English. Where linguistic diversity is seen as linked to cultural diversity. as a result of the political conditions. The second chapter focuses on the impact of English on the vocabulary and grammatical structure of German. but the growing presence of English words and phrases in German. New York . They must be identified and actively pursued in promoting the language. Andreas Gardt. that an endangered love of language could be revitalized through a newly open and self-confident attitude. the Alexander-von-Humboldt-Stiftung. Katharina Schaumann (Universität Kassel). Without the financial support from the Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst.xii Preface The departure point of the final chapter is the question of possible responses to the perceived threat posed by globalization. Peter Bews (Universität Heidelberg) and Dr. We would like to acknowledge. Dr. contributions by Kathrin DiPaola (NYU). Also. There are areas of knowledge and experience. and the Robert Bosch Stiftung the conference would not have been possible. it seems. Anke Beck. Ursula Kleinhenz. and Frank Benno Junghanns. primarily from Turkey. the Austrian Cultural Forum. There is hope. new hybrid forms of German resulting from close contact between German and the languages of immigrants. Many were involved in the preparation of this volume. could well lead to a revitalization of the productive power of the spoken and written language. these essays suggest. the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. that continue to make German attractive. in particular. The contributions reflect the complexity of these relations by placing emphasis on productive and innovative responses to the challenge to the future of German as a world language. Kassel Bernd Hüppauf. We are grateful for support from the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache that covered the cost of the simultaneous translation of the papers presented at the conference. Introduction . . Die Beiträge diskutieren die Frage. er führt in die vorwiegend durch die Bedingungen der EU und die Perspektive der Nationalstaaten bestimmte Debatte den Begriff der Globalisierung ein. popular culture and diplomacy. eine Identifikation und wiederbelebte Liebe zur eigenen Sprache treten. Vielmehr bieten sich Möglichkeiten zu einem eigenbestimmten und innovativen Verhältnis zur Sprache an. so argumentieren einige der Beiträge. Es besteht weitgehende Übereinstimmung. und nicht allein von Deutsch. Without doubt. An die Stelle eines Denkens in Kategorien von Ausschliessung und Verdrängung kann. Inter- . the sciences. Der Sammelband knüpft an diese Diskussionen an. dass sich die Stellung von Deutsch. wie sich die Folgen der Hegemonie des Englischen als der Sprache der Globalisierung für die Stellung der Sprachen Europas in der Gegenwart und voraussehbaren Zukunft verstehen lassen. geführt. am Beispiel von Deutsch im Alltag und in Institutionen der Ausbildung Europas und Amerikas. 1. der Unterhaltungsindustrie und vieler weiterer Bereiche auf der Welt hat in den letzten Jahren zu intensiven Diskussionen in der Öffentlichkeit sowie in akademischen Disziplinen. vor allem der Linguistik.Globalization – Threats and Opportunities Bernd Hüppauf Zusammenfassung Die unaufhörlich wachsende Bedeutung von Englisch als der Kommunikations. Diese Veränderung wir in einigen Beiträgen kritisch bewertet. The statistical data are unequivocal. It has become the undisputed international language in many areas including tourism. in der Gegenwart grundlegend ändert. der Wissenschaft. während andere es für unfruchtbar halten. sie lediglich als einen Verlust zu verstehen. the importance of English as a language of international communication has increased significantly during recent decades.und Geschäftssprache der EU sowie als Sprache des Tourismus. die erkannt werden müssen. um praktiziert werden zu können. definiert jedoch den Rahmen der Betrachtung auf andere Weise. Equally obvious is that we do not know how to interpret such data. We are witnessing a rapid change of the world’s linguistic map without really understanding what we are witnessing. business and trade. however. There is a fear among many European (and non-European) nations of losing the power of language itself. assessments of these tendencies are often emotionally charged. many more has not been practiced in real communication for many years. This anxiety is particularly strong in France and Germany. combined with cultural values and a life style. The historical experience of colonization provides many observers with a preeminent model for interpreting the growing hegemony of English in the contemporary world as a whole as well as in the EU. reducing their significance. also designated a ‘language war’. and with this the capacity for self determination and the development of cultural identity. but can also be observed. What is new. Spanish and Portuguese in South America.4 Bernd Hüppauf pretations are highly controversial. the relationship between English – the language of a nation that not only joined the EU late. as the result of the eastward expansion. Powerful nations feel they are being pushed to the periphery of world affairs by English and AngloAmerican culture for which language is the main vehicle. This is a new experience for European nations that is particularly wounding to their self esteem. now eleven and soon. The current phase of creating a new monetary. albeit to a lesser degree. imperialism reshaped as a political program based on anonymous channels of electronic communication and language is all the more threatening. but by continuing to be reluctant to give up national sovereignty is suspected of maintaining a mentality of imperialistic arrogance – and other major European languages. The only situations in the past comparable to the current conflict over language. since they have enough experience with imperialism to know that it contains “the notion of a purposeful project”: the intentional spread of a political system. is an emerging mono-linguaslism. initially six. is now spreading across the globe.1 was. they believe. they argue. from one center of power that creates victims pushed to the margins. economic and political unity in Europe has created conditions that have had an obvious impact on the perception of language. German can serve as an example for the submergence of European languages as a consequence of the emergence of English as the foremost foreign language in .2 While it is increasingly difficult to locate purpose in an identifiable power center. America and Asia. within other nations with major languages. furthermore. The principle of parity for the languages of all EU member states. in particular. the political domination of colonizing powers which uncompromisingly suppressed indigenous languages: English and French in Africa. and the dominance of English as both a language of institutions of the European Union as well as of general communication is perceived as a threat that may reduce all other languages to insignificance. This new variant of imperialism. youth culture and in the global linguistic market place. needs to be addressed in the context of globalization.Globalization – Threats and Opportunities 5 Europe. alternatively.4 Yet. its explanatory range proves remarkably powerful. in similar ways to a reduction in the power of French internationally.”3 In public debates and academic publications the question has often been raised whether German may be among the dying languages. or. considering the complex reality that needs to be conceptualized it has a great analytical potential and. made this obvious: the controversy polarizes opinions and touches emotions so deeply. are losing the power once gained in the process of (occidental) modernization. A controversy over the conference language nearly led to the abortion of the project. both scholarly and popular. This volume makes an attempt to reconstitute the debate by developing a new conceptual framework. In contrast to political interpretations that posit the situation in terms of a clash between English and other European languages. Issues related to the current situation of European languages and their prospective futures have been debated extensively at conferences and in publications. Rather. It is our contention that the future of European languages. as long as it is used as a semantic tool for sensitizing the observer. in terms of their relation to English. “Monocultures . it denotes fundamental changes that are leading to unifying the world as a whole. With globalization as an analytical term. Regardless whether globalization is constructed as a term of continuation or rupture. the observed polarization can more appropriately be interpreted within the frame of reference provided by one of the main tendencies of the present. as the symptom of a deep caesura and the powerful and dominant tendency in a post-colonial world in which the nation state and with it stable identities. as well as a new type of mass migration result in the disappearance of differences. The impact of new communication technologies and the global circulation of capital and consumer goods. the rise of English and the complementary fall of European languages can then be perceived as a struggle between globalization and identity. the language is “progressively marginalized in scholarship. Globalization has been defined in two mutually exclusive ways: either as an extension of familiar tendencies in modernity towards internationalism and its imperialist heritage. that irrational responses are not uncommon. that provided the basis for most of the essays collected in this volume. its future reduced to the private sphere and folklore. Globalization is not a clearly defined term. The preparation of the conference on “Globalization and the future of European languages” in 2002. commerce. it is “beset with vagueness and inconsistencies” and therefore often used with a mixture of uneasiness and fascination. While Germany has the strongest economy in the EU and German is spoken by nearly 100 millions Europeans. this perspective could well be a crass distortion.”5 Pörksen observes a disquieting homogenization of modern languages which he calls a “disabling of the vernacular”. it can be argued. Supporters of globalization tend to argue that. to perceive the situation in terms of this exclusive opposition. European experience seems to embrace a concept of language connected with the stable identities of separate cultures and are consequently much more concerned with the pain of the wound. Other observers place less emphasis on loss and sacrifice and do not see the beginning of the final end for diversity. They may be reduced to local idioms. is well justified by the gains achieved through the creation of a world liberated from inherited restrictions for communication and movement. world literature and a world society. It may not be a surprise to note that contributions based on the American experience have an inclination towards the more open and post-colonial concept of globalization and. The tension between these two mutually exclusive concepts of globalization provides the framework within which the arguments of the contributions to this volume are elaborated. on the contrary. Russian and English. they argue. They make an attempt to define language as either a major force or as the victim in this debate on globalization. it is the contention of this volume. in general. but is still worthy to be pursued. Chinese. Wherever we look. is a price worth paying. can even conceive of loss as a ‘self-inflicted’ wound. fewer kinds in ever fewer variants of corn and rice and wheat. Furthermore. Goethe and other thinkers of the late Enlightenment phantasized about world citizenship.6 Bernd Hüppauf are gaining ascendancy and [are] overwhelming the globe. Local cultures and a sense of place may well be losing ground. it needs to be added. This society had no grammatical plural and served as the linguistic sign for an ideal of a world in harmony and eternal peace. In the process of its realization. but this loss. There is no need. He warns that this part of a continued reduction of diversity threatens to turn the globe into one large and uniform space. is the loss in importance of languages other than English. This too. whereas the German and. . the reduction of cultural diversity is the inevitable implication of the desirable objective of globalization. and sheep and cattle and pigs look back at us. supporters of globalization argue. and wrote about humankind (die Menschheit) with enthusiasm. but rather the realization of a discourse initiated around 1800 when Kant. this ideal lost much of its fascination. One such loss. as Robert Reimer argues in his essay. The domination of American pop culture and the triumph of mass entertainment would. they contended. From this perspective. Rome and the Roman Empire have been suggested as the model for this power game. Their agenda increasingly dictates the agenda of national governments and makes questions of linguistic diversity pale. the bigger the producer the more protection it deserves. It was leading. they argued that the emergence of a homogenized mass culture would lead to a fundamental change in Western civilization. Power results from a civilization’s success in promoting industrial goods and other products of national production and in the present it is particularly ideas. and dominance of one over all other civilizations presupposes the continuation of the system of nations as it has existed from the beginning of the modern period. There is no place on the globe unaffected by it since the EuropeanAmerican model – which is rapidly changing to the American-only model – became the only guiding force world wide.Globalization – Threats and Opportunities 7 2. globalization is interpreted as a deceiving term concealing the imperialist struggle for domination. values and . to the lowest quality level of cultural production. language has to be considered a fundamental dimension of this change. this change is accompanied by a shift in the source of power from military and political domination to competing civilizations and their systems of economic and cultural production.1. then. they feared. the world. from its inception on. This image of globalization is indebted to the critical analysis of mass culture pioneered in the 1940s by Horkheimer and Adorno. namely. according to this view. seen as an example of one political power seeking domination over other nations. It takes for granted the continued existence of the nation state as the basis of the organization of a reality that had not existed previously. given recent experience. inevitably result in the eradication of diversity and the leveling of quality.6 A clash of civilizations. Also. needs to be strongly emphasized is the weight of commercial interests of large corporations. The subjugation of cultural objectives and in particular linguistic and cultural self-determination to economic interests is simultaneous with the protection of producers and. Its absence from the political and sociological debate notwithstanding. This world wide system. is the scale of the struggle. The first interpretation links the language question closely to a concept of power vested in nation states and a system of international power relations. to use Samuel Huntington’s popular phrase. The conflict is. What is at present changing. Based on observations gathered during their exile in America. What was missing from their analysis and. has always been one of conflict and competition. American business strategy suggests. Within this framework. it can be interpreted as a major agent of domination not only among the members of the EU but in the emerging world market in the age of information and knowledge. in the centrality of America’s economic vitality for the well-being of the world economy…” It is no surprise that he adds to this benevolent view of America’s role in the process of globalization “the worldwide appeal of the multi-facetted and often crass American mass culture. America’s power. and most disreputable manifestations of our ‘culture. critical of American capitalism as the anatomy of globalization. Zbigniew Brzezinski recently wrote. they need to be protected. As Phillipson argues in this volume. The apparent arrogance of the political and economic elite in relation to the rest of the world provides further support for this critical analysis.8 Through language a system of values and beliefs. knowledge and life style is being covertly imposed on other cultures. that leads to the perception of the growing domination of English as a threatening colonizing act of the Americanization of the world. is a recipe for more English and less of the other languages.’ No wonder that these effusions become the laughingstock of intelligent and sensitive people the world over. Language as inextricably intertwined with this struggle for the domination of one nation over others makes it mandatory for anti-colonial and antiimperialist theories of liberation to include it in their critical analysis. This distortion has to be corrected. “Leaving language policy to market forces. European languages are being interpreted as centers of authentic culture.8 Bernd Hüppauf entire systems of thought and perception mediated by language that will lead to domination. “is unprecedented in its global military reach. they argue. nationally and in the supranational institutions. silliest.”7 For critical theory that interprets globalization as a camouflaged Americanization of the world. According to George Kennan – who no one will accuse of ideological bias – America exports “the cheapest. and what is referred to by the innocent term “appeal” needs to be seen in terms of a continued international power struggle.9 By putting them in a position of dependence comparable to colonies during their struggle for decolonization. It is this analytical framework. literature and the entertainment industry which all are up against the menace of the subjugating power and need organized support in their struggle against the threat of their identity melting into global pulp. But so long as we find it proper to let millions of our living rooms be filled with this trash every evening… I can see that we would cut a poor figure trying to deny it to others beyond our borders…”11 .”10 What can be observed in relation to the power of English in politics and economics can also be said about the arts. the triumph of American pop culture is ill-understood in terms of its “appeal”. it is more commonly associated by many with the power of anonymous corporations and huge institutions to rule over. it has been suggested. For many this new language is difficult to comprehend. the power of the modern and dynamic as well as the distant other. but perceived as the anonymous power of a financial-industrial empire whose language is English. the liberating opportunities for creativity and openness cannot be realized and the world becomes a space of alienation in which local and regional identities need to be protected from the danger of extinction. create the desperate alternative to the abdication of self.Globalization – Threats and Opportunities 9 2. individuals. the media and increasingly also of education provide appalling examples of servility. are consequences of a growing attitude of defense against a perceived menace. Aggression and violence. These feelings of threat are not to be underestimated and have led to active responses ranging from violent protests to subtle forms of resistance. not necessarily identical with America.14 They often demonstrate a high degree of frustration and anger. Petitions to parliaments of European countries. The power to litter public language with often ill-understood phrases and fragments of American English can appear as mere folly. in a common assessment. is creating casualties who are helplessly exposed to a bizarre combination of internationalism and a new parochialism expressed through unfamiliar words and phrases and American sounds. Globalization’s power of dissolution creates feelings of exposure and extreme uncertainty.2.13 Marketing slogans designed by multi-national corporations are declarations of their success in pulling down all boundaries and borders and creating a consumer paradise without limits. as the ultimate expression of a desire for identification. the creation of associations for the protection of one’s own language and resistance to an increasing number of English words and phrases penetrating into German. and shape the lives of. but. is associated with innovation. but as embedded in a wider context made up of the destruction of jobs. contempt for one’s own . French and other continental languages. as several essays in this volume argue. lack of pride and. This achievement cannot be understood as an act of liberation so long as this opening is perceived as a damaging loss. is a key factor in this conflict. In Germany. the language of corporations. The loss of language is not perceived in isolation. Globalization. The critical theory of the American culture industry undoubtedly captures the mood of many who feel directly affected by globalization. advertising. As long as changes in the language are perceived as loss and threat.12 Yet. the erosion of the welfare state and the imposition of a new geographical mobility. Language. on the other hand. The claim has been made that the German language is suffering “irreparable damage from an excessive influx of words and phrases from the Anglo-American sphere” that has “destructive effects for the creation of the individual’s self. it needs to be acknowledged that these anxieties are real. thus. this defensive position may well be an entirely misconceived perception. need to be taken seriously. it maintains a way of framing globalization . that has lead to the perception of language as a unit fixed in time. post-colonial globalization theories offer a different interpretation by suggesting a radically different model that no longer focuses on the expansion of the power of one. single nation within a system of nations. it is the linguistic and mental framework of culture wars.16 While this is an attempt to overcome the inherited and restrictive framework of the nation state and related international systems based upon it. Well known is Anthony Giddens’s sociological definition of globalization that makes space shrink and links distanced places with each other. 3. to paraphrase Thomas Mann’s word for the perversion of genuine German traditions for detested political purposes. has given expression to this serious concern about a lack of love for the mother tongue. The president of the Federal Republic of Germany. For those who are directly affected. globalization is easily identified with an act of expropriation and dispossession and the feared destruction of one’s own language is experienced as a particularly painful loss. identifying it as the prime source for linguistic deterioration.” 15 Rather than the imminent death of authentic German or ruin of language as the precondition for the creation of self. The effects that ‘Americanization’ has had on the German language are often exaggerated out of all proportion and responses occasionally border on the hysterical.10 Bernd Hüppauf language. making them. The verhunzte Sprache. These feelings of loss and destruction. a Gegenwartssprache that is threatened by extinction.1. In contrast. it can be argued. but attempts to address recent changes in terms of a transformation of time and space. for whom globalization is identical with exposure and loss as well as a frightening loss of identity. Yet. Collections of ridiculous examples of linguistic pollution have been put together. interdependent. From the distant and disengaged perspective of a socio-linguist. They are indicators of the perceived threat and growing insecurity felt by many. has led to popular outcries of resistance to this unwelcome penetration and transformation of the common language by a foreign idiom. subjective as they may be. “Globalization as an aggregation of cultural flows or networks is a less coherent and unitary process than cultural imperialism and one in which cultural influences move in many different directions. Focusing on language suggests a very different account. the time of explorers who made the world shrink through their voyages. it is also a way of conceiving globalization in terms of historical continuity. In contradistinction to the assumption that societies. or domination. The new importance of language as a defining quality and the new position of English among all other languages are indicative of the emergence of a new world. These sociological definitions interpret globalization. These flows do not have a specific place of origin and do not follow a defined course of movement. cultures and nation . The rapid emergence of English as the world language and the simultaneous decline of linguistic variety make the observer aware of a different scenario. make an attempt to frame the issue by focusing on movement and instability rather than stable concepts and reality in flux. Yet changes we are currently witnessing go far beyond ordinary changes of influence and popularity. that has a long history going back to the early modern period. but rather the point of departure is the proposition that neither boundaries nor their definitions remain unaffected by globalization. often in spite of their stated intention. While this is an attempt to overcome the restrictive framework of the nation state and related international systems based upon the nation state. and this interpretation remains within a framework of continuity. Their perception is often denoted by the term “flow”. less concerned with the future of the nation state and production of goods and services than with the world as a product of the imagination and symbolic exchange. More radical definitions. The linguistic map of the globe has never been stable. clearly not the direction from a center to a periphery.Globalization – Threats and Opportunities 11 as the extension of the process of modernization. which is conceived as an element of relationships and networks. and the period in which the transportation revolution brought distant places within the reach of all.”17 They do not construct the world as a container holding separate cultures each centered on its own essential character. one characterized by radical discontinuity. Their relationships are highly complex and resist analysis through a causeand-effect schema. comparable to the rearrangement of the world by the Roman Empire with the concomitant spread of Latin as an inter-ethnic means of communication. Recent changes are interpreted as an intensification and acceleration of these processes. Originators and recipients vary and change roles. adventurers and experimental scientists. It links the present to the emergence of modernity and globalization to the spirit of early explorers. as a further step in the continuous evolution of the modern. ”20 So far. generalization. regions and place. what they define as real are the most fleeting and instable qualities of modern life. not dissimilar to identity and ethnicity. arguing that changes in the global linguistic map can only be appropriately interpreted if they are perceived as an element of the process of globalization. have never been fixed. 3. such as language. this debate has all but ignored languages. Rather. social or cultural boundaries un-breached by global flows. but of the unifying and universalizing power of one language in the production and distribution of scientific knowledge around the globe. the unreal products of cultural imagery and construction. alternatively. a society of multiple presences. relationships and systems of signs. discrete and/or autonomous …units.” these globalization theories argue “that there are no absolute political. or.” 18 Globalization is then a term denoting not a process of acceleration and intensification but of a rupture.19 Globalization cannot be conceptualized as intercultural exchange or described in terms of its potential for enriching autonomous cultures. globalization is a concept for the emerging world society. It is the objective of this volume to make a contribution to the debate by focusing on the role of language. From this point of view. Comparison. or any other mode of social theorizing… must then address not separate examples or discrete cases.12 Bernd Hüppauf states exist as “bounded.21 English as the “Tyrannosaurus Rex” (John . a global language. They are. destroying their authenticity. but always imagined. They are defined as “phenomena that are densely and dynamically interconnected. identical with the vanishing of the economic and political autonomy of nation states and the simultaneous emergence of a new space that absorbs all limiting boundaries. One effect of globalization is that the traditional privileging of national languages in the production of knowledge is eroded.2. Concerns in relation to the political implications of English as the dominant language world-wide notwithstanding. understood in terms of movements and flows.” Instead. by definition. movements. globalization cannot be comprehended as a system of independent nations or civilizations engaged in international exchanges or conflicts. This presence in one space will make one language indispensable. are “conceptions of social realities that are supple enough to handle this flowing and flowed-at mode of being. separate. Nations. what is needed is an understanding of movements and relationships. It defines the present as the presence of one society only. This is not the result of the traditional competition between nations. universal ideas and values are not shared or are . We no longer perceive an individual theory that is translated from one language into the language of a host society and that subsequently travels from one place to another. to be exceptional and to hold a superior position and dignity through the universality of ideas and values. are the demonstration of the contrary. as the examples of Turks in Germany and migrants in America. An appropriate answer requires a shift of perspective. that an attempt to answer it on the basis of the traditional pattern of a transfer of ideas and theories between national languages and fixed places has become insufficient and inappropriate. Knowledge no longer has a natural home in any one. a place of origin and a final destination. characterized by the radically diminished importance of borders and various lines of separation. localization creates the danger of undercutting a discourse’s claim to the status of theory. Globalization’s effects. English is used as the vehicle.22 and the concept of traveling theory is emerging. requires close contact between western and non-western societies and this contact makes it obvious that the universality claim cannot be justified. but a constant exchange of knowledge and information in a pre-existing pattern of exchange.Globalization – Threats and Opportunities 13 Swales) of scientific language is in its early years and will not be threatened by extinction for a long time. The same seems to apply to the relationship between knowledge and language. however. however. allegedly. or conflicts between the West and modern Islam demonstrate. from one place to another and from one metropolis to others has been asked. Linguistic globalization has reached a point where theories couched in local. For example. nothing but an illusion. Within this network of theory and information flows. the answer is paradoxical. The underlying image of travel needs to be reconstructed under the conditions in which travel can no longer be defined as a movement from a place of origin to a destination. psychoanalysis loses something of its theoretical power as soon as it is perceived as the product of bourgeois Vienna at the turn of the 19th century. If we ask what the new knowledge gained by using globalization as a sensitizing analytical tool might be. who do not wish to abandon their identity. Many of these. It is. The emerging world society. Globalization is the result of a claim made by modern western societies. On the contrary. national language. but is predicated upon a global network of traveling routes without a center. The question as to how theories travel from one nation to another. increasingly represented by America. We do not know the answer to Clifford’s question: “How do theories travel among the unequal spaces of postcolonial confusion and contestation?”23 It is obvious. regional or national languages face difficulties of being perceived and integrated into international scientific discourse. It can be argued that it is precisely the intensified awareness of the imaginary quality of identity and identification that is imperative for maintaining feelings of . In recent years. As yet. but always – before globalization or internationalism had their impact on local idylls – been the product of imagination and cognitive construction. were always dependent on the production of an imaginary shared world. such as the nation state or a national language. expectations of progress. globalization and migration have led neither to an integrated world culture nor to the eradication of cultural difference and national languages.24 The region. Critical analysis has done a lot towards debunking as a myth any naïve notion of the local. Globalization forces us to realize that the unifying realities of the past. whereas globalization seems to know no borders and creates an infinite and homogenizing flow of everything and anything around the globe. In the world of global flows and migration. but rather of electronic communication and flows with multiple directions. They have never been empirically given. difference and distinction in the face of the absence of cohesion. ethnologists and cultural analysts have made contrasting observations. Local cultures are demonstrating a remarkable power of resistance and capacity to absorb and transform goods and ideas spread through international trade.14 Bernd Hüppauf even aggressively rejected by large parts of the globe’s population. freedom and self-determination derived from the concept of a rational society that dominated political and social discourse from the 18th century on are not met by the emerging global society. it may be precisely the maintenance of the tension that must be understood as paradigmatic for the world society that is no longer the product of the 18th century imagination. On the other hand. the regional and the national as ontologies. Negativity. 4. the village or home town and local landscapes have all been deconstructed in recent theory as constructions of the imagination. They are under imminent threat by globalization’s dissolving power. equality. conditions for this production are undergoing fundamental changes. but does not support the creation of stable identities either. At present. It seems not to lead to the horror vision of complete homogeneity. the particular and the difference of regions. However. harmony and smooth adaptation to existing structures could well be defined as constitutive elements of the mental pattern referred to as globalization and world society. it also seems to be giving rise to a new awareness of specificity. Skepticism in relation to unity and continuity could be seen as the imperative of the present. In this world of global flows the increasing importance of English will remain an extension of the age old struggle for political power only to the degree to which the nation state itself maintains the position it acquired four hundred years ago. Any Gegenwartssprache that can be analyzed as a system is an artificial construction. continuously changed and interfered with each other. so that learning and unlearning. Languages have always been on the move. .26 Understanding the situation of languages in the age of globalization requires developing sensitivity to shifting relationships and unstable constellations. but also to an imaginative creativity that is less spectacular. Globalization. it has been observed. Welsh or aboriginal languages of Australia and America. Obvious homogenizing changes are. paradoxically. This includes the rediscovery of regional traditions and languages. Boundaries and exclusion are experienced as natural and constitutive for the construction of identity.Globalization – Threats and Opportunities 15 belonging and security at a time when globalization is threatening to destroy them. Local identities have always been fleeting constructs of the imagination and the linguistic diversity of Europe has never been a stable system of independent idioms. but could lead to more lasting effects as the rediscovery and maintenance of regional cultural identity demonstrates. believed for a long time to be dying out such as Frisian. linked to a growing sense of self and local identity. and clearly defined concepts with fuzziness. gives rise not only to often violent resistance movements. Basque. constructing and deconstructing can be accommodated within the framework of analytical description. with the decline of the nation state and the complementary rise of trans-national forms of organization. the national power struggle becomes insignificant and increasingly anachronistic. What Fabian suggested for the ethnology of foreign and local ‘own’ cultures needs to be translated into the realm of language analysis: he suggests making culture liquid or liquidating culture by replacing static forms with indeterminacy. Maintaining a focus on both at the same time is the difficult. but necessary task for those who observe or are affected by globalization. leading to a considerable degree of identification. It is a surprising observation that the blurred images of self and indeterminate lines of separation are being clarified and gaining a new meaning and importance as a result of the perceived threat through globalization. social psychology and related disciplines suggests the deep emotional attachment of people to place and a language which they are familiar with and have experienced as their own from childhood on.25 Experience in ethnology. Attempts to stop changes or reverse them are fraught with oversimplification and inevitably enmeshed in the politics of identity and therefore an illusory reaction. Old boundaries are being rediscovered and cultivated. as the experience with education outside the school curriculum seems to indicate. Empathy expressed in their essay demonstrates that they consider this a sad loss owed to modernization and its drive toward reducing diversity. 5. It seems equally deceptive to assume that globalization can be reversed and the linguistic diversity of previous centuries regained. negotiation . the image of globalization as a free flow of ideas facilitated by English as the lingua franca of the world is obviously a distorting over-simplification. The question arises whether the network of openness and directionless flows creates a condition without rules and is leading to the final dissolution of order. however. The essay by Donner and Valuska provides an outline of its deplorable vanishing resulting from processes of adaptation and homogenization. To some observers. or will this new openness create conditions for defining specific niches where national languages can thrive and even gain new significance? Will globalization leave room for interfering and planning by national governments and cultural organizations? Does the conflict between globalization and identity exclude interference by interested organizations. Renate Losoncy offered strong empirical evidence that the Delaware valley where Pennsylvania German is spoken has potential to become the site where. but. the cultural framework for a complex identity with a two-sided orientation could emerge. It is obvious that there is no identifiable agent behind this process and it may have to be accepted as an inevitable consequence of changing life styles. that only veils cultural monotony.16 Bernd Hüppauf Equally. this language is well and alive and has a future.28 A blending of the local German/Dutch tradition and American main culture could be interpreted as a model for the future of languages in the age of American hegemony word wide. this language is experiencing a phase of contraction and may be threatened with extinction.27 Violent protests against globalization have made it obvious that this ideal is a naïve deception. For other observers. possibly reduced in scope and exclusiveness. under these new circumstances. In her paper presented at the conference. The significance of the expansion of English cannot be grasped by postulating a benevolent invisible hand that leads to the ideal of a global village based upon free communication of equals. Particularly interesting in this context are the observations about the current situation of the language and culture of the Pennsylvania Dutch in America. or is it an invitation for interference. as a viable hybrid between the cultures that retains its status as a distinctive language. Prisca Augustyn’s essay addresses the seductive power of this language. It is the idiom of hopes and promises. The decline of German as a language for the sciences. They are confident that the adverse effects of globalization can be overcome and furthermore see globalization as opening up new perspectives. of consumption and unrestricted movement. Augustyn’s essay offers an explanation as to why the love may have been lost. There are two possible responses: closing the paths of flight by decree or regaining attraction. can see sufficient space for language policies by governments and other organizations and advocate developing strategies for taking a proactive position in support of languages. It is the simultaneity of threat and seduction. If the death of a language. Helene ZimmerLoew and Petra Braselmann. but as an artificial idiom of a dynamic. since they have little to offer and pose no challenge. They will convince no-one to opt in favor of the endangered language and . Many fine arguments can and have been made why German as a language of the sciences is worth to be maintained. Following this model. The promise of success and productivity is irresistible both for capital and the restless mind. In any event. innovative world society – is attractive in the way tax havens attract capital – they offer higher revenues. English is the global language. English – not as the language of Great Britain and possibly not even as the language of the USA. there is no need to perceive the current situation of languages as being threatened. On the contrary. anxiety and pleasure that needs to be reflected on and that finally shapes the gaze of the observer. Its loss results from a flight from languages that are no longer attractive. Contributions to this volume by representatives of the Goethe Institute and others. Success and prestige are being searched for where they are offered. can be attributed to a lack of love. in particular John Lalande. No power or political agent is needed to make the language of the internet the language of desire for people all around the globe. the chance to stop or reverse powerful global tendencies is remote. fear is bound to lead to defensive strategies that are weak and may well turn into self-fulfilling prophecy. The history of capital moving around the globe makes it obvious that only the latter can have success. of emancipation from feudal and autocratic powers. despite the indeterminacy of the situation. as Meyer’s contribution argues. need to make decisions that inevitably have political and financial implications. In the age of virtualization and digitalization. This global language is highly attractive and successful in seducing people the world over. the social sciences and increasingly even the humanities is a point in case. and it serves no purpose to engage in a struggle against this position.Globalization – Threats and Opportunities 17 and steering? National organizations such as the German Goethe Institute or the DAAD are faced with this open question and. of liberating women. consequently. .29 Its language is obscene. at any given moment in time. German has been subjected to the impact of several other European languages. There is ample space for supporting the language. but not exclusively. As several of the contributions to this volume suggest. and is deliberately non-literary and non-German. using dirty imagery and slang. In spite of its tough and provocative appearance. and of a purposeful construction of Gegenwartssprachen which. a question of finances but also of innovative and imaginative approaches and projects. the self expressed in this aggressive language is affectionate and constructed in a new idiom capable of nestling up to equally instable identities. through language. however. Focusing on the struggle over language as a conflict of power among nations and civilizations misses the challenge of the reality of the age of virtual realities. primarily Latin. are in the process of mutation and reconstruction. Globalization is not only a tendency of the political and sociological reality of the present. what is required is a reconstitution of the ways of perceiving and describing the situation. But neglecting the desire for place. For centuries. Attempts to make the language attractive and returning to it a seductive power is certainly.18 Bernd Hüppauf contrary to his or her personal interests and expectations. The questions need to be addressed as to whether an active and aggressive approach to the indisputable loss in importance of national languages would be able to turn loss into gain. languages cannot be understood as static systems defined by dictionaries and books of grammar. The question needs to be raised as to whether globalization’s threat is a construction on the part of the observer and. Its connection with lived experience is not simply given. The desire to maintain a diversity of languages and. The struggle for preservation is predicated upon a concept of the history of languages as a series of artificially fixed moments in history. French and English and the concept of a language as a fixed system that can and deserves to be protected from change is an illusion. Turkish-German author Feridun Zaimoglu’s books and. it is also a mental pattern. in particular. too. aggressive and violent. The emerging German-Turkish literature can be read as a convincing example of this fluid and undefined relationship between globalization as a mental and emotion pattern and globalization as lived experience. are in constant flux. identity and stability misses an equally strong current of the present. identity. his provocative short text entitled Kanak Sprak (1995) are a case in point. is misunderstood as long as it is read in terms of reactionary politics and anti-modern sentiment. It needs to be conceived in terms of a legitimate desire and a real dimension of the highly complex processes labeled globalization. but needs to be defined. They. shatters the whole. beyond political definitions of dependence and obligations. The difference between the global language and one’s own language . moreover. diffuse and permeable. Rather than looking at loss with melancholia or nostalgia. However. but. The invention of a new language is a decisive moment for creating a new reality in a period of migration flows and destabilized identifications. This creative approach to language is not hampered by the fear and anxiety of loss. German and Turkish. interprets this new and hybrid language as an encouraging sign of a growing sense of difference. Attempts to salvage dissolving identities by demarcating spaces and arresting time need to be identified as a politics of illusion. Only in as far as the mental pattern globalization makes it visible. but not as separate and competing units. In her description. triggered by one of the major characteristics of globalization namely migration. practiced. What seems to be required is the imagination and flexibility to develop a two-sided attitude that is capable of upholding both identification with one’s own language and also respect. Their immobility and inability to acknowledge a reality which they have not produced and have no control over results in attitudes of fearful exclusion. This emerging hybrid language carries the stigma of the unwelcome outsider. the merger of two languages and cultural traditions as practiced in Zaimoglu’s language. The question of identity is of small importance and is subordinated to the needs of creating a symbolic space for a self-determined life in-between separate nations and cultures. it seems. They enter into a relationship of difference only in as much as the pattern of globalization makes it possible to perceive them in conjunction and as elements of a network. triggered and encouraged precisely by the challenges of impersonal tendencies in globalization. not as an abstract ideal of tolerance. this is clearly the problem of the insiders. curiosity and openness in relation to other languages.Globalization – Threats and Opportunities 19 In her essay Yazemin Yildiz refers to an emerging linguistic variety and diversity and. but as a concrete attitude towards the one or two foreign languages that each individual is surrounded by. It creates a potential for the creation of self as fluid.30 The linguistic and literary foundations of the creation of a new reality is. and that does not feel obliged. are we exposed to this ambivalence and perceive the situation as that of an emerging word society based upon mutual dependence and a complementarity of languages. and spaces outside national cultures and languages provide fertile ground for innovative experiments with life. to have or own a single indistinguishable identity that gives stability. the situation of European languages seems to call for a balancing act. she contends. once threatened or lost. results from the every-day life practices of a migrant. Undefined spaces on borders. It works the other way around. but not as its enemy. Queen’s University Belfast. A Critical Introduction. free of fear and competition. English-only Europe? Language policy challenges. will lead to confidence in European languages and prepare the only way to nurture their power to generate innovation and invite identification. 175. 18–10 September 2002. The most promising support that can be offered to one’s own language are imaginative approaches and affection. (See Hermann Dieter’s essay in this volume. the vanishing love for one’s own language will not return as a result of competition and purification through exclusion. Notes 1. 3. London 2003. A less bellicose but equally fatal image has gained some prominence in recent years: the death of nature as a result of dying species and the general loss of bio-diversity. Phillipson. Oxford 1992. Linguistic imperialism. Baltimore 1991. English for emerging or submerging multiple European identities? Paper presented to the Third Language and Politics Symposium. Under the circumstances of globalization and the seductive power of its global language. John Tomlinson.) 2. suffering its aggressive competition. . Openness. Robert Phillipson. A balancing act that maintains one’s own language in the mode of continuous flux. p. Cultural imperialism. Robert Phillipson. perceived differences are the necessary and constitutive precondition for the creation of a mental pattern that gives contours to the global society of which languages other than English will remain an integral part.20 Bernd Hüppauf is constituted neither by an absence of contact nor by warlike competition. This mental pattern has the potential to enable us to perceive and practice our own language without inhibition as the other of the global language. Love’s reciprocity needs openness and a language that is not protected by well-meaning guardians. and not its casualty. The search for a uni-linear relationship to one language as the object of attention will undoubtedly fail. English as the language of globalization and a mental pattern that creates the space for contact among the two will make it possible to realize that the argument which declares the world society a thinly veiled version of colonialism and English as the symbolic army of imperialism is little else than the certification of the new global society’s existence turned upside down. nor be found in the quest for absolute identification with a language that can be owned or possessed. Attitudes of aggression or self-pity are anachronistic. Herbert Drube. Uwe Pörksen. Frankfurt 2002. University Park. 26. The tyranny of modular language. 8. 6. 6. Birgit Meyer and Peter Geschiere. English for emerging or submerging multiple European identities? (Footnote 3). 131–155. undesirable tendency with the collapsed identity following military and political defeat. p. S. In: Zimmer. Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. Language and the media are conspicuously absent from their analysis of Empire. Berlin. Zum deutschen Wortschatz. Die deutsche Sprache braucht gesetzlichen Schutz!. Abschied von Illusionen. p. 12. 29–38. New York. In: Rudolf Muhr and Bernhard Kettemann (eds. Salwen. George Kennan interviewed by Richard Ullman.2000. Über den internationalen Status der deutschen Sprache. 31.). The New York Review of Books. Deutsch und anderes – die Sprache im Modernisierungsfieber. Typen von Anglizismen: von der heilago geist bis Extremsparing – aufgezeigt anhand ausgewählter lexikographischer Kategorisierungen. Zbigniew K. New York. in: Berliner Morgenpost. PA 1995. Eckart Werthebach. 11. Ulrich Busse. Brzezinski. 30–58. Conservative critics of modern culture observed an excessive influx of American words in the German language after 1945 and associated this. 14. Robert Phillipson. Zimmer. did not have the time to prepare his lecture for publication. The literature on this issue is vast. Empire. Das Fremde und das Eigene.). In 2001. M.). Anglizismen allgemein und konkret: Zahlen und Fakten. 125ff. Die Diskussion ihres Verhältnisses in Geschichte und Gegenwart. 12 August 1999. 1. B. (ed. pp. p. 5. 7. Berlin. S. p. it seems to me that their central importance for the process they reconstruct is obvious. esp. Cambridge and London 2000. Aktueller lexikalischer Wandel. Introduction to: Globalization and Identity: Dialectics of Flow and Closure. Nation und Sprache. p. 53–83. who gave the opening address to the conference that led to this volume. see e.g. Eurospeak – Der Einfluss des Englischen auf die europäischen Sprachen zur Jahrtausendwende. Yet. Plastic words. Versuch einer Systematik des Fremdwortbegriffs in der deutschen Sprachgeschichte. 13. the “Institut für Deutsche Sprache” (Mannheim) proposed the creation of a German Language Council (‘Sprachrat’) and stated as reasons the increasing number of English words and other related changes of the language that have led to suggesting a law for the protection of the German language and the creation of an academy following . Andreas Gardt. München 1968. Gerhard Stickel (ed. 1991. in: Critical Studies in Mass Communication 8. Oxford 1999. Bernhard Kettemann. 2001: Andreas Gardt. 8 April 2004.Globalization – Threats and Opportunities 21 4. Neues und Fremdes im deutschen Wortschatz. 3. Reinbek 1998. 2000. 9. S. they thought. Dieter E. It is regrettable that Michael Hardt. 10.12. Cultural Imperialism: A Media Effects Approach. quoted from The New York Review of Books. 3–63. Von Latein zu Deutsch. Commodities in Cultural perspectives.) The dominance of English as a language of science. Berlin. Januar 2000. p. p. Das exotische Europa. Kohl and Nikolaus Schaffhausen (eds). Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference. The sociological literature on the subject is vast. 18. the Verein created a “Berliner Sprachbündnis” with the aim to stem the flood of foreign words and expressions. New Heimat. Time and the Global. Pioneering work was done by Arjun Appadurai. 1995. Christian F. in: Global Culture. Time and the Global. 19. 2002. 20.de/ ueberuns/leitlinien.htm. In 2001. 2000. S. Diana Crane. and the Critic. Gründe und Folgen des Wechsels von Wissenschaftssprachen. Ammon. Feest. Media. 15. 16. New York 1991. Karl-Heinz Kohl. Traveling Theory. in: Public Culture 2. also: Caren Kaplan. Berlin.). p. S. ed. von Deutsch zu Englisch. 17. Dipesh Chakrabarty. Die Ethnologie und ihr Gegenstand. Giddens. Archiv für Völkerkunde 51. Verein deutsche Sprache: Leitlinien. Kelly. 240. S. in: Das Ding. and Appadurai. Ist Deutsch noch internationale Wissenschaftssprache? Englisch auch für die Lehre an den deutschsprachigen Hochschulen. New York. In: Merkur 610. 24. Arts.22 Bernd Hüppauf the French example. Appadurai. 22. Diana Crane et al. Die internationale Stellung der deutschen Sprache. Minneapolis 1996. Beyond Left and Right. Notes on Theory and Travel. Edward Said. Princeton. The equivalent among a few similar organizations in France is an association called “Défense de la langue française”. 81– 104. New York and London 2002. Modernity at Large. in: The Social Life of Things. the Text. Culture and Globalization.vds-ev. in: E. 23. Disjuncture and difference in the Global Cultural Economy. Among numerous publications. Friedhelm Debus. 1996. Deutsch als Wissenschaftssprache im 20. Vorträge des Internationalen Symposiums vom 18. 178. 1995. 2000. Ammon (ed. The World. Franz Gustav Kollmann and Uwe Pörksen (eds. Ulrich Ammon. . 177–188. Oxford 1999. Stuttgart 2000: Jürgen Schiewe. Consequences of Modernity. James Clifford. S. 2000. Introduction: Commodities and the Politics of Value. 3. 2001. 1989. Ethnologie und materielle Kultur. in: Inscriptions 5: Traveling Theories. It seems to me that a representative approach is still: Anthony Giddens. John D. Traveling Theorists. in: Globalization and Identity: Dialectics of Flow and Closure. 2nd edition. Kelly. June 2000: www. 1–24. It claims 13000 active members and has branches in several German and European cities. S. Policy. Exhibition Catalogue. John D. Questions of Travel: Displacement. New York. S. 226–247. and Globalization. Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. 241. Jahrhundert. Effects on other languages and language communities. 1986. Berlin. 147–155. 1990. New York 1998. Said . The “Verein deutsche Sprache” (Wiesbaden) is the most prominent example of a recent foundation of a language association. p./19. Cambridge 1983. 21. Franz Gustav Kollmann and Uwe Pörksen (eds. Paradigmatic is David Crystal’s interpretation of the envisaged future of English as the language of uninhibited global communication. Crystal. Ulrich (ed. Appadurai. Fabian. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Cambridge 2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Crystal. and Globalization. 29. Friedhelm.Globalization – Threats and Opportunities 23 25. J. It is regrettable that lack of time prevented the inclusion of a revised version of her presentation in this anthology. Stuttgart: Steiner. Arts./19. Footnote 5. Critical essays 1971-1991. Effects on Other Languages and Language Communities. David Crystal. 26. Ulrich 1991 Die internationale Stellung der deutschen Sprache. Januar 2000. 30.) 2002 Deutsch als Wissenschaftssprache im 20. Ammon. p. Dian 2002 Global Culture: Media. Kanak Sprak: 24 Mißtöne vom Rande der Gesellschaft. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. This interpretation of the potential of contact between languages stands in opposition to Pörksen’s observation of an increasing “unification”. New York: Routledge. “reduction of diversity” and “disabling” of the language of the everyday-life. References Ammon. . chapter 10. Arjun 1996 Modernity of Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Time and the Work of Anthropology. Language Death. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chur 1991. David 1997 English as a Global Language. Feridun Zaimoglu. English as a Global Language. Crane. Policy. Frankfurt 1995. Cambridge 1997. Jahrhundert. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. Stanford 2004. 28. 27. Debus.) 2001 The Dominance of English as a Language of Science. Vernacular Modernism.). Maiken Umbach and Bernd Huppauf (ed. Vorträge des Internationalen Symposiums vom 18. 1–8. 2000 Language Death. Uwe 1995 Plastic words. John imperialism 1991 Cultural imperialism. Globalization and the Built Environment. Jahrbuch des Instituts für Deutsche Sprache 2000. Hardt.) 2000 Nation und Sprache. Birgit and Peter Geschiere 1999 Globalization and Identity: Dialectics of Flow and Closure. Dieter E. Cambridge. 1998 Deutsch und anders – die Sprache im Modernisierungsfieber. Michael and Antonio Negri 2000 Empire.24 Bernd Hüppauf Gardt. Die Diskussion ihres Verhältnisses in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Aktueller lexikalischer Wandel. Pörksen. Tomlinson. .: Blackwell Publishers Phillipson. The tyranny of modular language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. London: Routledge/Taylor & Francis.) 2001 Neues und Fremdes im deutschen Wortschatz. Mass. A Critical Introduction. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. 2003 English-Only Europe? Challenging Language Policy. Meyer. Zimmer. University Park. Malden. Umbach. Robert 1992 Linguistic imperialism. Berlin/ New York: de Gruyter. Maiken and Bernd Hüppauf (ed.: Harvard University Press. Reinbek: Rowohlt. Andreas (ed.) 2004 Vernacular Modernism: Heimat. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Mass. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press Stickel. Gerhard (ed. Globalization and Language . . I never gave talks on English as a world language in the 1960s or 1970s. as I shall say later. what the consequences are when it happens. I say ‘these days’. the language which must be chiefly considered is English. because only a relatively short time ago the prospect of English becoming a genuinely global language was uncertain. Unterhaltungsmusik. 1. in order to speculate about the future of English – or. and these days. Indeed. die das Englische bereits weltweit beeinflussen – in der Form von neuen ‘Englischs’. Ökonomie. Englishes – we must first understand what has happened in the past.The Past. Radio. But. Reklame. Drei Konsequenzen der Globalisierung der Sprache werden angesprochen: Die Tendenzen. die Wirkung von Englisch auf gefährdete Sprachen. Graddol 1998). Reise und Sicherheit. Wie ist es dazu gekommen? Und was sind die Konsequenzen dieses neuen Status für die künftige Entwicklung der Sprache? Der Aufsatz untersucht zehn historische Gründe für die gegenwärtige Stellung des Englischen in den Bereichen von Politik. Presse. it is only in the 1990s that the issue has come to the fore. Present. and conferences trying to explain how it is that a language can become truly global. und der Einfluss des Englischen auf den linguistischen Charakter anderer Sprachen durch die Einführung von Lehn. Introduction Any conference dealing with the theme of globalization must at some point address the question of language. . Kommunikationssysteme und Ausbildung. with surveys.und Fremdwörtern. Film. books. and Future of World English David Crystal Zusammenfassung Englisch ist heute die Sprache der Welt. and why English has become the prime candidate (Crystal 1997. McArthur 1998. no language has ever been spoken by a mother-tongue majority in more than a dozen or so countries. and Vanuatu. Over 100 countries treat English as just a foreign language. and the one most available to adults who – for whatever reason – never learned it. New Zealand. However. Those who have learned it as a second language are more difficult to estimate. the media. so mother-tongue use by itself cannot give a language world status. and a scattering of other territories. They must decide to give it a special place within their communities. Ireland. the language can be made a priority in a country’s foreignlanguage teaching. The present situation A language achieves a genuinely global status when it develops a special role that is recognized in every country. but in most of these. If we take a basic level of conversational ability as the criterion – enough to make yourself understood. Canada. English has already reached this stage.28 David Crystal 2. it is essential to master the official language as early in life as possible. Singapore. which now has some kind of special administrative status in over 70 countries. and the educational system. Nigeria. South Africa. This role is well illustrated by English. and foreign language speakers – it is inevitable that a world language will eventually come to be used by more people than any other language. second language. the language can be made the official (or semi-official) language of a country. several Caribbean countries. To achieve such a status. it is now recognized as the chief foreign language to be taught in schools. or learned it badly. Those who have learned it as a first language are now estimated to be around 400 million. to be used as a medium of communication in such domains as government. The population growth in . This is far more than the status achieved by any other language (French being closest). this would mean the USA. for now we must take into account the levels of fluency achieved. To get on in such societies. even though they may have few (or no) mother-tongue speakers. Australia. This role will be most obvious in countries where large numbers of the people speak it as a first language – in the case of English. First. a language has to be taken up by other countries around the globe. in their early educational years. such as Ghana. the law courts. though by no means free of errors. The significance of these two figures should not be missed. and having no command of specialized vocabulary – the figure is also some 400 million. India. It becomes the language which children are most likely to be taught when they arrive in school. Britain. Second. There are two main ways in which this can be done. Because of this three-pronged development – of first language. is known to “only” some 1. and the 600 million who use it as a foreign language. and since the 1950s in particular. and unprecedented. the restaurants – to encounter this reality. By 1960 this had risen to over 80 members. but unified by a common writing system.The Past. No other language is used so extensively. very largely since the 1950s. this contrast becomes even more dramatic (Graddol 2001). What can account for it? 3. Present. Of course. we add the three totals – the 400 million who use it as a first language. And we must ask: Why? It is not so much the total. If. as the speed with which this expansion has taken place. now. Excluding the complete beginners. we will end up with a grand total of 1. found in eight different spoken languages. The British Council has estimated that roughly a billion people are learning English around the world (British Council 1997). The need for lingua francas is obvious. But the independence movements which began at that time led to a massive increase in the number of new nations during the next decade. If one in four of the world’s population speaks English. the hotels. Historical factors An obvious factor. But even so. and then it had only 51 member states. three out of four do not. plus the 400 million who use it as a second language. And when the number of people who speak English as a foreign language is taken into account. and this process continued steadily into the 1990s. There are now 191 members of the UN – nearly four times as many as there were 50 years ago. of course. This means that second-language speakers of English will soon hugely exceed first-language speakers – a situation without precedent for an international language. Even Chinese. is the need for a lingua franca – a concept probably as old as language itself.100 million. The chief international forum for political communication – the United Nations – dates only from 1945.400 million or so – which in round terms is a quarter of the world’s population (recently passing 6 billion). We do not have to travel far into the hinterland of a country – away from the tourist spots. But the prospect that a lingua franca might be needed for the whole world is something which has emerged strongly only in the 20th century. the airports. one in four is impressive. and Future of World English 29 areas where English is a second language is about three times that in areas where it is a first language. it would seem reasonable to take two thirds of these as a guess at the number of foreign learners with whom it would be possible to hold a reasonable conversation in English – say 600 million. and the pressure . we must not overstate the situation. “The fact that the North Americans speak English” (cited in Nunberg 2000). “Why world English?” They would simply have pointed to the growth of the British Empire. technological power. so that by the 19th century. in all parts of the world. the alternative being expensive and often impracticable multi-way translation facilities. and adding greatly to the number of world English speakers.30 David Crystal to find a single lingua franca is a consequence. But English now plays an official or working role in the proceedings of most other major international political gatherings. economic power. Political power relates to the colonialism that brought English around the world from the 16th century. we have indeed seen the fourth kind of power. Politics Most pre-20th-century commentators would have had no difficulty giving a single. A language becomes a world language for one reason only – the power of the people who speak it. and all documents were printed in both. rapidly overtaking Britain as its population hugely grew. 3. manifesting itself in virtually every walk of life through spheres of American influence. And in the 20th century. and cultural power. But power means different things: it can mean political (military) power. Its pronunciation is not simpler than that of many other languages. recognizing ten domains in which English is now pre-eminent.1. political answer to the question. and their consequences. which replaced it. This legacy carried over into the 20th century. he is said to have replied. The League of Nations was the first of many modern international alliances to allocate a special place to English in its proceedings: English was one of the two official languages (the other was French). I have already mentioned the UN. But why English? There is of course nothing intrinsically wonderful about the English language that it should have spread in this way. The point was recognized by Bismarck as early as 1898: asked by a journalist what he considered to be the decisive factor in modern history. the language was one “on which the sun never sets”. cultural power. The extent to which English is used in this . I will now look more closely at these different kinds of power. Technological power relates to the fact that the industrial revolution of the 17th and 18th centuries was very significantly an English-language event. The 19th century saw the growth in the economic power of the United States. its grammar is no simpler – what it lacks in morphology (in cases and genders) it certainly makes up for in syntax (in word-order patterns) – and its spelling certainly isn’t simpler. they know that their cause will gain maximum impact if it is expressed through the medium of English. and people who travelled to Britain (and later America) to learn about the new technologies had to do so through the medium of English. A famous instance of this occurred a few years ago in India. Britain and the USA. Its population of 5 million in 1700 more than doubled by 1800. a peaceful lobby outside an embassy. but the presence of English is usually not far away. A sample showed that 85% made official use of English – far more than any other language. A political protest may surface in the form of an official question to a government minister. or a bomb. a street riot. By 1800. it is notable how often a message in English can be seen on a banner or placard as part of the occasion. When the television cameras present the event to a world audience.2. with 49% using it officially. Economics By the beginning of the 19th century. were producing a range of manufactured goods for export which led to Britain being called the “workshop of the world”. and during that century no country could equal its economic growth.The Past. The resulting “eco- . generating an unprecedented mass of publications in English.500 international organizations in the world. French was the only other to show up strongly. In 1914. especially in Germany. Over half of the scientists and technologists who made that revolution worked in English. Steam technology revolutionized printing. The early 19th century saw the rapid growth of the international banking system. and Future of World English 31 way is often not appreciated. with a gross national product rising. International politics operates at several levels and in many different ways. Britain had become the world’s leading industrial and trading nation. According to a recent issue of the Union of International Associations’ Yearbook. Britain and the USA were together investing over $10 billion abroad – three times as much as France and almost four times as much as Germany. there are about 12. at 2% per year. Whatever the mother tongue of the protesters. Most of the innovations of the industrial revolution were of British origin. but one astute marcher carried a prominent sign which enabled the voice of his group to reach much further around the world than would otherwise have been possible. on average. in textiles and mining. Present. His sign read: “Death to English”. where a march supporting Hindi and opposing English was seen on world television: most of the banners were in Hindi. 3. the chief growth areas. with London and New York becoming the investment capitals of the world. During the 19th cen- . chiefly fostered in the USA. especially in the USA. 3. may be devoted to advertising. Today. thanks to the introduction of new printing technology and new methods of mass production and transportation. “Money talks”. It also saw the development of a truly independent press. With the emergence in 1856 of the New York Associated Press. The high profile given to English in the popular press was reinforced by the way techniques of news gathering developed. and thus hugely increase circulation. especially following the invention of the telegraph. and new printing techniques were providing fresh display possibilities. Paul Julius Reuter started an office in Aachen. Censorship and other restrictions continued in Continental Europe during the early decades. consumer purchasing power was growing. Advertising Towards the end of the 19th century. By 1870 Reuters had acquired more territorial news monopolies than any of its Continental competitors. then as now. Two-thirds of a modern newspaper. In the USA. but soon moved to London. The mid-19th century saw the growth of the major news agencies. Mass production had increased the flow of goods and was fostering competition. where in 1851 he launched the agency which now bears his name. The press The English language has been an important medium of the press for nearly 400 years. especially in the more industrialized countries. was the chief metaphor – and the language in which it was talking was chiefly English. about a third of the world’s newspapers are published in countries where English has special status. which meant that the provision of popular news in languages other than English developed much more slowly. the majority of the information being transmitted along the telegraph wires of the world was in English.3. The 19th century was the period of greatest progress. and nearly 2000 by the turn of the century. and the majority of these will be in English. a combination of social and economic factors led to a dramatic increase in the use of advertisements in publications. publishers realized that income from advertising would allow them to lower the selling price of their magazines. where there were some 400 daily newspapers by 1850. however.4.32 David Crystal nomic imperialism” brought a fresh dimension to the balance of linguistic power. 3. they had reached Australia. without wires. we note significant levels of provision – over a thousand hours a week by the former. Present. Japan. Kodak. before it was possible to send the first radio telecommunication signals through the air. Broadcasting It took many decades of experimental research in physics. Posters. The English advertisements are not always more numerous.5. Luxembourg. and other techniques became part of the everyday scene. “It pays to advertise” itself became a US slogan in the 1920s. twice as much by the latter. Most other countries showed sharp increases in external broadcasting during the post-War years. Coca Cola. and Kellogg. The Netherlands. carried telegraph code signals over a distance of one mile. But if we look at broadcasting aimed specifically at audiences in other countries (such as the BBC World Service. As international markets grew. built in 1895. but they are usually the most noticeable. The first commercial radio station. or the Voice of America). billboards. and Future of World English 33 tury the advertising slogan became a feature of the medium. his signals had crossed the Atlantic Ocean. shop signs. 3. in Pittsburgh. in countries where English has no special status. Pennsylvania. Many products which are now household names received a special boost in that decade. Six years later. The media capitalized on the brevity with which a product could be conveyed to an audience – even if the people were passing at speed in one of the new methods of transportation. electric displays. such as the Soviet Union. and several launched English-language radio programmes. or on how much time is spent listening to such programs. . and their prominence in virtually every town and city is now one of the most noticeable global manifestations of English language use. Within 25 years of Marconi’s first transmission. broadcast its first program in November 1920. the ‘outdoor media’ began to travel the world. English was the first language to be transmitted by radio. public broadcasting became a reality. such as Ford. Italy. as did the famous “trade name”. only three of the world’s top 30 advertising agencies were not US-owned. Marconi’s system. chiefly in Britain and America. and there were over 500 broadcasting stations licensed in the USA within two years. We can only speculate about how these media developments must have influenced the growth of world English. by 1918.The Past. American English ruled: by 1972. A similar dramatic expansion affected public television 20 years later. There are no statistics on the proportion of time devoted to English-language programmes the world over. California.34 David Crystal Sweden. it is noticeable that only one of these languages has a place on each of the lists: English. and Germany.. And despite the growth of the film industry in other countries in later decades. wear. with Hollywood coming to rely increasingly on a small number of annual productions aimed at huge audiences. the years preceding and during the First World War stunted the growth of a European film industry.6. eat and buy what they see in the movies” (cited in Robinson 1995). and dominance soon passed to America. drive. English-language movies still dominate the medium. if we list the languages in which these countries broadcast. However. at least in the long term. The technology of this industry has many roots in Europe and America during the 19th century. the star system. which oversaw from 1915 the emergence of the feature film. with England and France providing an initial impetus to the artistic and commercial development of the cinema from 1895. when sound was added to the technology in the late 1920s. People use. If this is so. all based in Hollywood.7. the movie mogul. Motion pictures The new technologies which followed the discovery of electrical power fundamentally altered the nature of home and public entertainment. Here too the English language was early in evidence. When in 1877 Thomas A Edison devised the phonograph. It is unusual to find a blockbuster movie produced in a language other than English. No comparative data are available about how many people listen to each of the languages provided by these services. but many observers agree with the view of director Wim Wenders: “People increasingly believe in what they see and they buy what they believe in. As a result. it was the English language which suddenly came to dominate the movie world. However. and about 80% of all feature films given a theatrical release are in English. 3. the first machine that could both record . 3. and the grand studio.. . and provided fresh directions for the development of the English language. Popular music The cinema was one of two new entertainment technologies which emerged at the end of the 19th century: the other was the recording industry. then the fact that most movies are made in the English language must surely be significant. The influence of movies on the viewing audience is uncertain. the domains of transportation and accommodation are chiefly mediated through the use of English as an auxiliary language. or check the location of the emergency stairs give us an option in English. beginning with the US firm Columbia (from 1898). For those whose international travel brings them into a world of package holidays. community rallies.8. imposed – and over time a travelling trend can develop into a major influence. we would expect it to be particularly noticeable in this domain. had its linguistic dimension. too. the first words to be recorded were “What God hath wrought”. By the turn of the century. English has emerged as the international language of . international conventions. The pop groups of two chief English-speaking nations were soon to dominate the recording world: Bill Haley and the Comets and Elvis Presley in the USA. Mass audiences for pop singers became a routine feature of the world scene from the 1960s. academic conferences. Many people make their first contact with English in this way. And by the time modern popular music arrived. A special aspect of safety is the way that the language has come to be used as a means of controlling international transport operations. military occupations. International travel and safety The reasons for travelling abroad are many and various. and was soon known worldwide as the chief source of US popular music. the Beatles and the Rolling Stones in the UK. therefore. learned. find the lifeboat stations.The Past. it was almost entirely an English scene. Jazz. sporting occasions. especially on water and in the air. business meetings. Most of the subsequent technical developments took place in the USA. and directions to major locations are now increasingly in English alongside local languages. with the development of the blues and many other genres. Radio sets around the world hourly testify to the dominance of English in the popular music scene today. If there is a contemporary movement towards world English use. and Future of World English 35 and reproduce sound. information about emergency procedures in hotels. All the major recording companies in popular music had English-language origins. Each journey has immediate linguistic consequences – a language has to be interpreted. and other “official” gatherings. Tin Pan Alley (the popular name for the Broadway-centred song-publishing industry) was a reality. followed by the words of the nursery-rhyme “Mary had a little lamb”. Safety instructions on international flights and sailings. Present. Most notices which tell us to fasten our seatbelts. No other single source has spread the English language around the youth of the world so rapidly and so pervasively. 3. And so it is. the ambulance service.9. Only then was it agreed that English should be the international language of aviation when pilots and controllers speak different languages. Progress has also been made in recent years in devising systems of unambiguous communication between organizations which are involved in handling emergencies on the ground – notably. one of the most important reasons is always educational – in the broadest sense. even as a second language save for the most educated Sri Lankans. There is now “Emergencyspeak”. My amazement must have showed. in the form of Essential English for International Maritime Use – often referred to as “Seaspeak”. and the police.36 David Crystal the sea. This did not emerge until after the Second World War. Her response was immediate and specific: “Send us people to train our teachers to teach English as a foreign language”. the language of international aircraft control. especially in such areas as science and technology. could not read the instructions on bags of imported fertiliser – and manufacturers in the global market were not likely to print them in Sinhalese. Sri Lanka was losing its access to the world language of English. When we investigate why so many nations have in recent years made English an official language or chosen it as their chief foreign language in schools. Her concern was for development. she told me. Sridath Ramphal provides a relevant anecdote (Ramphal 1996): Shortly after I became Secretary-General of the Commonwealth in 1975. . Education English is the medium of a great deal of the world’s knowledge. for the Prime Minister went on to explain that the policies her husband had put in place twenty years earlier to promote Sinhalese as the official language had succeeded so well that in the process Sri Lanka – so long the pearl of the English-speaking world in Asia – had in fact lost English. 3. And of course there is “Airspeak”. And access to knowledge is the business of education. Farmers in the field. I met Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike in Colombo and we talked of ways in which the Commonwealth Secretariat could help Sri Lanka. when the International Civil Aviation Organization was created. the fire service. trying to cope with problems of ambiguity at the two ends of the Channel Tunnel. Over 180 nations have since adopted its recommendations about English terminology – though it should be noted that there is nothing mandatory about them. its aim being to link important American academic and government institutions in a way which would survive local damage in the event of a major war. and now exceeds the number of new English-speaking users. and Future of World English 37 Since the 1960s. No African country uses its indigenous language in higher education.10. To begin with. and no browser is yet able to handle all aspects of multilingual data presentation. for example. But as noone monitors the language in which we write our letters. is it possible to develop an idea of how much of the world’s everyday communications (at least. It is thought that three-quarters of the world’s mail is in English. Communications If a language is a truly international medium. Present. in the late 1960s. it is going to be most apparent in those services which deal directly with the task of communication – the postal and telephone systems and the electronic networks. where messages and data can be left for indefinite periods of time. the whole of the Internet was in English. it proved essential for them to use English. The first protocols devised to carry data on the Net were developed for the English alphabet. Its language was. It began as ARPANET . Only on the Internet. minority languages are finding that the Net gives them a louder and cheaper voice than is available through such traditional media as radio. the Advanced Research Projects Agency network.The Past. English. The dominance of this language was then reinforced when the service was opened up in the 1980s to private and commercial organizations. most of which were (for the reasons already given) already communicating chiefly in English. English has become the normal medium of instruction in higher education for many countries – including several where the language has no official status. Advanced courses in The Netherlands. The English language teaching (ELT) business has become one of the major growth industries around the world in the past 30 years. 3. There was also a technical reason underpinning the position of the language at this time. because the Internet was yet another American invention. and when people in other countries began to form links with this network. Information about the use of English in these domains is not easy to come by. In particular. are widely taught in English. accordingly. such statistics are highly speculative. However. The estimate . between computerowners) is actually in English. however. of course. conceived as a decentralized national network. English being used in the majority of cases. the number of non-English language users on the Internet is growing all the time. and Usenet groups are now ongoing in several hundred languages. we can also appreciate the view that to continue with English would be. The future of English as a world language When a language becomes a world language. However. and they have arisen because of the need to express national identity. what happens to it. at one level. because no language has ever been spoken by so many people in so many countries before. an unacceptable link with the colonial past. all languages are as equal as their users wish to make them. It is not difficult to quickly accumulate several thousand local words. 4.38 David Crystal for 2003 is that less than 50% of the Internet is in English. A primary motivation of the newly independent nations of the 1950s and 1960s was the need to manifest their identity in the eyes of the world. focussing on local cultural variations. but to shape it to meet their own ends – adding local vocabulary.1. developing fresh standards of pronunciation. diverse ethnic cus- . in such countries as India. as it spreads around the world? Will English kill off other languages? Will English change other languages? 4. in countries which have a wide range of local fauna and flora. Many of the new countries. This is good news for those worried by the global trend in language loss. On the Net. Three questions need to be briefly addressed. Will English fragment? The answer to the first question is: probably yes. in the case of Nigeria). and the most convenient way of doing this was through the medium of the language they use. Will English fragment into mutually unintelligible languages. such as Ghana and Nigeria. but it is also good news for those concerned that global intelligibility should not lose out to local identity. in the eyes of many. found that they had no alternative but to continue using English – the alternative was to make an impossible choice between the many competing local ethnic languages (over 400. and no at another. and what happens to other languages as a consequence? There are no precedents. How could this dilemma be resolved? The answer was to continue with English. Singapore. and Ghana (Burchfield 1994). They have been called “New Englishes”. and English emerges as an alternative rather than a threat (Crystal 2001). For the “yes” answer we need to note the many new varieties of spoken English developing around the world. we must allow only for the small amount of variation in vocabulary. The pull imposed by the need for identity. will be balanced by a pull imposed by the need for intelligibility. these days. So. and other ‘regional’ standards. it is easy to see how the type of English spoken in India could move in fresh directions. and we hear it typically in the international broadcasting media. BBC. Present. Australian. which will make Indian English increasingly similar. Standard English is essentially written. at least on formal occasions. he felt. such as CNN. printed English. seen in the textbooks. in ways that have come to be available but recently. The term “New Englishes” reflects these identities. on the World Wide Web. which has been making Indian English increasingly dissimilar from British English. the kind of English which has emerged has brought increasing unintelligibility to outsiders – as in the case of Singlish. the poetry from the countries of the Caribbean – illustrate how quickly new identities can emerge. and ABC. Standard English may of course also be spoken. would have had any regular contact with English previously other than the Indian variety of English used by their schoolteacher. It is largely identical in its global manifestation. we can also see how a system of natural checks and balances – well-attested in the history of language – could emerge in the case of world English. But with a whole range of fresh auditory models becoming routinely available. The emerging literatures of the Commonwealth countries – the novels from various parts of West Africa. and spelling which make up the differences between American. British. None of these people. this is probably already taking place. And satellite communication being. is the future one of mutually unintelligible Englishes – an English family of languages. by definition. which incorporates a great deal of Chinese. and Future of World English 39 toms. in Singapore. newspapers. But there is another level – usually referred to as “standard English” – where there is little sign of any such fragmentation. and periodicals of the world – and also. grammar. and this is influencing the character of New Englishes. A British Council colleague told me a little while ago that he had just come back from India where he had seen a group of people in an out-of-the-way village clustering around a television set. and regular daily contacts with different languages. as some have put it? At the level of popular speech. where they were hearing CNN News beamed down via satellite. Educated people also use it in daily interaction. they may well use a regional dialect. . One of the consequences of globalization is that through the media we have immediate access to standard English. global. And this could happen anywhere. on a world scale. And in some parts of the world.The Past. or a dialect which is a mixture of standard and regional (a “modified standard”). informally. and protection measures for minority languages. and a few other languages have played similar roles. The surveys which have taken place since the 1970s have shown us that. The European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages illustrates another positive development. and the loss to the human race is permanent. languages are dying at the rate of one every two weeks or so. The indigenous languages of South America are also rapidly disappearing – but there the shift has been to Spanish and Portuguese.2. French. the ecological movement has had its major successes. for the same effects have been noted in parts of the world where English is not historically a major influence. in relation to language. On the other hand. Ninety percent of the world’s languages are located in equatorial and tropical regions – a thousand in Africa. Linguists are urgently trying to document these dying languages before they disappear for ever – for we must recognize that. and the fostering of a generally positive climate of opinion. These can be reinforced by international statute. The Barcelona Declaration of Linguistic Rights (1996). Swahili. for example. of course. One of the consequences of colonialism has been the way in which many of these cultures have assimilated to the dominant one. In the area covered by the countries of the former Soviet Union. in conservation.40 David Crystal 4. There is a massive imbalance of language use in the world: some 96% of the world’s population speak only 4% of its languages. the shift has been to Russian. the shift has been to English. But measures of this kind take many years to have any effect. Because of its worldwide spread. But it is an expensive business. over 700 in Papua New Guinea alone. the effect of English on other languages. when a spoken language dies which has never been written down. Arabic. Will English kill off other languages? As to the second question. One of the chief reasons is. Chinese. it is as if it has never been. English is undoubtedly the language which many of these peoples will eventually speak. But the issue of language death goes well beyond English. Governments can do a great deal by introducing sensible bilingual policies. at least half are likely to become extinct in the next 100 years (Crystal 2000). and there is no reason why there should not be successes too. In Australia and North America. with an inevitable shift in use away from the indigenous language. the way small rural communities have been affected by globalization processes. There is of course very little that can be done to preserve the world’s linguistic diversity – any more than it has been possible to prevent the extinction of so many biological species. . In the meantime. here the situation is much gloomier. currently being taken forward by UNESCO. is a step in the right direction. of the 6000 or so languages in the world. Sprachwissenschaft. more puristically minded people condemn them.3. Present. 4. The energy and emotion generated has to be respected. There is a fallacy underlying the anti-borrowing position. And no language community has ever succeeded in stopping this process taking place. The only way to do so would be to take one’s language away from contact with other languages. 2002) have made very clear. A world in which there was only one language left (probably. attempts have been made to ban them – the loi Toubon in France being perhaps the best-known instance. seeing them as an attack on traditional language values. While recognizing the importance of world languages as a means of fostering international intelligibility. founded in Bath in 1995. Cultures vary greatly in their response to this influx. Purists believe that borrowing words from other languages will lead to their own language changing its character and that this is a disaster. we must not forget the importance of indigenous languages as a means of fostering community identity. Some people welcome them . but at the same time history tells us very firmly that it is misplaced. seeing them as a source of lexical enrichment. and within each culture there are mixed attitudes. All languages have always borrowed words from other languages. yes. but not necessarily English) – a scenario which could in theory obtain within 500 years – would be an ecological intellectual disaster of unprecedented scale. Will English change other languages? The answer to this last question is. In some famous cases. that if we are concerned by the processes of globalization. Organizations have been set up to fight them. and Future of World English 41 getting languages recorded. in Germany there is the Gesellschaft für bedrohte Sprachen. Köln. It is our responsibility to work towards ensuring that this does not happen. Indeed. then one of the ways in which we can actually do something is to work towards preserving our world linguistic heritage. Organizations have grown up in several countries to try to help – in Britain there is the Foundation for Endangered Languages. founded in Cologne in 1997 [address: Institut f. as the surveys by Görlach (2001. of course. Univ. It seems to me. But no-one would want the social and economic isolationism that such a policy would imply. Change there certainly will . as they affect language. 50923 Köln] – but they are very limited by shortage of funds. All languages have always been in contact with other languages.The Past. We need both. though. it is the arrival of unprecedented numbers of loan words into other languages that has been one of the most notable trends in the past half century. This is exactly what is happening with English in other languages at the moment: young people. and eventually their English character. I always find it ironic that when the French. When the French word restaurant entered English it slowly changed its meaning. when they are re-pronounced in other languages. In English we have many “doublets” and “triplets”. And one of the most widely used expressions borrowed into English via TV ads in the past decade or so was Vorsprung durch Technik. complain about some of the English words currently entering French. comes from English itself. find many English loan words “cool”. undoubtedly. In fact. one Latin. Many social domains now actively and creatively make use of English words – in advertising. but Romance. one French. This is the repeated history of English. four-fifths of English vocabulary is not Germanic at all. A search through the Oxford English Dictionary shows that English over the centuries has borrowed words from over 350 other languages. and their expressiveness is empowered as a consequence. or Greek. And everyone benefits. It is. for example. losing the French nasal vowel in the final syllable to end up first with “restuh-rong” and eventually the modern pronunciation “rest-ront”. evolving “New Englishes”. in a way that the older generation does not. The syllabification which has affected English words entering Japanese is a well-studied case: several . for example. Latin. such as kingly. where the use of an English lexicon can actually help to sell goods. in a lexically enriched language. English has changed its character. which stem from the borrowing history of the language – one Germanic. Disaster there certainly won’t be. the same in English. in many cases these are words which have a French or Latin origin (such as computer). Loan words always add semantic value to a language. This has changed the character of English dramatically. of course. providing people with the opportunity to express their thoughts in a more nuanced way. from the lexical point of view. but the other way round. and regal. Three words for the same basic concept allows a whole range of stylistic nuances to be expressed which would not otherwise have been possible. royal. English today is not like the English of Anglo-Saxon times. This will happen to the loan-words currently entering German and other languages too. of course. French words in English help to sell perfume. as it has spread around the world. When a language adopts words – and also sounds and grammatical constructions – it adapts them. English words change their pronunciation. As a result of all this. for example.42 David Crystal be. English is actually a Romance language. The evidence. But has this been a bad thing? Much of the impact of Chaucer and Shakespeare – to take just two of many authors – is due to their ability to work with all that multilingual vocabulary. because there is a fear that the new word will replace the old one. and is bound to develop further in due course. for example. and words for concepts which were already expressed by a perfectly satisfactory local word. as I have said. comedians. The reason that vocabulary attracts all the attention is because the lexicon is the area where change is most rapid and noticeable. the new word does not replace the old one. It is a misplaced fear. then a global language. then an international. advertisers. Present. dramatists. It is this second category which attracts the criticism. English itself has long since ceased to be owned by anyone. who can make use of these nuances creatively. novelists. and adapts them. such as poets. It usually takes a generation for loanwords to become integrated. and new meanings of words. and Future of World English 43 are now unintelligible to a native-English listener – which is one reason for the emergence of labels like “Japlish” (and of course such labels as “Denglish” and “Angleutsch”). But not all borrowings attract the same amount of attention. with the implication that these varieties are becoming new languages. First. though the Internet seems to be speeding up this time-frame. even in cases where the new word does replace the old one (as often happened in English too. and why the scenario of an “English family of languages” is likely to be the main development of the 21st-century. It is only the current generation of borrowings that attracts criticism. And second. As German.The Past. incidentally. and journalists. but supplements it. they cease to be English. adopts English words. Such labels are not jocular – though they are often used thus: they are intuitive attempts to characterize what is happening linguistically around the world. because we see the way that authors and others have made good use of them. Looking back on previous generations’ loan-words. satirists. as it moves around the globe. for two reasons. we value them. One of the new varieties. the more it ceases to be in the ownership of its originators. The more a language becomes a national. and become German – though conveying a different nuance alongside the traditional German word. They are a prime example of the point that human language cannot be controlled. will be German: a patently German-influenced variety of English already exists. with hundreds of French words replacing Anglo-Saxon ones in the early Middle Ages) there is not very much that . and is now open to the influence of all who choose to use it. People are aware of new words. The process of integration is facilitated by many people. as the many examples like kingly illustrate. That is why it is changing so much. as languages become increasingly in contact with each other. Loan words tend to be of two types: words for concepts which the language never expressed before (as in much Internet vocabulary). Apart from a few cases where the numbers of speakers are so few that their usage can be planned by a central body (as in the case of some endangered and minority languages).) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Instead of attacking loan words. or even parliaments trying to stop the flow of loan-words – from any language. Henry of Huntingdon. . (Cambridge History of the English Language V. I value every loan word I have in my linguistic repertoire. Language is just too powerful. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. school. This is plainly the case with a strong language like German. and look forward to the day when others feel the same. in a country which has incorporated so many ethnic identities. Crystal. that King Canute of England rebuked his flatterers by showing that even he. As I have said. The story has great relevance when we think of individuals. 2000 Language Death. societies. Burchfield. They never will in the future.) 2001 A Dictionary of European Anglicisms. by implication.44 David Crystal anyone can do about it. could not stop the incoming tide – nor. accordingly. and society at large. 2001 Language and the Internet. it makes much more sense to develop creative strategies to foster their integration. Loan words are the invisible exports of a world where people talk to each other.) 1994 English in Britain and Overseas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. David 1997 English as a Global Language. because too many speakers are involved. References British Council 1997 English Language Teaching. in literature. A story is told by the 12th-century historian. Robert (ed. 2002 English in Europe. academies. as king. human language cannot be controlled. usage is beyond control. would be time and energy better spent. Oxford: Oxford University Press. As a citizen of the world. in my view. Görlach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. the might of God. Manfred (ed. They have never managed it in the past. That. London: The British Council. Oxford: Oxford University Press. David 1998 The Future of English. 1999 The decline of the native speaker. Harrogate.). London: The British Council. and Future of World English 45 Graddol. 245.The Past. In: Encyclopedia Britannica Book of the Year. Robinson. Geoffrey 2000 Will the Internet always speak English? The American Prospect 11/10 (27 March–10 April). Nunberg. English in a Changing World. David 1995 The Hollywood conquest. UK. Meinhof (eds. responsibilities. McArthur. . In: David Graddol and Ulrike H. Tom 1998 The English Languages. challenges. Paper given at the World Members’ Conference of the English-Speaking Union. Sridath 1996 World language: opportunities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ramphal. Present. AILA Review 13: 57–68. . Globalisierung und Europäisierung. wie sich die EU entwickelt hat. dass in EU-Institutionen die Sprachpolitik nicht offen behandelt wird.English as Threat or Resource in Continental Europe 1 Robert Phillipson Zusammenfassung Der Aufsatz untersucht die Expansion des Englischen in den verflochtenen Prozessen von Amerikanisierung. national and international languages and linguistic identities. One symptom of this is an increasing use of English. and influences local. und könnte nun auf eine einzige Sprache für den gemeinsamen Markt drängen. but the internationalization and commodification of European higher education mean that Danish universities are increasingly expected to run like businesses. due to the impact of the interlocking processes of Americanization. die Probleme einer Sprachpolitik anzugehen und Kriterien für eine ausgeglichene vielsprachige Kommunikation auszuarbeiten. This trend in communication in the university world dovetails with comparable developments in commerce. Copenhagen Business School is a diverse university funded by the Danish state. The expansion of English is central to these processes. I shall explore some of the implications of this by reporting on some historical aspects of European unification and Americanization. Die Sprachpolitik spiegelt ungelöste Spannungen und Widersprüche auf der nationalen wie auf der supranationalen Ebene. and has an arts faculty. wie eine gesunde Balance zwischen Schwedisch. and youth culture. the media. globalization and europeanization. some of the intrinsic paradoxes of language policy in Europe. Es gibt sogar Uneinheitlichkeiten in der Verwendung von Grundbegriffen (wie “Arbeitssprache” oder “lingua franca”). Die Welt der Unternehmen hat einen entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Art und Weise gehabt. Schweden ist bisher das einzige EULand. to profile and market themselves competitively. which . politics. Englisch und anderen Sprachen gesichert werden könnte. Die Erweiterung und die Diskussion über die Zukunft Europas unterstreichen das dringende Bedürfnis. Es gibt viele Gründe dafür. das eine größere Untersuchung durchgeführt hat. the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The Marshall Plan was part of a strategy to position America as the preeminent force globally through the Bretton Woods agreements on trade. and NATO. as clearly articulated by Condoleezza Rice. but the reality is more complicated. on whether the expansion of English constitutes a threat to other languages. wrote: “We have 50 per cent of the world’s wealth. languages do not respect national borders and their use at the supranational level reflects hierarchies of language nationally and internationally. This principle is articulated in treaties and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (2000): “The Union shall respect cultural. and could only come from one source. Just as the political integration process blurs the borderline between national sovereignty and shared supranational policies. President Bush II is visibly cast in this mould. the State Department’s senior imperial planner. the raising of living standards and democratization”. the United Nations. In theory eleven languages have equal rights as official and working languages in the supranational EU institutions. but only 6. In 1948.48 Robert Phillipson account for its relative neglect. namely the USA. To do so. and the imminent enlargement of the EU with additional states and languages will make matters even more complicated. our real job in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships which permit us to maintain this position of disparity. his foreign affairs adviser: “The rest of the world is best served by the USA pursuing its own interests because American values are universal”. George Kennan. In principle the European Union is strongly committed to maintaining the cultural and linguistic diversity of Europe. The management of multilingualism is very complex. Investment from outside Europe was essential for this. In this situation. for reasons that will be explored briefly. A successful economy in western Europe was seen as an essential bulwark against the communist bloc. One of the motive forces behind bringing the economies of European states together was to establish forms of interdependence that would render military aggression impossible.3 per cent of its population. American goals have been explicit and consistent since World War II. and the need for more pro-active language policies that strengthen linguistic diversity. This was to be achieved by settling territorial disputes between France and Germany and by ensuring that the reindustrialization process after the destruction of the 1939–45 war should address the needs and mutual suspicions of these countries and of the countries that the Nazis had occupied. religious and linguistic diversity” (Article 22). we have to dispense with all sentimentality… we should cease thinking about human rights.2 . it is reported that one condition he insisted on was that the pre-eminence of French as the dominant language of EU institutions should remain unchallenged. and to speakers of French. When President Pompidou agreed to Britain “joining Europe” in 1972. Brussels. The first sketch of a European Political Community. De Gaulle blocked British entry in the 1960s because he saw Britain as a Trojan horse for American interests. with an Executive Council. The British were ambivalent about joining the EU because of their imperial links. The relative strength of French in EU affairs is attributable to its earlier use in international relations. Some on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1940s had plans for a “United States of Europe”. French was primus inter pares. Luxembourg. along with the Germans. and Strasbourg. American pressure was therefore decisive for the form of European collaboration that was put in place from the late 1940s. and in the postcommunist world where globalization was preached through the trinity of the market economy. human rights. The principle of parity for the languages of the participating states was established at this time. The USA insisted. as a condition for Marshall aid. and a Parliament was produced in 1953.” The consequences of US language policy for immigrant and indigenous languages have been dire. to the location of EU institutions in cities in which French was widely used. a Court of Justice. The promotion of English worldwide has been central to British and American global strategy since 1945 3. and their belief that they have a special relationship with the USA. initially four. and English. Pompidou’s worries about the risk of the French language being eclipsed by English were fully justified. Although nominally there was parity between the EEC official languages. It is also important to recall that national policies . an idea which pacifist visionaries like Victor Hugo had mooted a century earlier. and the European Economic Community (1958). the British Council playing a key role in maintaining the position of English in postcolonial states. the European Coal and Steel Community (1952). As the Annual Report of the British Council for 1960–61 states: “Teaching the world English may appear not unlike an extension of the task which America faced in establishing English as a common national language among its own immigrant population. as English is growing like a linguistic cuckoo in the main EU nests. occupying the political high ground in shaping the new Europe.English as Threat or Resource in Continental Europe 49 The formation of the first EU institutions thus involved a mixture of American and European motives. on the economies of European states being coordinated and integrated. and now eleven. the health system. and dovetails with the G8 and related heads of state networks. The Transatlantic Business Dialogue brings together American and European corporations.50 Robert Phillipson also determine American global strategies.. There is increasingly a single state-corporate structure. including academic cheer-leaders of linguistic globalization. which will develop “a worldwide network of bilateral agreements with identical conformity procedures” (cited ibid. 329–330): . and nothing has changed to disprove his analysis (ibid. and general education. coordinated by the European Round Table of Industrialists. There are literally hundreds of international lingua francas in use. 329). who came straight from the corporate world. also been true of the United Kingdom over several centuries. this preventing real integration and development of the Union. of course. According to some senior Americans. was rash enough to say in my wife’s hearing at a luncheon at the University of Roskilde: “The most serious problem for the European Union is that it has so many languages. urban planning. This has. where else. 324). In 1997 the US ambassador to Denmark. but the myth of the global use of English is widely believed in. an association of the chief executives of 46 of the biggest companies in Europe (op. 320).. energy. a Transatlantic Economic Partnership.. This lobbying group is also directly involved in setting the terms for the enlargement of the EU with the countries of eastern and central Europe (ibid. The consolidation of an EU common market and monetary union has put into effect the wishes of the corporate world. 2000).” A 1997 CIA report states that the following five years would be decisive in the establishment of English as the sole international language 4. There are plans for a single market incorporating Europe and North America. George Monbiot’s book. and that English is central to both. Captive state: The corporate take-over of Britain (Macmillan. the world can simply dispense with all languages other than English. university research. The very idea that there is a single international language is of course nonsense. documents the many ways in which corporate power determines national and local government policy in countless fields. especially by those who benefit from their proficiency in English. In negotiations on admission. including agriculture. all documents from applicant states have to be provided exclusively in English. the environment. cit. Monbiot summed up these developments two years before the Johannesburg Earth Summit.. provided it pays at least lip-service to the language rights expressed in conventions. There are comprehensive interpretation and translation services in EU institutions that attempt to ensure that speakers of each of the official languages has equal voice and effect. Elected representatives will. have been subjected to astonishingly little scholarly research. but it is deeply involved in agenda-setting. In theory the EU does not legislate on education. charters and EU treaties? Such questions. The American doctoral student has a solution to all that linguistic diversity: It is worthwhile to consider whether the EU should answer the call for uniformity on the issue of language business transactions and further protect itself against the potential onslaught of language regulation by each individual Member State. services. multilingualism is endorsed in countless EU pronouncements. including culture. legally harmonized global market. Can a member state do what it pleases. in which English is pivotal. Decisions emanating from Brussels. agreed on by the fifteen member states (and 70–80 per cent of national legislation involves implementing decisions taken in Brussels). as well as the management of multilingualism internally in EU institutions. be reduced to the agents of a global government: built.5 . A recent doctoral study in international law in the US concludes that French language protection measures (the Loi Toubon) are in conflict with the Maastricht Treaty and the principles of a common market with the free movement of goods.English as Threat or Resource in Continental Europe Before long…only a minority of nations will lie outside a single. Corporate lawyers may therefore soon choose to challenge national language legislation on precisely these grounds. it will be irrelevant. are disseminated in the eleven languages. and in the reform and standardization of higher education. By the time a new world trade agreement has been negotiated. and they will swiftly find themselves obliged to join. if these plans for a new world order succeed. or can now be considered a matter for the Union. 51 Despite this powerful trend. funding countless schemes and research. An ever-expanding range of topics is being added to the EU’s remit. labour and capital. One potential action the EU might take would be to declare a common language in the EU market. for the WTO’s job will already have been done. This raises the question of how far language policy is still the preserve of the individual state. Nowhere on earth will robust laws protecting the environment or human rights be allowed to survive. coordinated and run by corporate chief executives. efficiency. However. which can be another language that is easily comprehensible to the purchaser. possibly supported pictorially. Now it may well be that European governments are not waiting to follow this advice. and the outcome of any litigation in the European Court of Justice is unpredictable. She pleads for the termination of the “cultural protectionism of nations”.. English as the “common linguistic denominator” of all European countries (which is rubbish). Member States. European case law is seen as holding that national law cannot require use of a specific language if the message can be expressed by other means. invokes the strong role of English in the world marketplace. 202). eliminating “national technical obstacles”. rather than divide. who might choose to test the principle in court. the Commission is working to “impose anglo-american” throughout the EU… “the construction of Europe means its destruction for the benefit of mercantile America”. But it appears that the Commission may be saving them the trouble and expense. all arguments that relate to the producer rather than the consumer. The Commission’s intervention suggests that it is possible that the transition from a single market to a single marketing language has begun. and “US advances in the areas of technology and science” (which we in Europe are supposed to be grateful for). and the decisions are far from unambiguous. The EU should act so as to prevent “one nation from frustrating the fundamental principles of the supranational governing body” (a comment which reveals little insight into the principles of EU decision-making). Here is the monolingual worldview of Americanization being subtly marketed as europeanization under cover of globalization. Several have introduced or are contemplating legislation to resist the advance of English. Her parting shot is that adopting a single language would serve. The Commission’s action is seen by many in France as the thin edge of the wedge.cit. in a press communiqué9 entitled “Europe is attacking the well-informed housewife”. and English as a widely learned foreign language (which is correct).52 Robert Phillipson She argues along predictable lines: rapid access to information. “to unify. In July 2002 the Commission sent a “formal notice of complaint” 6 to the French government stating that the national requirement that food products should be labelled in French (following French legislation) is in conflict with Eurolaw7. According to L’Allíance pour la souveraineté de la France. saving money on translation. the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law is presumably read by American corporate lawyers. A body called “Défense de la langue française” 10 . as indeed is the relevant Council directive8 on the harmonization of member states’ legislation on the labelling and packaging of food products.” (op. There has as yet been little litigation in this area. and so on.English as Threat or Resource in Continental Europe 53 organized a public demonstration in January 2003. “Fischer and Védrine against more English” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). but that efficiency and savings in the language services need to be looked into. press coverage had identified a “plot to impose English on the EU” (Irish Times). The letter accused the Commission of attempting to introduce “monolingualism” in EU institutions. I fear this is generally the case at the supranational level. even in countries which have given some thought to language policy. that nothing had been decided. dispatched in French and German. and the absence of adequate procedures and principles for resolving the issues. A second example that hit the headlines was a proposal to change one of the internal translation procedures in the Commission in Brussels. Many factors account for language policy not being handled more smoothly and competently. By this stage. That will not be the end of the affair. This example of a dispute between the Commission and a national government epitomises how inadequately language policies are handled. but there tends to be more special pleading for French rather than for rights for all relevant languages 13. and engages in fanciful and nationalistic interpretation12. and in the role ascribed to language in these (the national romantic . The exchange of letters and the press reports clearly reveal that an existential nerve had been touched. on 2 July 2001. “Kinnock”s language plan riles the French” (The Independent). which was a coded reference to English being installed as the sole in-house working language. It has resolved the issue by issuing a new ministerial order that maintains the obligation that products are described in French. The two disputes are perfect examples of the recurrent underlying tension between national interests and supranational ones. like France. as a result of which a joint letter was sent by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of France and Germany. Hubert Védrine and Joschka Fischer. and often nationally. even though the French government has revised its regulations so as to conform to Eurolaw requirements. and that this represented an unacceptable departure from the current system. Much of the press coverage contains inaccurate statements about the present system and its costs. The impending enlargement of the EU made action even more important. to Romano Prodi. French efforts have influenced the endorsement of linguistic diversity in EU proclamations. Prodi’s reply. as part of a cost-saving exercise. The plan was leaked to the French government. the President of the Commission. There are major differences in the ideologies underpinning the formation of states. but stipulates that other languages can be used in addition 11. asserts that multilingualism is of cardinal importance to the EU. as in Germany. especially when preparing and agreeing on a constant stream of documents with the force of law in each member state.54 Robert Phillipson tradition. There is a poor scholarly infrastructure at European universities and research institutes for the analysis of language policy. meaning 2 euros per year for each European citizen (which is peanuts compared with agricultural subsidies). reflecting a lack of investment in this field. They tend to be relatively high in. for instance. Finland and Greece. if any. and low in Denmark and England. and the republican tradition. As English is used extensively by native and non-native speakers from different parts of the world. The connection of English to the dominant economic system. multilingualism. Clarifying whether the advance of English entails the submerging of other languages would require exploration of a range of language functions and contexts.8 % of the total budget for all EU institutions. Levels of awareness about language policy issues range widely between and within each EU country. Responsibility for language policy in each country tends to be shared between ministries of foreign affairs. though not necessarily in equal measure. as in France). and commerce. and its entrenchment as the most widely learned foreign language in schools (much more successfully in northern than southern Europe). This is a modest price to pay for a principle that use of the languages of each member state is an obligation. I won’t go into the tricky question of the functioning of the translation or interpretation services. there is no simple correlation between English and the interests of a particular state. As eleven languages are being used and developed in parallel in EU institutions. this impeding a shared understanding of language policy issues. . but often with a very selective focus. and to global networking remains. A laissez faire policy thus involves major risks for all languages other than English. and language rights. They each tend to have little expertise in language policy. culture. is a recipe for more English and less of the other languages. whereas they in fact currently account for only 0. research. and between them there is inadequate coordination. including such basic notions as language and dialect. one can argue that all are being strengthened internationally. jus soli. jus sanguinis. and without the hierarchy of languages being challenged. citizenship. education. In countries with a federal structure. Herder. nationally and in the supranational institutions. responsibility is even more diffuse. Leaving language policy to market forces. but merely mention that they are generally branded as excessively costly. Language issues are therefore understood differently in different countries. cultural homogenization (“McDonaldization”). currently visible in the shift from French to English as the primary working language in EU institutions. ethnic groups. pragmatic tools. finance. education. . – Germany as a demographically and economically dominant force in Europe. BUT of the 378 million citizens of the member states. cultural and linguistic hybridity. youth culture. commerce. – languages seen as purely technical. less than half of the rest are proficient in English as a foreign language. cultures. because of its obvious functional utility. multilingualism. entails the submergence of other languages as foreign languages. The emergence of English as the foremost foreign language in Europe. only 61 million speak English as a mother tongue. BUT German progressively marginalized in scholarship. and few education systems are seriously addressing the question of ensuring diversity in language learning. BUT the celebration of European linguistic diversity. – language policy as a matter of practical functioning. Language policies in Europe reflect many unresolved and interlocking paradoxes and tensions: – a legacy of “nation” states. – English being promoted as a linguistic panacea. politics. and some support for minority and national language rights. and awareness of the forms and mechanisms of cultural and linguistic imperialism is very patchy and often non-existent. whether of foreign. and the proportion speaking it confidently varies greatly from country to country17. and states. and civil society in EU member states. science. “national” interests and languages.English as Threat or Resource in Continental Europe 55 The parity of the 11 official languages of the EU is a complex question 14. or improve EU internal and external communication. typically triggered by a crisis of some sort. commerce. BUT supranational integration. an issue which enlargement complexifies. – the onward thrust of americanization. regional minority or neighbouring languages. BUT languages as existential identity markers for individuals. in similar ways to a reduction in the power of French internationally. and in the global linguistic marketplace. – the formal equality of EU member states and their languages. eurocrats and diplomats acknowledging that they do not know how to reform the present regime. The figures for draft documents reflect a dramatic shift over the past twenty years from mainly French to mainly English 16. BUT language policy as “politically sensitive”. which journalistic coverage of language issues. seldom does justice to 15. a coded way of politicians. It is ironic that states invest heavily in the learning of a language that symbolizes cultural imperialism. and the hegemony of English. BUT a pecking order of states and languages. and the internationalization of many domains. Use of the mother tongue does not. but is it likely that native and nonnative speakers of French or English perform on a level linguistic playingfield? The innocuous label conceals the power dimension that privileges some and disadvantages others. Thirdly. I will give you three examples: In theory all eleven languages have the same status as official and working languages. but as yet its powers are tightly constrained. Permeating the structural and ideological factors that snarl up analysis at the supranational level of language policy. .56 Robert Phillipson Clarity when discussing EU language policy is elusive because many of the central concepts are muddled and used inconsistently. This terminological confusion (which is present in the letter written to Romano Prodi by the French and German foreign ministers referred to earlier) is symptomatic of an acceptance of a hierarchy of languages. “lingua franca” tends to be used as though there is equality between users of the relevant language. Some languages are more equal than others. for several reasons18. not least on the job market. The assumed virtues of native speakers currently give them a colossal advantage. Secondly. the designations “native/non-native” take some users of the language as being authentic and infallible. postnational language rather than as deficient users of mother-tongue English. In practice there tends to be a restriction of “working language” to French and English. Monitoring this practice should be undertaken by the EU Ombud institution. The Commission and the Council of Europe have been taken to task for illegitimately favouring native speakers of English when advertising posts that all EU citizens should have had equal access to. The challenge of more equitable. guarantee intelligibility. This is an attractive principle. with or without the assistance of interpreters. and perhaps these users should be seen as fluent users of a non-national. German too. and stigmatize others as not being the real thing. so the “ownership” of English is changing. The unresolved paradoxes remain. and for certain purposes. and not only as language teachers. of course. but whether it has any implications for language pedagogy is unclear. Work has begun in English as a Foreign Language teaching circles to describe and upgrade the English of continental Europeans. there is the banal reality of people talking at cross-purposes. So some of our basic concepts in language policy are misleading. People who function regularly in several languages are more likely to be sensitive in their use of language in intercultural communication than monolinguals. English is used effectively by countless people for whom it is not a first language. visionary language policies has yet to be met. a laudable exercise. Competence in English is here projected as being imperative throughout Europe in the commercial world. English as the Tyrannosaurus Rex of scientific communication 20 is no extinct beast. with alarm bells ringing in Austria 21. the other is mouthless. And needless to say. and this influences employment criteria and choice of research topic. scholars are rewarded for publications in English by a large bonus. In Europe. and until recently it has been difficult to imagine that speakers of German or Swedish run any risk of their mother tongues being marginalized or atrophying at the individual or group level. The reports suggest that there is a risk of the Nordic languages suffering attrition in some domains. foreign languages can be learned successfully. Germany 23 and elsewhere. It has been described as second in importance to the British economy after North Sea oil. In some faculties in Norway. The tendency is for “international” publication to be seen as intrinsically superior. Two recent developments in the Nordic countries deserve special mention 24. Confident users of English and French. This picture may well be changing. The article describes how more and more continental European companies are switching over to English as the in-house corporate language. academics. even by Brits19. This is due to the inroads English is making in many domains.English as Threat or Resource in Continental Europe 57 Participation in EU activities by vast numbers of civil servants. particularly in scientific and technological activity. because while everybody seems to have an opinion on language policy. speechless. The Nordic Council of Ministers commissioned research in 2001 on possible domain loss in the Nordic languages. are in a privileged position. whereas anything in the local language triggers a paltry one. In continental Europe. whether as a first or second language. there is often a dearth of hard data actually documenting trends. the English speaker. is increasingly under scrutiny. The Swedish government also established a parliamentary commission to evaluate . It also describes how English for business is big business for English language schools. teachers. The cover drawing portrays twin business executives: one communicates successfully. By implication. The dominance of English as a language of science. The cover of the European edition of Business Week of 13 August 2001 asked in a banner headline “Should everyone speak English?”. speaking the lingua franca separates the haves from the have-nots”. English has traditionally been learned additively. both in publications and in postgraduate training. even in countries with a long history of national scholarship. adds a supranational linguistic identity to the existing national linguistic identities. and NGOs. proficiency in other languages gets you nowhere. Denmark 22. The inside story was flagged as “The Great English divide. experts. Broadly speaking this is the role of English intranationally in postcolonial states. It is possible that access to the dominant international language will be the key distinction marking out haves and have-nots in continental European countries. competence in English is becoming a prerequisite for access to higher education and employment. and to elaborate an action plan to ensure that Swedish remains a complete language.58 Robert Phillipson whether Swedish was under threat from English. a stranglehold that is being eased apart by Americanization and Europeanization. in a much broader sense than Business Week intended. German to his dog. or whether the initiative has already passed to EU institutions. spoke French to the ladies. The EU has basically steered clear of the issue. There is nothing new about functional differentiation among several languages. A massive national consultation process is currently under way. a poet who was the first person to translate Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey from Greek into Danish. wrote in 1827: “Every gentleman who took his education seriously only put pen to paper in Latin. This nation-state is apparently shifting from monolingualism to a differentiated spectrum of multilingualism. It is not at all clear to what extent states are deciding on national language policy. and English-using gatekeepers in countless domains. nor the requirement enshrined in the Council’s Rules of Procedure for all legislative and policy documents before the Council for a decision to be translated into all official . in tandem with preferred forms of communication in the national language. and that Swedes from a minority language background enjoy language rights. This raises many language rights issues 25. We are now experiencing the erosion of the monopoly of a unifying and stratifying national language in nation-states. learned and used well by its first and second language speakers. and Danish to his servants. to lead to legislation in 2004. The plan also aims to ensure that Swedes are equipped to function well in foreign languages. the boardrooms of transnational corporations. and retains its full rights as an EU official and working language. apart from needing to address the functioning of its institutions internally and externally in a selected set of languages. The document “does not call into question the current practice of providing full language interpreting for meetings of the Council and the European Council. A policy statement was produced by the European Council during the 2002 Danish Presidency entitled “Use of languages in the Council in the context of an enlarged Union 26.” Since that time we have experienced the heyday of the monolingual nation state throughout Europe. where English opens doors for the few and firmly closes them for the many. which impacts on language policy overtly and covertly. In much of Europe. States are adjusting to globalization. particularly English. Christian Wilster. But the Convention has been asked to take language policy on board by a number of bodies. even if the goals of recent EU reforms aim at increased accountability. Ana Palacio. at least one official language for each state must be included. Further clarification of the principles to underlie implementation is needed. The Copenhagen summit in December 2002 was primarily concerned with reaching agreement on terms for the accession of new member states. one of the official UN languages. Spanish. for the subsidiarity principle to ensure that power and self-regulation in language affairs should be as decentralized as possible. and that a clear distinction should be made between (1) “binding documents and political representation”. clearly language policies here interlock with and influence what happens at the national and sub-national levels too. but interpretation and trans- .” The Convention on the Future of Europe is unlikely to have language policy as a high priority. must take on the place it is entitled to. They suggest that experts and users should identify the specific functions performed by different languages. where economic and other constraints prevent full multilingualism. and for a public debate on reform of the language regime in EU institutions. solely in English. spoken by more than 400 million people in more than 20 countries. to write in El País on 16 December 2002: “The motto ‘One Europe’. It suggests three ways of tackling the challenges of enlargement and more restrictive translation and interpretation procedures for lowerlevel activities. by the Europa Diversa 30 group.English as Threat or Resource in Continental Europe 59 languages”. Within it. the banner headline behind the politicians read “One Europe” in one language only. This prompted the Spanish Foreign Secretary. for funding for all autochthonous European languages. At the press conference with heads of state from the existing and potential states when agreement was reached. pleads for more active policies to strengthen linguistic diversity. German 28 and Italian 29 ) or the exclusion of minority languages (where efforts are spearheaded by the Catalans). this is one of the pending subjects that sooner rather than later must be debated for the very survival and viability of this project of Europe with a world vocation. Although these points are essentially concerned with activity at the supranational level. These are typically either concerned with a single official language which is seen as being marginalized (I am familiar with approaches by protagonists of French 27. and better communication between EU institutions and citizens. requires a reflection. The submission to the Convention “Linguistic proposals for the future of Europe”. Even though Copenhagen did not face the question of languages. including the lesser used languages recognized by member states in the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Eurocrats can be expected to function in three languages. Implementation along the lines proposed would serve to consolidate the efforts that the EU currently puts into functioning multilingually. In such employment. but could make the institutions more communicatively effective and efficient. and this should be demanded particularly of those who have French or English as their mother tongue. since interpretation and translation serve to facilitate interaction across language borders. national politicians. civil servants and experts. and the internal working languages of the EU institutions. There is a lot of relevant experience worldwide. a higher level of proficiency can be expected in reading and listening than in writing or speaking. “languages of service to the citizens of Europe”. but in practice there are many logistic problems in drafting complex texts in parallel in several languages. Change must tackle the fundamental paradoxes in EU language policy. it is unreasonable to expect representatives of member states. and often do so impressively. This is a sociolinguistically informed document. to function as well in a foreign language as in their mother tongue. which should be restricted to 3 or 4.60 Robert Phillipson (2) (3) lation services would support a range of specified. and having texts ready on time. though far too little is known to decisionmakers nationally and supranationally. Most of the books by social scien- . By contrast. There is therefore an urgent need to bring together all the relevant stake-holders in language policy. There is in fact nothing odious about a restricted number of languages being used by permanent employees of an institution that brings together people from different backgrounds. and implement policy and practice that respect linguistic human rights and strengthen linguistic diversity. more of which would be used in interaction with the general public and in publications. depending on need. while also bringing autochthonous languages into mainstream EU communication. the main value of which is to point to a way of addressing and potentially solving some of the current problems of linguistic hierarchies and inefficiency. In theory they are not expected to do so. This exercise might also serve to show how hollow a lot of the rhetoric of total multilingualism and linguistic equality is. necessary functions. and in a more flexible but restrictive way than at present. clarify the criteria that can lead to equitable multilingual communication. the mother tongue and two others. 2003) 31 attempts to move from describing the past and present of languages in Europe to a set of 45 specific recommendations that are designed to ensure language a higher profile and more competent treatment. langue européene”. Strategy paper “Campaign 2000: Promoting the national interest”. 9. Kirk and Dónall P. 7. 3.souverainete. ‹www. They tend to regard an expansion of English as unproblematical. Ó Baoill. see also ‹www.langue-francaise. (1998). See the article by John Lichfield in The Independent. Reported by Hervé Lavenir de Buffon. S. 6. 4. founder of the organization “Comités pour le français. ‹www. which predictably pokes fun at the French and does not address the issue of language rights. The issues are. 199. 2. see John M. Notes 1.A. Hopefully recommendations will not merely remain informed speculation until the political will is generated bottom-up and top-down to move away from laissez faire and crude national agendas to a more inclusive agenda that converts the EU rhetoric of maintaining diversity into reality.com›. French “lettre de mise en demeure”.English as Threat or Resource in Continental Europe 61 tists on European integration devote very little space to language policy and reveal gross ignorance. On 28 July 2002. of 20 March 2002. 5. 2000/13/EF. My book English-only Europe? Language policy challenges (Routledge. R. .voxlatina. in my view. 14 June 2001. 8. This is a revised and updated version of a talk given initially in Belfast in September 2002. so complex that they need book-length treatment.org›. 22 June 2002.france. 10. cited in the Danish daily paper Information. English can be used to ensure the emergence of a more equitable European linguistic order. RO Magazine 34. Feld. 19 August 2002. No language is intrinsically evil or good.org›. (1992). Phillipson. They are grouped into four categories covering: – – – – national and supranational language policy infrastructure EU institutions language teaching and learning research. Seidlhofer. and it is now published exclusively in English. A prime example is the editorial “Organic is healthier” in The Daily Telegraph of 16 August 2001. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers. For instance.g. Jarvad (2001). e. French has for centuries been regarded as a uniquely significant language. 2002. A recent study for the Anglo-German Foundation for the Study of Industrial Society (reported in The Guardian. 1525– 1560).html›. 25. A further symptom is that publications in other languages are being dropped. K.eu. 15334/1/02 REV 1. des armes et des lois” (Joachim du Bellay. This is John Swales’s term. and F. B. Phillipson (2003). 16. It is known as the “Decret Dutreil”. Enlarging the EU is good news for the English language. Vilmar (eds. These reports are on ‹http://europa. French and German. 18. 26. The Guardian on 20 March 2002: “The French language meets its Waterloo. 133–158. Appendix 5 of R.eu.int/ comm/competition/annual_reports›. It can be used at the European Court of Justice. 20. 13. Journal Officiel du 2 août 2002. P.) (2002). 22. 19. the 1996 report was published in Dutch. Irish is not an official language but is a treaty language. My tutor approved of me immersing myself in France and Germany for months before going up. and France as “la mère des arts. the Annual Reports on competition policy were available in all official languages until 1995. Décret no 2002–1025 du 1 août 2002 art 1. Tove Skutnabb-Kangas (2000).int/comm/dg10/epo/eb. Gawlitta. (2001). 23. meaning foreign languages. Another is Ian Black (2002). 6 December 2002. 21. . I well recall the good advice given to me by the admissions tutor of the university which gave me a place to read “modern”. This small book contains a 15-page résumé in English. Vienna Manifesto. in an article in World Englishes in 1997. See Eurobarometer Report 54 of 15 February 2001 for a representative study of foreign language competence in all member states.62 Robert Phillipson 11. 6 March 2003) reports that the decline in young people in Britain studying foreign languages at the upper secondary and tertiary levels is due to embarrassment at the idea of speaking a foreign language and “the general climate of negativity” towards languages in the UK. confirming its victory over French as the classic medium of European integration”. 12. Both are summarized in Engelska språket som hot och tillgång i Norden (The English language as a threat or resource in the Nordic countries). Council of the European Union. How could one expect to acquire a profound familiarity with foreign cultures and languages if one is not securely grounded in one’s own group’s cultural history? In bilingual education terms. 24. 17. but advised strongly that I should read as much English literature as possible. 15. ‹http:/europa. learning should be additive not subtractive. English. 14. See the petition on www. Gawlitta. Ó Baoill Language planning and education: Linguistic issues in Northern Ireland. the republic of Ireland. The Guardian Weekly.English as Threat or Resource in Continental Europe 63 27. Copenhagen: Dansk Sprognævn. March 2003. www. Feld. Ian 2002 . langue européene. 29. There is collaboration between protagonists of French. P. Kirk.A. Black. Buffon. 1998 Language and the globalization of the economic market: the regulation of language as a barrier to free trade.bslcp. die mit der Erarbeitung einer Europäischen Gründungsakte beauftragt sind”.com on “Pour la liberté de vivre en français”. and Scotland. At the time of writing. Nordic Council of Ministers 2002 Engelska språket som hot och tillgång i Norden [The English language as a threat or resource in the Nordic countries].) 2002 “Deutsch nix wichtig”? Engagement für die deutsche Sprache. 31. and Dónall P. 30. 1 July 2002.voxlatina. S. K. Fourth draft. The association “La bella lingua” has promoted a resolution in defence of the Italian language. “Stellungname von Vereinen zur Förderung des französischen. April: 4–10. Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 31: 153–202. German and Italian. John M. with the support of members of parliament. der deutschen und anderer europäischer Sprachen zur Vorlage bei den Mitgliedern des Europäischer Konvents.) (2002). Paderborn: IFB Verlag.com. and F. 2001 Det danske sprogs status i 1990’erne med særlig henblik på domænetab [The status of the Danish language in the 1990s particularly in relation to domain loss]. 200–204 in: Gawlitta and Vilmar (eds. 28. and there are plans for a translation into German. Copenhagen. Jarvad. May 31 – June 1. Hervé Lavenir de 2002 Comités pour le français. approved by an international conference convened by five Catalan bodies in Barcelona. Belfast: Queen’s University. the book is being translated into Esperanto. 22 June 2002. Vilmar (eds. RO Magazine 34. References EU learns to conduct its business with an English accent. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 11/2: 133–158. Robert 1992 Linguistic imperialism. . Skutnabb-Kangas.64 Robert Phillipson Phillipson. 2003 English-only Europe? Language policy challenges. Seidlhofer. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Tove 2000 Linguistic genocide in education – or worldwide diversity and human rights? Mahwah/New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum. London: Routledge. 2001 Closing a conceptual gap: the case for a description of English as a lingua franca. B. Dabei wird übersehen. wie heute das Englische. dass deren Sprecher das Potential des Englischen tatsächlich eigenständig nutzen und zu gleichberechtigten Partner der englischen Sprachgemeinschaft werden können. diesmal auf der Basis des Englischen zu beobachten. a. Insbesondere in der Semantik sind Sprach.und Geistesgeschichte fest miteinander verbunden. ohne auch nur entfernt dessen überragende Stellung zu erreichen. Dagegen würde die Übernahme des Englischen in vielen Geisteswissenschaften wie etwa auch in der Jurisprudenz zu einem Bruch mit den geschichtlich gewachsenen Kulturtraditionen führen. dass es sich dabei begrifflich um eine Mittlersprache zum Informationsaustausch für bestimmte Bereiche der funktionalen Kommunikation handelt. Deshalb ist das zutreffendere historische Analogon für das Internationale Englisch das Latein des römischen Imperiums und des westlichen Europas vor der Herausbildung der Nationalsprachen. insbesondere das Französische und partiell auch das Deutsche. bedingt durch politische Macht. Es muss aber bezweifelt werden. Der internationalen Bedeutung des Letzteren ist durch die verbrecherische Nazidiktatur ein tödlicher Schlag versetzt worden.Global English – a New Lingua Franca or a New Imperial Culture? Hans Joachim Meyer Zusammenfassung Auch in der Vergangenheit haben europäische Sprachen. wird u. Seit längerem ist vor allem in den Naturwissenschaften eine Rückkehr zur Einsprachigkeit. Vor allem wird für das Internationale Englisch vielfach der Begriff der lingua franca verwendet. Zum Wesen einer Sprache gehört jedoch ihr kreatives Potential zur Formulierung neuer Gedanken und ihre Verwobenheit in einen kulturellen Kontext. ob es in den nationalen Gesellschaften genügend mentale . Um den globalen Gebrauch des Englischen zu erfassen. Heute kann von den europäischen Sprachen nur noch Spanisch mit Englisch konkurrieren. ob die wachsende Internationalisierung des wissenschaftlichen und akademischen Lebens zur weltweiten Dominanz des Englischen oder zu einem akademischen Multilingualismus führen wird. Dies wird in den Naturwissenschaften erleichtert durch die dort festzustellende relativ klare Trennung der Kommunikation über die Forschung vom eigentlichen Forschungsprozess und unterstützt durch das Vorhandensein bestimmter rhetorischer Muster des Englischen für diese Kommunikationszwecke. wirtschaftliche Stärke oder kulturellen Einfluss eine führende internationale Rolle gespielt. Die Frage stellt sich. Entscheidend scheint dabei. die Existenz neuer Varianten wie Euro-English oder Mid-Atlantic English angenommen. but also in culture and in academic learning. oder aus blankem Opportunismus. die sprachliche Vielfalt zu bewahren. German. In the course of history quite a number of languages have been used as means of communication across the borders of countries and between people of different mother tongues. Der Rückzug des Deutschen vor dem Englischen – weltweit und im eigenen Land – ist weithin eine selbstverschuldete Tragödie. The question is. Fate means destiny. particularly in diplomacy and foreign trade. The English theme of this conference is “The Fate of European Languages in the Age of Globalisation”. However. die mit der allgemeinen Neigung zur Geschichtsvergessenheit und zur Nichtachtung des kulturellen Erbes einhergeht. And fate can also mean death and destruction as the ultimate and inevitable end of the story. Portuguese and French – which have spread far into the world. what such a statement implies. in the world of today. Daraus entsteht die reale Gefahr. dass die deutsche Gesellschaft Teil des Empires der amerikanischem Kultur wird – entweder. Does the present international position of English simply result from a change of role and importance among languages? That the language of one nation takes on the role of an internationally accepted medium of communication.66 Hans Joachim Meyer Bereitschaft und intellektuelles Engagement gibt. there are European languages which do not seem to share the fate of German. English is the leading language. Apart from English. So we have here two dramatis personae – the killer and the victim. weil sich einflussreiche Kräfte davon einen Vorteil versprechen. although to a lesser extent. it is German which may be the victim. becoming the . there are three other languages originating from the European continent – Spanish. Trotz einigem Widerstand wird in Deutschland Englisch in den meisten Bereichen einschließlich der Politik als Ausdruck von Kreativität. however. eastern. The French language had such a status in Europe from the end of the 17th up to the beginning of the 20th century. Nor is it peculiar to our time that a language which originally came into existence in one country is taken to other parts of the world and becomes the language of several nations. also played for some time such a role in central. is not a new phenomenon in history. It has become a commonplace to say that. Innovation und modischer Werbung zunehmend bevorzugt. And. In der deutschen Gesellschaft ist derzeit eine starke Tendenz zur sprachlichen Aufgabe der eigenen Identität zu beobachten. a power which controlls all events in a way that cannot be resisted. and south eastern Europe. as the theme of this conference specifies. But who is the killer and who the victim? In a tragedy it is the life of the victim which is fated to come to an end. Is it too obvious or are we too polite? In any case. This reads like the announcement of a tragedy. the power of destiny is not mentioned. that is. It was a catastrophe which followed from the destruction of the first German . the result of political power. Among experts. where the establishment of colonial empires has been combined with a migration to the conquered lands. at least for Western Europe. this development does not seem to have come to an end as can easily be noticed in this city and in this country. which for a long time was the leading central European power. This situation changed radically with the reduction of Austria to a smaller European state after the first world war. as the example of English and Spanish shows. but after 1871 of course also on the growing power of the united Germany. which had been unleashed by Hitler and the Nazi leadership. knowing French is no longer a matter of prestige. Although French was not only the generally accepted language of foreign politics and diplomacy for more than two centuries but also set the social and cultural standards. In other words. economic strength and cultural influence. albeit slowly. despite the fact that their ancestors had been living there for ages. and the subsequent expulsion of almost all Germans from the eastern and south eastern parts of Europe. if I may venture to say this. Today the efforts of German educational policy to convince young people of the advantages of learning French are really successful only in those regions which border on France where the proximity fosters the growth of a natural interest in immediate communication.Global English – a New Lingua Franca or a New Imperial Culture? 67 standard language of a number of now independent nations or legally recognized minorities. in the first place. which. Nevertheless it is undoubtedly true that it is English – an idiom that at the beginning of European history was spoken only in some parts of the British Isles lying on the outskirts of Western Christianity – which has experienced the most impressive expansion all over the world. making it not only the standard language of a few major nations but also giving it the function of a second language for a large number of people. as well as to some extent on German migration to eastern and south eastern parts of Europe in earlier centuries. French and Portuguese it is. is an encouraging antidote to any danger of resignation lurking in the theme of this conference. The former influence of the German language was mainly based on the position of Austria. the total defeat of Germany in the Second World War. it is mainly the result of colonialism and migration. As with Spanish. In the case of Spanish. for quite a long time. particularly. And. but Russia. even the most passionate admirers of English will agree that this astonishing ascent is not primarily due to the special linguistic virtues of this language. its influence began to wane. so I trust. leading to a solid domination over the indigenous population. when France was no longer the strongest state on the continent. English has come to serve as practically the only accepted medium of communication in a number of important areas of human activity associated with progress and modernity. which corresponds to modern ideals of life and work. the international position of Spanish is mainly based on the communication in and among the Spanish-speaking nations and national minorities who.68 Hans Joachim Meyer Republic. such as promising fields in the natural sciences. we must not forget. the temptation is irresistible to assume that they can also neglect cultural differences. However. Only English stands a good chance of being the main language of the emerging global society. particularly when they have been born in an English-speaking country. Those who speak English may get the impression of being – more or less – at home everywhere. These political criminals are. This helps to be quicker. fatal blow to the international position of the German language. and the film and entertainment industry. only English and Spanish can really claim importance in international communication. Today. I remember a British colleague from the endangered species of foreign-language teachers imitating tourists from England in Spain and . and the renunciation of humanism by the nationalist and racist forces which seized power in Germany in 1933. For some people. form a Spanish-speaking zone which is still expanding to the north. The immediate consequence was that the second pillar on which the international position of the German language had rested for more than a century began to crumble – the world-wide reputation of German culture and the international respect for German academic learning and research. in other words. diplomacy or military operations. the breaking with the liberal and democratic traditions of German history. In addition to its status as the first or the second language in many countries. with the exception of Spain and a few smaller territories. today some competence in English appears to remove such necessities. Many who had earned this respect through their achievements in intellectual life took it away with them when driven from their country. It was German hands which struck the first and. the killers in our tragedy. It is an impression which may breed irritation. more mobile and more efficient. Whereas for centuries going abroad meant learning another language and getting acquainted with another culture. which had fallen into the hands of murderers and torturers. In these and other areas English offers to an everincreasing number of people the chance of borderless communication and the opportunity to achieve their purposes without the need to overcome the barrier of a foreign language. possibly. becoming a richer personality. and its increasing role in traditional fields of international cooperation such as trade. among the languages of European origin. To superficial observers the whole world seems to be steeped in English. international traffic and tourism. lingua franca – in its proper sense – denotes a language used for a restricted range of communicative purposes and combining elements from more than one language. lingua franca is a hybrid language for specific functions.Global English – a New Lingua Franca or a New Imperial Culture? 69 their surprised statement: “Those chaps don’t speak English!” It may also lead to prejudice which breeds aggressive arrogance. but it also included Greek and Arabic language elements. the term “lingua franca” could make sense. Its new and unique role in the age of globalisation seems to be better captured by the term “Global English”. particularly in view of the new conditions developing in Europe. linguistically. various attempts have been made to identify a particular variety of English for which.2 In fact. How should this new role be discussed and explained? The term “International English” for a particular variety of this language is typically used to describe its position in the world resulting from colonialism and migration. a precise definition of the functions and situations to which this term applies is required. If lingua franca is to be more than a metaphor for the global role of English. It is. serving merchants and sailors from different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds as a medium of communication. An important characteristic of a lingua franca seems to be that the role of the native speaker or rather of the ideal native speaker as a source of linguistic norms and correct usage is not consistent with the hybrid and functional nature of this kind of language. But how can we precisely define the new aspects of the world-wide role of English: As a neutral tool for bordercrossing communication all over the world or rather as a form of political power and cultural dominance in the global society of tomorrow? Only for the function of English as a neutral tool of international communication would its frequently used characterization as a new lingua franca be satisfactory and acceptable. Its basis was derived from Italian idioms. which is at least as important as the diversity of the biosphere we try to preserve. In any case. English has reached a degree of world-wide importance which goes far beyond the traditional role of internationally used languages. Therefore in linguistics. Generally speaking. only logical that David Graddol (1999)3 puts special emphasis on the decline of the native speaker in absolute numbers. therefore.1 Such attitudes threaten the cultural diversity of mankind. Originally. when analysing the new role of English as a global lingua franca. . used in a larger territory in which various national languages are spoken. particularly if English is used to transport and propagate a particular way of life. the term “lingua franca” was used to denote a link language spoken around the eastern half of the Mediterranean Sea. but instead is seen as a descriptive model which incorporates a wide range of possible usage”. where. Instead.70 Hans Joachim Meyer Graddol suggests distinguishing two types of second language. and a new hierarchy of languages which places most European citizens in a plurilingual context”. The second definition refers to “an L2 speech community as one which is ‘norm creating’ – that is. “although only a minority of the population may actually understand and use English”. But Modiano’s as well as Graddol’s motivation when challenging the prestige of true-born English speakers as models of correct and acceptable usage is of a much more fundamental character. shows and accepts American influence.6 This is thought to be a variety of English spoken by “competent non-native speakers”. as Modiano is right to assume.7 In fact. neither definition can be applied to the newly developing situation in Europe. greater mobility. he suggests the linguistic model of ‘speech communities’ which “redefine themselves as cross-border affiliation groups rather than as geographic groups in national boundaries”. as a consequence of the role of English as a global lingua franca.8 The question is how realistic the model of EuroEnglish as a variety in its own right can be and how far it agrees with our insights into the nature of languages. Mid-Atlantic or Euro-English “is not firmly based on a prescriptive standard.” 4 As Graddol points out.9 Such views may help to define realistic aims for foreign-language teaching. Generally speaking. These are the so-called ‘New Englishes’: mainly in former British colonial territories.10 What kind of new identities will develop and what the relationship of language and . Their vocabulary is not restricted to British usage but also includes terms and expressions from American English. Thus.5 This seems to be in accordance with the concept of “Euro-English” or “Mid-Atlantic English” as proposed by Marko Modiano (2000). too. The first definition identifies those countries “where English serves a role in intranational communication”. we can find “an increasing number of fluent speakers of English who do not conform to the traditional definition of L2 speaker”. developing its own institutionalised variety of English. To Graddol the very concept of well-defined identities which are associated with definite languages is outdated and will give way to “new formations of identity. Spelling. competent non-native speakers of English are placed on an equal footing in a centripetal model”. “to achieve near-native proficiency in one ‘prestige’ variety”. the concept of EuroEnglish is a logical consequence following from Modiano’s theoretical point of view “that native speakers of major varieties are simply one group among many that collectively comprise the English-using world. whose pronunciation cannot be identified geographically and as “a copy of native-tongue usage”. In actual communication it is certainly not necessary. and ontological imperialism”. Language provides a potential for creativity which combines linguistic competence with intellectual as well as emotional capacities. Therefore languages embody cultural history. it is equally impossible to use and understand the potential of a language without its cultural context. however. however. the implication that currency could be a metaphor for language is highly questionable. Graddol (2001)11 regards it as a “key aspiration of the new European project” to roll back the centuries-long development “which created monolingual cultures built around standardised national languages and to create a new. which is much more than an instrument of communicative exchange.14 I confess to sharing the fears that the cultural richness of Europe is in danger. citizens are multilingual”. particularly in their semantics. In spite of all these critical objections. fails to grasp the very nature of language. Such a comparison. it is the function of currency to make different things comparable by reducing qualitative characteristics to quantitative units. Taken in the meaning of money.13 Modiono is much more outspoken when referring to Euro-English “which allows Europeans … to retain their divergent cultural distinctiveness” as “one possible way to counteract the impact of Anglo-American cultural. but I can’t share Modiano’s hope that this way it will be possible to target features of the language “which have currency in the communication process”. of prestige accents and of Euro-centric notions of the supremacy of European culture and societal organisation” will no longer be operative “when English is deemed to be a lingua franca” sounds politically correct but is far from reality.15 In fact. it seems plausible to assume that certain functions of English in border-crossing communication .12 On the other hand. which may be regarded as the core of any language. In fact. To assume “that as a lingua franca all speakers of English have the same right of access and accountability for the development and definition of the language.”16 is not much more than a nice illusion. if not all. there will never be a living language that is cultureless. and towards a society in which some languages are more equal than others”. borderless territory in which the majority. Just as speaking cannot be separated from thinking. Any development of language is embedded in a definite cultural context and contributes to a definite culture. It is for this very reason that the success of communication often depends very much on the art of negotiating meaning. On the one hand. which seems to be intended here.Global English – a New Lingua Franca or a New Imperial Culture? 71 culture will be. And to believe that “systems of marginalization. linguistic. he cannot help noticing that the present spread of English “is taking Europe in a rather different direction – towards a form of multilingualism in which languages have a hierarchical relationship. seems to be an open question. as is the case with German. will never be able to threaten the national role of languages nor to exclude them . A lingua franca. And their languages are a Latin offspring. It was medieval Latin and its dominant role in all decisive spheres all over Western Europe – in church. in turn. and its linguistic and rhetorical means may show a higher degree in sophisticated standardisation than a traditional lingua franca. Up to the present. Hence. Only in this context does it make sense to speak of “the fate of European languages in the age of globalisation”. because these functions are confined to definite spheres of border-crossing culture. those parts of Europe which for a long time were Roman provinces still bear the stamp of Roman culture. In fact. it is Latin that appears to provide a more adequate model to predict and understand what a comparable position of English in uniting Europe could mean for languages whose international role is insignificant or decreasing. A really intriguing question is: Why has the linguistic category of lingua franca become so popular in linguistics when trying to account for the new dimension in the international role of English? Is it because of its close connection with trade and commerce? Do these historical roots give this term an appeal of modernity? Or is it rather the subconscious attempt to avoid an alternative interpretation of the dominant position of English one can’t help thinking of when considering the history of languages. Only in England was the impact of the Roman Empire so thoroughly erased by the Anglo-Saxon invaders that Latin influence had to be brought in again by the Norman conquerors. Nevertheless. Hence. which by definition serves a restricted range of communication only. It was Latin which. It is true that the Roman Empire was also a multilingual and multicultural melting-pot. this modern lingua franca is also restricted in its domain and in its repertoire. scholarship.72 Hans Joachim Meyer can be described adequately as a new lingua franca. But the result was a unifying culture whose character was Roman and whose language was Latin. the assumption that part of the communicative use of English in the emerging global society indeed constitutes a modern lingua franca does not provide an answer to the challenge which global English presents to the national identities making up Europe and its cultural richness. culture and politics – which created a border-crossing linguistic and mental unity. In this communicative role it may have a much wider and much more varied thematic scope in communication. it was not the lingua franca of the Mediterranean that was the dominant language of Western Europe before the era of nation-building and the emergence of national cultures. Under Roman rule the conquered territories had been transformed radically and a Roman society had been established. was the heritage of the Roman Empire. education. and we have to bear in mind these differences when considering the effects of globalisation on international academic communication. whether they live and develop their own heritage in the continuous process of border-crossing exchange or. however. in particular of their elites and their younger generations. which. however. Let me start with some observations on academic life which I would then like to place in a broader context. .Global English – a New Lingua Franca or a New Imperial Culture? 73 totally from international life. Universities are rightly considered to be the apex of the educational system and they are expected. is not evenly spread over the spectrum of the various academic disciplines. although one could refer to more than one example pointing in this direction. Today we live in a free world. In contrast to Latin in medieval Europe. A new Latin. As places of research and scholarship universities are dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. it will be the decision of the national communities themselves. universities have been the most important institutions for the development of a national culture and a national consciousness. in which cultural ideals and standards are much more influential than political or military strength. In my view. but of surrender. it would be naive to blame people for using their chance. instead. These differences also provide a remarkable argument for the necessity of distinguishing between English as a new lingua franca or as a new imperial culture. This double role. particularly American English. by its very nature. prefer to accept English. In a world which is moved forward by competition. They would then risk resembling people who hope to be successful by copying the manners and products of others. would establish a new imperial culture and reduce national languages to the status of local dialects. How much depends on the prevalent intellectual mood is today exemplified to a truly extreme extent by German society. is an international phenomenon. Whether English will take up the position of a new Latin depends first and foremost on the strength of the national cultures and their international attractiveness. as the expression of modernity and try to pose as Americans. the present and future role of English is not primarily the result of aggressive attitudes and strategies of the Englishspeaking world or of particular English-speaking countries. in the first place. to act as centres of the intellectual life in society. English as a new Latin would be both the language of English-speaking national cultures and the language of the strongest power in the world. Even in the Roman Empire it was probably culture which counted more than political suppression. at least. At the same time. an imperial position of English in the European and global societies of tomorrow would not be the result of defeat. Under these circumstances there is no reason to hope for equal partnership in the use and the further development of English. Hence. In other words. but also in science. Instead. United by the common pursuit of knowledge. the academic world more or less continued to be an international community. particularly for those with English as a first or second language. a Professor of Law at Leipzig. however. establish a new imperial culture. The Second World War made the United States of America the leading power of the western world. if not all. in fact. some national languages. About half a century ago this multilingual period came to an end. German universities as well as universities in other European countries made a remarkable contribution to the development of national languages. In the two following centuries. It was an academic innovation which his university didn’t appreciate at all so that he was forced to go elsewhere. European educational systems. Meanwhile. It also raised the attractiveness of American universities for young people all over the world. of which for historical reasons there is a vast number. the United States can make use of well educated and highly motivated young people from all over the world to enhance its international leadership in science. Of course the German universities were no exception. This is leading to an ever-growing number of people with considerable communicative competence in this language. English has attained the status of being the first foreign language in most. gained great international prestige because of the quality of academic work in their countries. but also in other fields of great significance for the process of nation-building such as law and politics. The steep rise in American publications presenting the latest scientific findings quite naturally increased the importance of English in the world of science. It was not until 1688 that Christian Thomasius. dared to give a lecture in German. not only in the political and in the military sense. but it no longer had an international language. the economic strength and the cultural influence of the United States this would. In addition. This rapidly increasing leadership of American science in a continuously growing number of research areas has been first and foremost the result of the enormous efforts the United States has undertaken to promote research in promising fields and to expand its institutions of higher learning. among them German. for the first time in the history of German universities. writing and of course also thinking in English will be the inevitable outcome of this development.74 Hans Joachim Meyer During the Middle Ages and even for a long period afterwards the European universities knew only one language and this was Latin. reducing the other national languages and cultures to a colonial status and making the so-called global . A superficial assumption could be that the emergence of a world-wide culture speaking. Together with the political power. particularly in education and academic scholarship. at least in the natural sciences. by the very object of their study. Internationality. Of course the end of German as a language of science. Hence. almost entirely English-speaking international community. At the same time we have to bear in mind that the natural sciences are characterized by a relatively clear separation between doing research and communicating about research. its own processes of literary reasoning and its own standards of argument. is it possible to distinguish between academic disciplines which on the one hand form a monolingual. is also a severe cultural loss. In other words. the methods used and the results obtained in a standardized form which typically obeys particular stylistic conventions and rhetorical strategies. As has been shown by John Swales (1990) 17 in his analysis of “English in academic and research settings”. within all of which one powerful shaping paradigm is that of the problem-solution text type”. a highly standardized communicative . to be more precise. the natural sciences today constitute an international culture whose language is English. So far this is only a necessity for the universities on the European continent. are closely related to a national culture? English. cannot be achieved by domination and surrender. or. but should be based on equality and mutual respect. but that need not be the end of the story.18 In other words. it is definitely not the purpose of research articles when reporting about a particular piece of research in science to describe the stages of the intellectual process in its intricate complexity of trial and error. however. The question we have to address is whether academic multilingualism has a basis in the reality of academic research and teaching. The change to English has been so radical that famous German science journals not only publish in English but have even taken on English names. following Hoey (1979) and others. makes the distinction between science and the humanities. of assumptions and corrections. in contrast to the German concept of “Wissenschaft”. As has been shown by linguistic studies. on the basis of the English rhetorical tradition. There can be no doubt that science. It is rather the intention to present and discuss the starting point of the work. and other academic disciplines which. the research article is a particular genre with “its own quite separate conventions. the composition of their professoriate as well as of their student body should be international. a community which is truly international cannot be monolingual but must be multilingual.Global English – a New Lingua Franca or a New Imperial Culture? 75 village some people dream of nothing more than an American village or rather a place which would resemble the not so elegant districts of New York. But is this really the only perspective history has to offer? Of course it is true that if academic research is an international phenomenon and if universities are the most important institutions of research. which in the course of two centuries developed a particular literary quality. for obvious reasons. a purely poetic literature. . In contrast. particularly in the humanities. law. Moreover. no longer spoke and thought in the same language. both the object of study and the semantic potential of the language are often deeply influenced by a definite national culture and its intellectual history. Nevertheless it is difficult to imagine how the traditions in the humanities. which. is turning towards a globalised perspective. This is especially true for literature. because. Instead it is only possible either – in a second step – to translate the results into another language (which so far has been the usual procedure in international communication) or to give up one’s own language as an instrument of. Incidentally. as the eminent German scholar Karl Voßler once remarked. admittedly. It would be either foolish or arrogant not to see the dangers which may result from such a far-reaching cultural break for the development and for the mental stability of a national community. as well as a potential for academic work. in law and in the social and political sciences could be continued if the academic community abandoned the languages in which for centuries the cultural and intellectual treasures of the nations have been preserved. it would be against the very nature of research in the humanities to separate the act of investigation from the act of communication. There are. is nothing more than a written dialect. The latter alternative would have a disastrous effect on the rank of the language which is being excluded from the realm of academic and scientific thinking. also academic areas outside the natural sciences where – together with new approaches in research – English has made its impact. because it is only a functional medium of communication on a restricted sphere of activities and purposes. without scientific writing. such as in economics. the newly founded International University of Bremen which uses English as the language of instruction and regards itself as a model for higher education in Germany offers study programmes in the humanities which have practically no relation to German history or culture. or in some areas of linguistics. It is therefore hard to deny that a European country would face considerable consequences if the society and the academic community.19 Scientific thinking has a deep influence on modern society and this influence is increasing steadily. philosophy. it is characteristic of the humanities that studying phenomena and defining insights into these phenomena are parts of the same intellectual process because it is the semantic potential of the particular language used which provides both indispensable instruments of analysis and the necessary material for expressing the results. history and related academic fields which are of great importance for the self-perception and the traditions of a national community. Accordingly.76 Hans Joachim Meyer repertoire has been developed for the natural sciences which may be referred to as a new lingua franca. Global English – a New Lingua Franca or a New Imperial Culture? 77 The answer to the threat of cultural loss cannot. however. the academic community will have to accept the task of working and communicating in a multilingual context – not only world-wide. depend on the intellectual attitudes prevalent in the national community. In this multilingual academic community English will have a central position. it is hard to find another European society in which so many people are ready and even eager to give up their national identity. of course. but at any given place. in turn. either between a more practical and a more theoretical orientation or between fundamental studies and specialized studies and because it would allow considerable flexibility in combining different study programmes. I also accept that as a consequence of this model we should give up the “Diplom” as the typical German final degree. On the whole. In the emerging global society internationality of academic work is no longer confined to the border-crossing exchange of ideas. And we should revitalize the Baccalaureate as a first degree whenever this makes sense. We should follow the Austrian example and call it “Magister”. methods and findings. It is for this very reason that I am worried about the fate of German. I am very much in favour of this consecutive study structure. of their culture and of their language. would widen. not only as the lingua franca of the natural sciences. but a first and a second degree. A chance. P. the object of academic study is the reality of our world in all its complexity and diversity. Indeed. because we would then no longer have one degree. A good case in point is provided by the present efforts of university reform. it would promote international mobility. One important proposal is to divide the four or five year degree courses into two study cycles or study stages. particularly with universities in the English-speaking world. each leading to a degree. but it is also an omnipresent linguistic reality of research and teaching. there is a chance for such a multilingual academic communication which could preserve and enhance the cultural richness of the world. Whether a national academic community will take up this challenge. because I know that the usual translation as “diploma” is misleading and discriminating. And this. depends on their interest in the life and the fate of their nation. Snow deplored. but also as one of the important links between the various academic fields. because it would allow for more differentiation. be a return to the past. is a challenge. so that we would have a sequence of two degrees instead of one final degree as at present. Both names would be more or . generally speaking. Since. which C. Lastly. will interact with and. particularly between science and the humanities. to a large extent. because otherwise the distance between the “two cultures”. which would correspond to our mutual tradition. If we want to preserve and continue the cultural richness of mankind. Some even suggest introducing the PhD instead of the German doctoral degrees which would. German academic policy is fully in line with strong tendencies in German society. for culture and for advertising and especially for the media. be a kind of re-import. But in their desperate attempt to defend or regain an internationally respected position for German academia too many people forget that second-hand products are often thought of as second-rate. The surprising thing is that there isn’t much thorough analysis of American higher education in the present German university reform debate. or rather the American degrees of Bachelor and Master. This is all the more ridiculous in a country which in the late sixties took foolish pride in destroying its own traditions in academic appearance and self-presentation. hear and read everywhere. in fact. There is more than one publication about the new bachelor and master courses showing German graduates in American gowns with mortar boards. particularly for the public. In fact. One could even say this in the literal sense of the word. the new two cycle or two tier degree courses resemble the American degree structure only very superficially. because the German Bachelor is primarily intended as a professional qualification and not as an academic education. In this respect. In this respect. As this historical example shows it is indeed highly useful to study international experience in the academic field and there is undoubtedly a lot to be learned from successful American research universities. It was the old German Government headed by the Christian Democrat Helmut Kohl which combined the reform of university studies with the experimental . because the most important aim is to design shorter degree courses which provide a better-structured professional qualification. Those. may get the impression that the paramount aim of reform consists in abolishing the German degrees and introducing the English Bachelor and Master degrees. sometimes one gets the impression that German society is drunk with an idealized picture of American society. who take a look at the present public debate in Germany. An ideal solution. And it is especially astonishing as we today know quite a lot about the effects of signs and symbols in society. or so one might think. because the argument most frequently used in their favour is that these are the international degrees. In fact. This is true for politics and for the economy. because the Doctor of Philosophy or rather the Philosophiae Doctor was modelled on the Humboldian Doctor Philosophiae.78 Hans Joachim Meyer less correctly understood in the international academic community. however. Nevertheless. And whoever has read or seen Goethe’s drama on Dr. as one can easily see. Faustus would recognize them as part of German culture. the aim seems to be to look as American as possible. however. there is no difference between the political parties. it was the students’ organisation of my own party. Meanwhile the preference of English has become so aggressive that I do not hesitate to call it a kind of public pressure. the famous Humboldt University in Berlin. Business has long shown a strong trend to dress up as American as possible. intentionally or subconsciously. And when the Euro was introduced. when starting their economic policy. The leading German science organisations also contributed to this development when they gave their initiative to encourage public interest in scientific research the English name “PUSH” which is the abbreviation of “Public Understanding of Science and the Humanities”. It would be unfair to ignore the fact that these trends also meet with disapproval and criticism. It was the present German Government headed by the Social Democrat Gerhard Schröder which continued this and.Global English – a New Lingua Franca or a New Imperial Culture? 79 introduction of American degrees. for example. An especially repugnant example was set by German Telecom. And when I return to Dresden. The attitude behind all this was most poignantly expressed by a leading representative of German business who characterized himself as an American with a German passport. held a conference on – as the English theme read – Germany as a pioneer square (I hope you’ve an idea what that could mean). Again. the Christian Democratic Union. Examples like these could be given in large numbers. I’ll be welcomed at the airport by a large poster promising “Success included”. An increasing number of commercial advertisements are in English. particularly those which are expensive and aim at appearing elegant. is creating and spreading the impression that English is the only language that symbolises progress and modernity. a privatised former state enterprise. In all these cases. “Element of Crime” – crime against what. Cities also hope to improve their international image in this way. It is this trend which. As can be easily imagined. There is an increasing number of shops. Outstanding scholars such as Wolfgang Frühwald 20 . German banks distributed so-called “starter kits” to their customers. for instance by giving new products English names and even by renaming old German products and services. one is inclined to ask. ranging from witty to silly. entertainment and advertising have yielded almost totally to the temptation of appearing modern by using English. is in. Frankfurt on Main took the lead with the fanciful slogan “We make markets”. or rather American English. Most music bands have English names. My own university. which take on English names. in the hope of appearing fashionable. put its annual ball under the intriguing motto “Landscape of Human Senses” (whatever that may mean). which has just recently organised a congress (or should I rather say ‘staged an event’?) under the fascinating English motto “Education now”. the message is clear: German is out and English. possibly. Public figures have made thoughtful comments on the critical situation of German. arguing that the influx of foreign words and phrases has been normal for a living language throughout history and will become even more so in the age of globalisation and that. this is said to discourage people from taking public action in favour of German. People with influence in various sectors of the German society hail the increasing use of English as the language of the future. Jürgen Trabant22 made a profound and highly critical analysis of the global impact of English on academic writing and thinking. there are two predominant trends in the intellectual discourse. some groups have been making furious attacks on the quickly rising number of Anglicisms. support this development actively and ridicule those who lament the inevitable consequences for German. which would. to say the least.80 Hans Joachim Meyer and Martin Gauger 21 have voiced their concern. which in present-day Germany includes an attitude of national humility. At the same time. The first is simply to deny that the German language is in danger. Instead.23 Recently. although with an undertone of sadness and resignation. to confer degrees which continue or resume German academic traditions. although much too late. This . however. but rather of a practical kind. This may explain why. Too often. also in new courses. there is no reason to assume that the ability of German to integrate foreign elements has been weakened. This takes us to the core of the problem. Let me add that such a step would be without any historical precedence in Germany and quite certainly. encouraged the universities. at least so far. and. the conference of German faculties of the humanities supported the use of German in research and academic teaching. One could call this the linguistic argument. although it is wide-spread. resistance against the cultural and academic degradation of German is weak and hardly dares to speak out. the Academy of German Language and Literature deplored the decline of German as a language of the sciences and warned of the negative effect this may have on the quality of the democratic discourse. Similarly. be regarded as being against the spirit of political correctness. which practically confines itself to repeating undeniable platitudes from textbooks. The other trend is less of an argumentative. The question is not whether the German language is impaired in its grammatical structures or in its lexical stock. although one could cite examples for both. insights and aspirations which is at stake. It is rather the cultural status and the role of German for expressing human ideals. and there are even not very enlightened demands to introduce protective legislation like in France. not very effective. on the whole. Nobody can deny that an exchange with other languages as well as with other cultures may indeed be a source of enrichment. The last decade of the 20th century saw the beginnings of globalisation. Their expectation was that. but that finally. In order to understand this situation. In this new era. This chance has hardly been used. German. inevitably. which is unique in present-day Europe. the new East German states would very soon live and look just like the old Federal Republic. For an increasing number of Germans. The longer the division of Germany lasted. It was the alliance with the Western world and especially with the United States which gave the larger part of the divided nation a new historical chance. the fact that for the first time in her history Germany was not only united in peace and partnership with her neighbours. German society would become part of an empire of American culture. the less hope there was of national unity. To most Germans the chance of unity came totally unexpectedly. did not play a decisive role in public thinking. because then. as many had assumed. the end of the cold war did not lead to eternal peace. as the result of German unification. Moreover. Germany and her history was more a legacy than a heritage. the concepts of nation and democracy had come together. unleashed the Second World War and drove the German nation into its deepest catastrophe. At the same time. will be threatened if this challenge is not taken up.Global English – a New Lingua Franca or a New Imperial Culture? 81 position is not necessarily in danger because we are approaching a globalised world. Only few recognized that. It was the myth of Germany’s special way in history which played into the hands of the undemocratic and nationalist forces who strangled the Weimar Republic. the hope of achieving national unity had been practically abandoned or had even been criticized in West German society. both in East and in West Germany. whereas the membership in the Western alliance had been generally accepted. but the quickly changing situation forced Germany to accept a much larger share of the burden of international responsibility. And for too many of the West Germans it meant nothing more than the addition of East Germany to the Federal Republic. And the inevitable result is disappointment and frustration. simultaneously. an historical era had irrevocably come to an end and that the unification of the country would provide an enormous chance for a renewal of the whole of German society. For too long in the years before 1989. we must consider the crucial importance that the Westernisation of the larger part of post-war Germany had for the success of the Federal Republic and for the stability of German democracy. with their financial support. not only in its international but also in its national role. And more and more West Germans preferred to be citizens of the free World and of the uniting Western Europe. East German dreams could not come true nor could the West German success story be continued. although with some dissent concerning the military . but proves to be slow in defining and accepting reforms. it is not only a comparatively easy way. which is fashionable today in German society. There can be absolutely no doubt that we Germans have many good reasons to be thankful to the people of the United States of America for their support in defending or regaining our freedom and in re-uniting our nation. Today the United States bears the main responsibility in the world for peace. English is being taken as the expression of modernity. and it is our duty to accept our share of international responsibility in reliable solidarity with the United States. But it is my conviction that this would provide at least part of the explanation for the accelerating speed with which in Germany. It cannot be my aim to analyse the German mentality of the last decade.82 Hans Joachim Meyer consequences. In addition. In my view. It is not the bizarre mixture of German and English into so-called “Denglish” which really threatens the future of German. It is the wide-spread contempt for our own mother tongue which makes us an object of scientific curiosity and the theme of this conference. It would be a self-inflicted tragedy. to repeat the West German miracle of the fifties by behaving like the star pupil of the western world. It seems an attempt to escape from German history. to get rid of a country which is no longer successful. but grants the satisfaction of being more modern and more westernised than others. But if the rise of English to the position of the leading language in the emerging global society should seal the fate of German as the language of a living culture. Nobody can predict the further course of history and of course I do not want to accept that German is seriously endangered. this is yet another example of our national leaning towards extremist attitudes and of our lack of historical balance. . America is the leading power in almost every aspect of life and it is in our interest to have close and constructive cooperation. this would not be the fault of the Americans or of the English-speaking world. But all this cannot justify an attitude of cultural surrender. And as it is an individualistic solution to the problem. much more than elsewhere. 7. 119. “Eine lediglich poetische Literatur. Graddol (2001). 189–203. 35. 8 –12. 35. References Cameron. Graddol (1999). keine vollwertige Literatur. Graddol (1999). The European English Messenger IX/1: 38–42. See e. 47–55. 9. Heidelberg 1925. 85–101. Modiano (2000). 3. 236) Quoted by Lothar Hoffmann (1976) as an introduction to his book Kommunikationsmittel Fachsprache. David Graddol (1999). 67. 21. Swales (1990). ist geschriebener Dialekt. 33–37. Graddol (2001). 22. 10. note 2. . 52. 2002. 53. 906–913. “Plenarprotokoll” of the 212 th session of the “Deutscher Bundestag”. Cameron (2000). 2. 5. 11. 38–42. 385–394. He uses the term “lingua franca” in a more general sense as a “common language”. where the function of lingua franca or contact language is described as one aspect of the global role of English. 10–15 and (1997). 34. Deborah 2000 Good to talk? The cultural politics of ‘communication’. 6. Modiano (2000). Swales (1990). Modiano (2000). Jürgen Trabant (2000).Global English – a New Lingua Franca or a New Imperial Culture? 83 Notes 1. 16. Graddol (1999). p. Kachru (1996). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 68. 19. 23. See Braj B. g. See also Crystal (1997). 13. 18. of January 24. 57–68. Gauger (1999). Graddol (1999). 36. 15. Marko Modiano (2000). ohne wissenschaftliches Schrifttum. Geist und Kultur in der Sprache. David 1997 English as a global language. 34. 14. In contrast to this: David Crystal (1997).” (Karl Voßler. Graddol (1999). 35. Graddol (2001). 17. 20. 67. 4. Crystal. Crystal (1997). 8. Frühwald (3/2000). 12. In: Christian Meier (ed. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. 1996 English as lingua franca. Ein Almanach. 85–101. The European English Messenger IX/1: 33–37. AILA Review 13: 57–68. In: Deutscher Hochschulverband (ed. Halle (Saale) (Nova Acta Leopoldina. vol. Aviso. Trabant. Über die Globalisierung des Englischen in den Wissenschaften. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. David 1999 The decline of the native speaker. Martin 1999 Die Hilflosigkeit der Sprachwissenschaft. 385–394. Kontaktlinguistik / Contact Linguistics / Linguistique de contact. Graddol. Sprache in Not? Zur Lage des heutigen Deutsch.84 Hans Joachim Meyer Frühwald. . Kachru.). David 2001 The future of English as a European Language. Stuttgart: Lucius und Lucius. Wolfgang 2000 Deutsch als Sprache der Wissenschaft. Wolfgang 1997 Die Sprache der Wissenschaft. John 1990 Genre Analysis. 1: 906-913. Braj B. 189–203. Frühwald. Zeitschrift für Wissenschaft und Kunst in Bayern: 10–15. The European English Messenger X/2: 47–55. Goebl et al. Gauger. Swales. English in academic and research settings. Glanzlichter der Wissenschaft.). (eds. Graddol. Göttingen. Vol. Marko 2000 Euro English: Educational standards in a cross-cultural context. In: Was kann Naturforschung leisten.). Jürgen 2000 Umzug ins Englische. Modiano. In: H. In: English in a changing world. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag. Hoffmann. 76/303). Lothar 1976 Kommunikationsmittel Fachsprache. Es geht dabei um zweierlei: Um die Frage. wie sich der englische Einfluss auf das Deutsche – und auf andere Sprachen – auswirkt und wie er zu bewerten ist. Yet. to the Society for the German Language. 1999). It can be said without reservation that my previous comments . und um die Frage. and to other persons and institutions. Is German disappearing and being replaced by another language? Or is German simply changing in a manner that those who respond affirmatively consider false? A survey conducted by the Institute for the German Language in Mannheim in 1997 yielded this result: “Among those aspects of current language development viewed negatively. Together with students in German Studies at the Technical University of Darmstadt I have evaluated and continue to evaluate letters sent to me personally. Is German becoming Denglish? Without doubt many people in Germany will respond affirmatively to this question. welche Stellung das Deutsche – und andere Sprachen – bei der Vorrangstellung des Englischen heute einnehmen. In dem vorliegenden Beitrag werden beide Probleme erörtert und Lösungsvorschläge diskutiert. weltweit und in Europa. What Will Become of German? Rudolf Hoberg Zusammenfassung Die Frage nach dem Verhältnis von Deutsch und Englisch gehört zweifellos zu den am meisten diskutierten Sprachproblemen in der deutschen Öffentlichkeit. Anglicisms stand out the most” (Stickel 1999.English Rules the World. 42). For a long time I have concerned myself with the question why this is so.1 After the Commission for “better German” of the Society issued a paper I conceived (Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache / Society for the German Language. further inquiry shows that most of them do not know what they are affirming or maintaining. 1. p. the letters received in the first months of 2000 by the office of the Society were subjected to especially detailed analysis. new German words could and should be coined. such fashions have a short lifespan. The use of English words serves many contemporaries as the token of a modern attitude toward life. Comment: No one has ever attempted to prove this general assertion. – Second assertion: Anglicisms make communication difficult. Consistently. p. 4. there are enough German words or.8. firstly because only exceptionally do languages contain totally synonymous words and secondly because for speakers and writers no word they use is superfluous. like many others. Nonetheless. if one uses Anglicisms. – Fourth assertion: Due to identity problems – above all related to the Nazi past – Germans flee their language. I have to emphasize that our results are not representative and could not be so. alternatively. the letter writers offered four reasons for their rejection: – First assertion: Anglicisms are superfluous. one is in. For example: Kids (still the most criticized Anglicism) in comparison to Kinder. and express ones’ modernity by using German words as well. – Third assertion: The use of Anglicisms is often nothing more than pretentiousness and swagger. This example. shows how those opposing Anglicisms often lack the ability to differentiate in the use of language. including German words.) retain their validity until today. . 311f. Comment: There are no superfluous words. otherwise they would not use it. for the letters came almost exclusively from those who rejected Anglicisms. But one can show off.1998). Of course new words. make oneself seem important. Institutions such as the media have also proven susceptible to this fashion. And of course Kids and Kinder have quite distinct meanings. so that for instance television stations in Germany employ the English word “news” instead of the German “Nachrichten” or entitle a program “Best of Fröhlicher Alltag” (Südwestrundfunk. can make communication difficult or even impossible when they are introduced into the everyday language from technical or special languages. For the most part.86 Rudolf Hoberg on the critics of Anglicisms and my typology of the reasons for rejecting Anglicisms (see Hoberg 2000. Comment: Without a doubt there is a kernel of truth in this statement. a lack of self assurance. Though I am not able to go into the identity problems of the Germans here. it must be pointed out that English influences other languages. They have been raised for over 100 years. p. who formulated this text. Still such complaints are not new. held its general assembly in Zittau and unanimously approved the following declaration: “With the ever growing influence of things English the number of foreign words borrowed from the English language is increasing in a dubious fashion. As you know. they are now aping the English“ (Dunger 1909. The president of the language society Herman Dunger. Linguists are often accused of only registering and analyzing data while they abstain from evaluation. I cite three texts from circa 1900 to exemplify this. everything is now in English” (Fontane 1980. and above all it does not apply to those who employ scientific methods to develop criteria for the critique and cultivation of language. in his novel of 1899 “Der Stechlin”. The reproach is groundless in its all-inclusiveness. and this is especially true of the German used in Switzerland (though it is well known that the Swiss did not participate in the Nazi crimes). What Will Become of German? 87 Comment: This hypothesis has also yet to be in any way substantiated or proven. one must consider above all: – It is true that the influence on German has greatly increased since 1945 and especially in the last few decades. and a contempt for one’s own language” (Dunger 1909. 65). p. Foreword). Such comments and explanations could come from today’s guardians of language if one simply replaced “Englishman” and “English” by “American. has the old man of Stechlin ask: “Does one still say déjeuner à la fourchette?” The reply to this: “Hardly. In this language phenomenon the old inherited defect of the German people emerges again: The overestimation of foreign things.English Rules the World. as is the case with the Society for the German Language. And such a cultivation of language must above all guard against any currying of populist favor and against any purely intuitive criticism of language. In 1899 the General German Society for Language.” . In regard to Anglicisms. it must admonish the public to judge according to the facts. And I have frequently cited Theodor Fontane who. an organization with many members. Moreover. 3). Papa. Much as the Germans earlier aped the French. adds in his “Englanderism in the German Language”: “The highest ambition of many a young German is to be taken for an Englishman. Should one not view them as an enrichment given that foreign words which have found a place in the German language are incorporated semantically and grammatically into the German system of language (today cool in German has a different meaning than cool in English)? Should one not adopt the understanding of foreign words expressed above all by Goethe in his “Maxims and Reflections” when he writes: “The power of a language lies not in its rejection but in its assimilation of what is foreign. Recently it is above all Harald Haarmann – without question one of the most competent researchers in this area – who has dealt with this question (Haarmann 2001a and 2001b). As he points out. p. the answer to the question depends on basic criteria for which there is no generally recognized scheme of organization. – Anglicisms are found in great number only in certain types of texts and above all in advertisements. Contrary to popular opinion the language of youth does not contain an excessive number of English words.88 Rudolf Hoberg – Compared to the total German vocabulary.” (Goethe 1994. in certain specialised languages such as the language of cybernetics. 36). To many North Germans. Or one can use the linguistic criteria of the lexical disparity as a measure. p. the Abitur-essay (high school examination essay). 508). However where exactly the barriers occur between local language varieties is again a subjective matter and depends upon the language capabilities of the individual speaker. and in certain radio and television programs. the number of Anglicisms is still very low (see e. while others with a high sensitivity to language are able to deal with the German spoken in the South” (2001a.06 %. And in one special type of text written by young people. 2. “According to the proportion of common elements . So as a measure one can for example use the communication barrier. the proportion of English nouns is 0. Bavarian is absolutely incomprehensible. – The question is rarely raised why words from other languages and especially from English are viewed so negatively or even sensed as a threat. Busse 1999). but also to the lexical borrowings from other languages. About the place of the German language in the world and in Europe In academic literature there is disagreement about the number of languages in the world. while the total number of nouns deriving from a foreign language is 14 % (see Grimm 2003).g. “Cultural anthropologists prefer to use this barrier to identify local communities of language. which according to the self-identification of their speakers. p. “Among the most recent occurrences of linguistic differentiation is the separation of Croatian from Serbian. Rather they are seen as independent national languages with distinct cultural as well as social-political orientation” (2001b. they belong to the dialects of German” (2001a. 37). The role the written word plays among distinct varieties of language may also be of significance for qualifying them. What Will Become of German? 89 in the vocabulary.50ff.English Rules the World. Furthermore. no longer form part of a Serbo-Croatian continuity.2 6. only twelve languages are spoken as first and second languages by more than 100 million people.5 3. the language formation may be categorized either as a dialect of a language (e. p.5 2. . but because both are under the umbrella of standard German (in terms of the interregional written language).8 3.3 8.3 2. “attempts an estimate”. p. p. “The status of Bavarian or Swiss-German with regard to the barrier of communication may be very different in comparison to other German dialects. the data refers to the period around 1990). 11ff.7 4.1 Chinese English Hindi Spanish Russian Arabic Bengali Portuguese Indonesian French Japanese German With regard to Europe I will draw on earlier publications by Haarmann (1993. Most of these languages are spoken by very few people: only 273 languages are spoken by more than a million people and these speakers comprise more than 85% of the world’s population. p.4 2. They are: Table 1. 8). the view of the speaker of the language with regard to linguistic self-identification should not be ignored. Based on such criteria Haarmann. as he modestly notes.9 4. (All statistics from Haarmann 2001b. Finally.6 11.). which rank European languages by the number of speakers (only the first language speakers.g. when a majority of lexical congruence exists) or as an independent language (when there is a preponderance of deviation)” (2001a. 37).1 Language Number of Speakers (millions) 196 182 175 131 125 101 % of the world’s population 3. and concludes that there are 6417 languages in the world.) Language Number of Speakers (millions) 1210 573 418 352 242 209 % of the world’s population 23. in terms of the number of speakers. The following graphics supply information about the development in the natural and social sciences and the humanities over the last 20 years (from Ammon 1998.604.000 58. p. But the number is also not insignificant.616.000 91.000 23.000 12.000 43. (From Haarmann 1993. Two additional factors determine above all the transnational rank of a language: – the historical-cultural factor.000 56.390. and above all the last one.000 20. it is ranked first in the European Union. The number of people speaking a language as a mother tongue certainly does not play the most important role for the transnational relevance. which has been decisive in establishing the primacy of British and American English.000 10. 167): .230.437. 53) Language Number of Speakers in Europe 135.100. These factors.235. for the only languages of international import are those with comparatively large numbers of first and second speakers.120.000 14. So today English also occupies the top position as a foreign language because it is so widespread as a mother tongue. otherwise most people in the world would learn Chinese or Russian.231. p. twelfth in the world and second in Europe. 152 and p.769.741.000 10. lectures.000 38.000 Russian German French English Italian Ukrainian Polish Spanish Romanian Dutch Serbo-Croatian Hungarian Portuguese Greek The tables rank German.473.425.90 Rudolf Hoberg At the top are the following 14 languages that have more than 10 million speakers: Table 2.000 Language Number of Speakers in Europe 28.075.000 55. conferences. or teaching. herein still lies for example the reason for the significance of French – the political-economic factor. determine the significance of a language for transnational scientific communication and for the decision about which language is used in publications. 5 English French German Spanish 10 8 6. Proportion of the languages in natural science publications from 1980 to 1996 (percentages): English – Russian – Japanese – French – German.1 1 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 Figure 2.9 4.1 69.9 2.6 1.1 2.5 87.3 2. 100 66.4 1 1980 1984 1988 1992 2.1 1.4 5.3 1.6 5.English Rules the World. .7 3.6 77.2 6.6 69.2 3.6 6.5 3.4 2.3 1.1 80.7 82.5 2.9 6 3.2 5.9 3.9 70.6 71.9 5.2 1996 Figure 1.3 3.8 10 9.8 3.7 1.1 2. What Will Become of German? 100 74.8 5.6 English Russian Japanese French German 3. Proportion of the languages in social-science and humanities publications from 1974 to 1995 (percentages): English – French – German – Spanish.9 2.7 91 10.9 5.8 2.6 4 5.2 90. the role of English as the second language wherever it is not spoken as the mother-tongue. In the second place. then today a widespread unanimity exists about two points. and not for nationalistic reasons: German. Firstly. No one can deny that English occupies first place. From this derives an imperative to preserve and “cultivate” a plurality of languages with their distinct structures of meaning and perspectives and to foster a multilingual world. and will maintain. were only employed in certain regions of the world – in the case of the aforementioned languages in the Near East and in Europe. not only German. English is the dominant language in the whole world. because it has a tradi- . which has all kinds of consequences. The primacy of English has led to. indeed it is the first world language in the history of mankind. Consequently. because German speakers represent the largest language community in the European Union. 3. In Europe. Consequences If I understand it correctly. two languages besides English have to be conceded a special status. and especially in the European Union. It is true that they differ in their structures. but no one – not even Estonians and Czechs – would suggest lending these languages a special status in the communication between different peoples. German ranks second. for all of humanity. all languages are equal. One may love Estonian or Czech. p.92 Rudolf Hoberg English is by far the most frequently used foreign language in Europe. 9). Greek. English influences all languages. Today one can travel to all the continents: Everywhere English serves or will serve as the most important means of communication among the citizens of different nations. It is in the modern and ever more uniform world that one must preserve or sharpen people’s awareness that the demise or repression of a language always signifies a loss not only for the speaker of the language but. Previous transnational languages such as Latin. moreover. but there are no linguistic or other reasons to refute this basic equality. Only too seldom has consideration been given to the roles other languages beside English assume in international communication. French third (see Auswärtiges Amt 2000. German and French. or German. it is the modern world with its transnational and trans-regional communications (communicative relationships) that forces one to use rational criteria to reevaluate the significance of languages within the framework of these communications. which was supported by many people and which requests that beside English and French German should serve as a working language in all European bodies and that the federal government and the governments of the German states (“Länder”)do more than previously to support the German language and culture. for example. these were supported by various organizations including the Society for the German Language – in two resolutions of the General Assembly of the International Association of German Studies (IVG) concerning the use of German as a working language in the European Union and as an additional language in international commerce (see Internationale Vereinigung für Germanistik 2000a and 2000b) – in the declaration “German in a Multilingual Europe” of the Society for the German Language (see Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache 2000) – in a “Memorandum: Policies for the German Language” (see Stickel 2001) – in a “Call by the Society for the German Language and the Editorial Board of Duden”. because it holds the third place among the mother tongues of Europe. because it has a long tradition as a foreign language. and because currently – in Europe and above all around the world – it remains one of the most important foreign languages. and because today it occupies the second position after English as a foreign language. for instance – in the “Tutzinger Theses about Language Policies in Europe” (see Deutscher Germanistenverband 1999).English Rules the World. . given that – as the table above shows – they rank fourth and eighth respectively in the number of their speakers worldwide. What Will Become of German? 93 tion as a foreign language – especially in Northern and Eastern Europe – that still persists. In recent years various institutions and associations – especially in Germany – have come out in support of multilingual capabilities. The importance of both languages will extend beyond the United States. both domestically and internationally (see Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache 2001) In many parts of the world other languages besides English have gained a special significance: Spanish and Portuguese in the United States. French. and didactic studies. This allowed me to establish two things: firstly that universities. but this behavior may also cause the German language to be regarded less highly and learned by fewer people. which at first glance may appear contradictory: On one hand as far as possible the teaching must be oriented toward practice. they can get along well with English in the center of Europe and more generally in contact with those whose mother tongue is German. one should focus on two goals. because ever more frequently Germans in foreign countries are abandoning the use of their native language. Thus it is appropriate to conclude with three short considerations or recommendations that could perhaps increase the motivation to learn German. it is correct that the German population – especially its politicians and businessmen – needs to be repeatedly reminded not to neglect the German language. lately. One often applies the term “loyalty to language” in this context. teaching materials and the practice of teaching. it may well be taken as a sympathetic gesture and it certainly does not suggest the presence of nationalism in language use 2.94 Rudolf Hoberg During the last few years I have had the opportunity to study the situation of German Studies and the teaching of German as a foreign language in many countries. even when translators are available. In my view the motivation problem is the greatest one in the area of German as a foreign language. Still. Whenever Germans make efforts to address foreigners in their native languages or in English. literary. curricula. After all. – With regard to the task of teaching German as a foreign language. especially business German – has received more . secondly that the numbers of those learning is not very high – for the most part the numbers have decreased starkly in recent years – above all because it is difficult to motivate people to learn German. More and more frequently frustrated foreign colleagues tell me that their students do not find positions as interpreters. Yet to me the term hardly seems suitable because it describes the individual’s relation to his native language in a much too legalistic manner. and other educational institutions are accomplishing an impressive amount with regard to linguistic. schools. This task has gained preeminence during the last few decades mainly because the teaching of German related to the professions – and. – It is first important that German speakers do more for their own language. Even people who highly appreciate Germany and Germans or residents of other German-speaking countries often do not understand why they should learn German. p. No one knows how long English will maintain its preeminence. Will our grandchildren increasingly learn Chinese? Or Russian.or herself in a more differentiated manner than in a single foreign language. I would especially like to thank Aram Pohosyan. . so no foreigner discomfits him at home. On the other hand. Such learning is considerably easier and takes less time. with its complex grammatical structure. What Will Become of German? 95 emphasis and attracted more and more students. so that it can at least be understood. and so that through the increasing and receptive learning of language the speakers of the “little languages” will also have as many opportunities as possible to speak in their own language with those from other language communities. Each can speak and write in his or her mother tongue and thereby express him. The structures. but also so he is at home everywhere” (Goethe 1994. so that German now “surpasses all other languages beside English” (Ammon 2000. “The German should learn all languages. which will probably attain a stronger position in Europe? However the world develops. 5). And let us not forget that through learning a difficult language one expands one’s mind. the semantics. everything must be done so that not just one but several languages are used for communication purposes in the world and in Europe. one needs to be aware not only that the learning of a foreign language advances communication and the exchange of information. merely receptively. but nonetheless offers important insights and enables communication between people who have a passive knowledge of each other’s language. and the “world view” (Humboldt) of another language offer a new way of seeing and new perspectives and serve to open the way into another culture. – Much is to be gained from learning a language like German. but also that knowledge of another language has a value in itself. The proportion of English in the internet has already decreased while that of German has increased. Among the current commonplaces is one that says the world is changing ever more quickly and that globalization is increasing. Bettina Wallot and Alexander Winter for their detailed evaluations. 2. p.English Rules the World. Notes 1. 508). Thus plans for language policies and promotion can only have relevance for the next few years or at best decades. 1996 Fremdwörter. Darmstadt. Deutscher Germanistenverband 1999 Tutzinger Thesen zur Sprachpolitik in Europa. 5. Redetyposkript (masch. 12. Darmstadt Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache (ed. Frankfurt/Main. Der Sprachdienst 1: 18–20. Ulrich 1998 Ist Deutsch noch internationale Wissenschaftssprache? Berlin.96 Rudolf Hoberg References Ammon. München. Hermann 1909 Engländerei in der deutschen Sprache. 2001a Babylonische Welt. 12th ed. 2001b Kleines Lexikon der Sprachen. Berlin.. Von Albanisch bis Zulu. 1. Frankfurt/ Main. Rudolf 1994 Die Rolle der deutschen Sprache in Wissenschaft und Technik. 2000 Deutsch im vielsprachigen Europa. Fontane. Berlin. München. Briefe. Hoberg. Bd. Der Sprachdienst 6: 201–203. Die deutsche Sprache um die Jahrtausendwende. Dunger. Goethe.) 1999 Stellungnahme der Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache zum englischen Einfluss auf die deutsche Gegenwartssprache. Busse.). Der Sprachdienst 6: 217–220. Abt. Haarmann. DINMitteilungen 5. 329–35. . Hannelore 2003 Veränderungen der Sprachfähigkeiten Jugendlicher. Eichhoff-Cyrus and Rudolf Hoberg (eds. Grimm. Der Sprachdienst 6: 220–222. 303–316. Ulrich 1999 Keine Bedrohung durch Anglizismen.). Theodor 1980 Werke. Vol. Geschichte und Zukunft der Sprachnationen zwischen Atlantik und Ural. Geschichte und Zukunft der Sprachen. Johann Wolfgang von 1994 Werke. Harald 1993 Die Sprachenwelt Europas. Wie soll sich die Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache dazu verhalten? Der Sprachdienst 5: 137–142. 2000 Wird deutsch verdrängt? Hinweise zum Bestand. Schriften. Der Sprachdienst 1: cover page 4. Sprachkultur oder Sprachverfall? Mannheim. Hamburger Ausgabe in 14 Bänden. 2001 Aufruf der Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache und der Dudenredaktion. zur Erklärung und zu Förderungsmöglichkeiten. 2000 Sprechen wir bald alle Denglisch oder Germeng? In: Karin M. Auswärtiges Amt – Kulturabteilung 2000 Auswärtige Kulturpolitik. Germanistentreffen Deutschland – Argentinien. Germanistentreffen Deutschland – Dänemark – Finnland – Island – Norwegen – Schweden. What Will Become of German? 2001 97 Überlegungen zur aktuellen Sprachenpolitik. Kolumbien. Hoberg. Internationale Vereinigung für Germanistik (IVG) 2000a Resolution zur Verwendung von Deutsch als Arbeitssprache in der Europäischen Union. Brasilien. 16–44. Bonn. .). Gerhard 1999 Zur Sprachbefindlichkeit der Deutschen: Erste Ergebnisse einer Repräsentativumfrage. Kuba. In: DAAD (ed. Venezuela. Berlin. Wien (masch. Sprache – Sprachwissenschaft – Öffentlichkeit. Stickel. Bonn.).). Sprachreport 2: 8–10. 2001 Memorandum: Politik für die deutsche Sprache. 2000b Resolution zur Verwendung von Deutsch als weitere Sprache im internationalen Wirtschaftsverkehr. 25–29.). In: Gerhard Stickel (ed.English Rules the World. In: DAAD (ed. Rudolf 2002 Zur Stellung der deutschen Sprache in der Welt und in Europa.). 15–22. Wien (masch. Chile. Mexiko. . 2 Maintaining language standards internationally has thus gained substantial significance. Slowakei. . Das französische Sprachenschutzgesetz von 1994 wird dabei zum nachahmenswerten Prototypen (ohne dabei allerdings den Umbruch in der französischen Sprachpolitik zur Jahrtausendwende zu beachten). since the breakdown of the Iron Curtain Eastern European countries have also been infected by the “American Virus”. Deutschland. Danach bedeutet „Globalisierung“ durchaus nicht immer „Amerikanisierung“. ideologischen und politischen Voraussetzungen.1 Anglo-America assumes a model function and is transformed into an “umbrella culture” in virtually all walks of life. Sprachpflege bekommt in den einzelnen Ländern einen gewaltigen Auftrieb. Nevertheless. der aber nicht einfach auf andere Länder übertragen werden kann: Zu unterschiedlich sind die jeweiligen historischen.Language Policies in East and West. However. zu anderen „erdrückenden“ Sprachen heraus. National Language Policies as a Response to the Pressures of Globalization Petra Braselmann Zusammenfassung Eine der Antworten auf den Globalisierungsdruck ist ein deutlich zunehmendes Interesse an der Abgrenzung der eigenen Identität. Sprachgesetze werden erlassen oder gefordert. Languages and their speakers tend to resist linguistic and cultural amalgamation which in most cases is directed against English. vor denen man sich schützen will. vor allem durch die Sprache. zu anders sind die jeweiligen „Feinde“. Italien und Spanien) und Ost (Polen. become the language of international communication at the expense of the other “great” languages. Until recently this process only applied to the countries of Western Europe. beyond that. Lettland. English has become the most important (modern) “umbrella language”. Der Beitrag analysiert aktuelle sprachpolitische Konzepte in West (Frankreich. Rumänien und Ungarn) und arbeitet die unterschiedlichen Einstellungen zum Englischen bzw. English leaves traces in the respective European languages and has. damit kann auch „Russifizierung“ oder „Germanisierung“ gemeint sein. Language protection laws according to the French model are passed or at least demanded. g. who have left no doubt that they want to spread an uncorrupted version of their language. There are different reasons for the predominance of English in the world (Braselmann 2002a: 298–302). Yet this happens rarely: approximately 66 % of the British lack knowledge of a foreign language. The English understood by most people around the world is losing its similarity to British English. to serve as a computer language. World . where French has been accepted as the lingua franca. So Euro-English is not the English of the British or of the Americans. After World War II America began to set the standards. Americanisms are often stigmatized. In places such as the Ivory Coast. it is true that the language has been simplified. the case in Great Britain. recent developments in French language policy – which has become a model for other nations – are outlined (2) and subsequently recent developments in language politics in the East (4) and West (3) are discussed. The “killer language” English English has outgrown the function of a national language and become ”denationalized” as the lingua franca of the world. e. in so-called intertranslatability and. One lies in the peculiar structure of the language. but such varieties have been largely ignored (Görlach 2000: 630–632). This first genuinely common language in the history of the world is fragmented along country lines into a bunch of new languages. The “notoriously monolingual” British lack flexibility in adapting to other cultural and linguistic requirements. Until recently this was even. in the fact that other languages lack the flexibility. or especially. as Ineichen (2003: 405) notes. where at least such an “allergy to language” has been overcome. but rather the international English often only mastered by native speakers of English if they have had the experience of learning other languages. which causes them problems in the globalization process.3 America’s increasing power and its influence on the media have called forth world-wide reactions.100 Petra Braselmann Following a brief overview of the function of English in the world (1). Historically this fragmentation of English has been abetted by the British. because the Americanisms are hardly recognized as such any longer (Görlach 2000: 626). They traditionally display a laissez-faire attitude contrary to the French. who care little about the purity and correct usage of their language. The British government has recognized this in the mean time. This certainly applies to French with its stark normative tradition. 1. and like the British the Americans did not pursue any specific language policy.. 3. English is displacing other languages as the lingua franca in international communications. To each point in detail: English or rather Anglo-American has become the lingua franca of an era marked by global networking. 1998) indicate how the other great languages have lost their previous functions – how. 2. German has given way to English. making it a prerequisite for participating in world trade. “Spanglish”. those employing the working languages of German and French. especially Italian and Romansh (Koller 2000: 563–609). Italian. English is “undermining” other national languages. mainly for four major reasons: 1. which regulates language instruction in the upper level of the common schools (Volks- . If these facts primarily affected the first and second tier in corporate hierarchies a decade ago. and Romansh) offers a special case in point: the increasing international need for English reduces the motivation to learn the languages of the country. the New Economy. 4. Diverse studies. French. Ineichen (2003) relates how French has lost its status under the new school law. and “Franglais”. English is replacing other languages in their role as a first foreign language. now the relevance of the lingua franca extends to the lower levels. for example. in future we will have three classes of member states: those privileged to have English as a mother tongue. and finally those. Countries acceding to the EU as part of its Eastern extension have to use English when communicating with international bodies. Ammon 2002. Now about 80 % commercial negotiations worldwide take place in English. And the proportion is still decreasing despite the immense efforts of the French government. today French texts comprise only about 40 %. Though in the 1960s the European Commission still composed 80 % of all its texts in French. English functions in competition to regional languages and is responsible for the demise of languages. and even workers and salaried staff increasingly attend language schools.g. and the internet. Globalization has created a situation that necessitates such a world language. in science and international communications. Switzerland with its four languages (German. (e. that will be precluded from using their mother tongues. Thus. like the new member-states. so that one speaks of “Germeng”.Language Policies in East and West 101 wide the “allergy” to the “killer language” obtains. g. French has become an elective. Once one has detected the supposed “killer function” of English – a call for the “language police” à la française seems the obvious response. advertisement. but also that the most endangered languages lie outside English speaking countries or more precisely in countries not directly influenced by English or ones in which it has little currency. music magazines. to most Russians – the United States epitomize economic well-being has engendered imitation of Anglo-American behavior and patterns of communication. replace older French borrowings or even German ones (Ohnheiser 2002: 149–165). and historical areas). Portuguese in Brazil. war. Where English is responsible for languages dying as in the United States or Australia. Below . Based on their corpus analysis of Anglicism usage in individual languages. and commercial texts) their usage is low.6 Finally we come to the death of languages attributed above all to the “killer function” of English.4 Yet this does not necessarily contradict the prognosis of the undermining and overwhelming effects of Anglicisms made so vehemently by their opponents and certain language preservation societies. this is less true with regard to the following points (3 and 4). This expresses itself linguistically in numerous Anglicisms and borrowings that. beside Romansh or Italian in the German ones).102 Petra Braselmann schule) of the Confederation (2000). Since perestroika the influence of the Anglo-American model has spread to Eastern Europe. In an impressive manner. While the above points (1 and 2) certainly correspond to a realistic assessment. not the globalizing function of the language but the pressures of assimilation in everyday life are the cause. social. and Spanish in Latin America. linguists have long allayed fears: contrary to expectations and even in areas prone to Anglicisms (e. Haarmann (2002: 152–170) not only demonstrates that the danger to “small languages” should be seen independently from the undeniable globalization of language through English. the language of youth. Chinese. The dissolution of the little languages takes place under the pressure of assimilation to dominant languages other than English: among them are Russian.5 Their meta-discourse typically enlists the metaphors of threat. After English became obligatory beginning in the 7th grade (beside German in the Romansh and Italian speaking Cantons.g. in many cases. ideological. the press. To the detriment of French and German. sickness. Since the 1990s they have argued on another level and evaluated phenomena against the backdrop of their history of mentalities and not within but beyond the sphere of language (in political. and death. That – e. English is increasingly the primary foreign language. and their loyalty to language 8 that gives rise to legislation that is quite unique. a ruling of the constitutional court citing “the right to freedom of expression” prevented this. The government constituted the first terminology commissions. Loi Toubon of 1994. namely into areas of specialized terminology. to the inviolability of normative use. In this alone. which can be traced back to at least the 16th century. At the beginning of the 1970s those responsible for the cultivation of the language realized (much too late) that the traditional battle against Anglicisms would have to be extended into a terrain that had been hitherto willfully ignored. In 1975 the traditional retrospective norm was superceded by one the state decreed in the form of the first modern language law. their consciousness of norms.Language Policies in East and West 103 we shall address the differences between countries answering that call. Yet instead of offering the traditional critique of neologisms. More and more the Academy is losing influence. To the traditional arbiters of language neologisms were always suspect. and the intentions behind their responses. There are at least two answers to this: one reason is that the French have had the longest ongoing debate about language norms. no other nation has such a tradition of language laws. French language policy as a model French language policy has served as a model for other countries. Intended to tighten restrictions. Paradoxical as it may seem. Another reason is that. In 1994 the second law. the fixation on the classical norm in France led to inflexibility and reduced willingness to innovate whenever a new French designation was necessary. 2. France has found its way back to the normative power of usage.7 It is the special attitude of the French toward their language.9 During this period politically decisive action was taken to support the . One can ask why France has gained the role of the pioneer. After some painful experiences and digressions. the highest authority now produced them. lies an innovative potential quite distinct from the traditional cultivation of language. Yet. because they seemed incompatible with bon usage. the instruments available to them. which were supposed to cleanse the specialized language of Anglicisms and replace them with French neologisms. it is precisely this that encouraged further borrowings. compared to other languages. however. this law was supposed to extend the prohibition of Anglicisms to the private sector as well. in that the international reception of French language legislation ends with the last law. the Loi Toubon followed. But there is a problem in this. and decisive changes have been made since then. It is now in effect. 104 Petra Braselmann law protecting language: in 1992 the constitution was changed (“The language of the Republic is French”); citing the Treaties of Rome (1958) and Maastricht (1992) the French language was declared an object for preservation much like historic monuments – this occurred due to a concern about the displacement of French in a unified Europe. Currently (since the Decree of 1996) 10 the orientation of language policy is receiving a different emphasis. The institutional organization is being reformed, the Academy re-evaluated. All official lists of words have to be revised. The government mandate resulted in Répertoire terminologique of 2000, a collection of approximately 3,500 words, and the database CRITER (2. July 2001). Initial analyses show that Anglicisms are now clearly being treated in a more liberal fashion; the prohibitions against English borrowings long established in French have been lifted (e.g. spot, groggy, manager), among them are many internationalisms.11 The present shift in emphasis is partially due to the increased activity of the EU-Commission, which views some aspects of the law as incompatible with the principles of the European Union. The French are being forced to make emendations thus softening the rigid enforcement of the Loi Toubon. This is documented in the annual report to Parliament. One should also note in this context that France has not yet ratified the EU-Charter on the Support of Regional and Minority Languages. Article 21 (Loi Toubon) merely acknowledges the Charter in a non-committal manner: “The stipulations of this law … do not oppose their use (i.e. the regional languages)”. Five facets of the turning point and shift in attitude are documented in the following: 1. The official stance on language is becoming more lenient: the Academy now emphasizes that basically there are rather few Anglicisms in French and even admits that many government attempts at intervention have been unsuccessful, as can be read in the foreword to the government’s Répertoire.12 2. The law stipulates that all consumer information such as posters, instructions, labels, etc. are to be written in French or translated into French and employ the same size of lettering. This passage was weakened by an EU intervention, which made it clear that protecting the freedom of international trade took precedence over French national consumer protection (and not vice versa, as provided for by the French law). In France this led to the Circulaire du 20.9.2001, which offered pictograms and symbols to make a French translation superfluous. According to a ruling of the Language Policies in East and West 105 European Court of Justice on 12.9.2002 even the food labels no longer had to be translated, because English was easily comprehensible to the consumer. 3. According to the law, academic colloquia and conferences taking place in France have to be conducted in French. Documents not in French are to be translated.13 Nonetheless, in France such events are increasingly conducted purely in English. 4. The implementation of the 1992 EU Charter on regional languages was rejected with a reference to the changed Constitution: “The language of the Republic is French”. The incompatibility of this paragraph with the Charter (esp. article 7) that also grants the speaker of regional languages special rights beyond the purely private and familiar sphere was emphasized in the decision of 16.6.1999 by the Conseil constitutionnel. Those in favor of ratification in France invoked the example of other countries which had signed the Charter and which in part have already ratified it (Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Slovakia, Croatia) despite a corresponding article in their constitutions regarding the official language.14 Moreover, one can cast doubt on the credibility of the French, who have committed themselves to a multilingual Europe 15 on one hand, but on the other hand have prohibited multiple languages within their territory to favor traditional uniformity.16 The urgency of the problem for the French government evinced itself, when the Délégation générale à la langue française was renamed Délégation générale à la langue française et aux langues de France in November 2001. The two axes of the new emphasis in French language policy are synthesized in this organization: the cultivation and promulgation of the national language and (now in addition) the support of regional languages. This seems to mark a clear turning point, one which the new director Bernard Cerquilini articulates clearly: he calls the still dominant, French monolingualism of the Revolution17 a danger to the Republic, a historical catastrophe, and a terrorist conception of language.18 Legislative measures underpinning this new beginning are exemplified in the Décret n. 2001–733 of 31. July 2001, which established the Conseil académique des langues regionales within the Academy to support regional language policies. 5. It is also noteworthy that the last Rapport au Parlement of 200219 is markedly shorter than its predecessors. It now only contains two parts; the first one rather tersely reports on national measures such as control actions, offers statistics exclusively concerning infringements against Article 2 (consumer information) of the law, and describes new edicts and 106 Petra Braselmann activities in support of regional languages. The report about controls and punishments comprised the major part of the previous Rapports. Perhaps one can conclude from this that the “language police” are generally more reserved in their actions. The second part of the report deals with measures to advance the status of French in international bodies. The appendix is of interest in its report about a number of court findings. These evince the changing disposition toward language policy; for in contrast to the preceding years, the law is interpreted in a very lenient and flexible manner. On 9. May 2001 a court in Paris thus ruled that the English expression “The fashion awards” (instead of the suggested “Trophées de la mode”) could be easily understood even by persons with limited knowledge of English; professionals well-acquainted with the international fashion milieu would in any case know the Anglo-American expression; the English phrase may therefore be employed. Similarly, there exists no danger of confusing “playboy” and “play in the house” even among the French with only rudimentary English knowledge (Ruling on 21. February 2001), etc. To recapitulate: diverse indications suggest that a new orientation and liberal attitude toward English has been pursued in a consistent manner since the middle of the 1990s20: English or, as the case may be, knowledge thereof by the French is officially accepted as a fact, and the protection of the consumer no longer applies as the main legitimization for legislating language use as it still did with regard to the laws passed in 1975 and 1994 (Braselmann 1999: 128–130). The problem of the regional languages is also being addressed seriously. In other words, a gradual accommodation to EU principles is taking place, though certainly not always on a voluntary basis. The following considers aspects of language policy in other western and eastern countries against the background of the French prototype for language policy. 3. Language policies in western countries In Germany there were vehement attempts to introduce a language law à la française. If, in mid-1990s, the media still poked fun at the French law of 1994, one can ascertain an increasing sensitivity toward the incursions of English into German since the end of the 1990s. This finally led to the demand for a German purity law proposed by the CDU politician Werthebach (cf. Braselmann 2002b). Responding to inquiries on 31 October 2001 and 7 Language Policies in East and West 107 February 2002 21 from both major factions of the Bundestag, the Federal Government held that a language law was neither worth striving for nor desirable and therefore decidedly rejected that legislative option. Only the procedures of the Berlin municipal administration have been revised (8 May 2001) and now enjoin the 140,000 employees of the public sector to avoid “unnecessary” Anglicisms. However, this is not backed up by sanctions.22 Apart from these attempts, in Germany the attitude toward Anglo-Americanisms is principally tolerant or indifferent. This derives, in good part, from experience of the Second World War, after which the Germans have not been able to treat the cultivation of language and identity in an uninhibited manner.23 The Spanish Constitution of 1978 lists Castilian as the official state language; the regional languages enjoy a co-official status in the corresponding regions. There is no official cultivation of language or language policy. Certainly at times a language law à la française has been demanded, but it was never realized.24 Instead the self-imposed cultivation of language by the large newspapers (El País, El Mundo, ABC, La Vanguardia, etc.) and the news agency Agencia Efe and cultivation in the form style books (libros de estilo) play an important role. Analyses show that these media clearly deal with Anglicisms in a more descriptive fashion than French language policies25 and much more so than French style books, which are even more restrictive (Braselmann 1999: 123–125). In the Spanish style books the Academy sets the norms but on occasion one decides against them and disposes liberally.26 The success of the style books in Spain can be attributed to this openness and to a basically descriptive stance, which play a prominent role in the normative discussion. Drawing on his empirical findings Lilienkamp (2001: 453) characterizes this as follows: “In Spanien formulieren die Gegner [von Angloamerikanismen] nicht so drastisch und emotional wie die Puristen in Frankreich, und die Befürchtungen äußern sich nicht so geringschätzig und spöttisch über Sprachreinhaltungsmaßnahmen wie die Laxisten in Deutschland”.27 Such a statement needs to be seen against the background of the actual goals of the hispanophone policies in the Post-Franco era: the unidad de la lengua and the convivencia de las lenguas take clear precedence over the traditional cultivation of purity (pureza) (Braselmann 2002a: 324–327). Although Italy – similar to France and Spain – has an academy and also participates in international language organizations, it ranks – compared to France and Spain – last on a scale measuring activities in language cultivation and policies. It has hardly any organizations for the cultivation of language.28 Books on style do not play the same role in Italy as in Spain. 108 Petra Braselmann Empirical studies demonstrate that though such books are at times evaluative, setting norms is exclusively the function of the Academy, which, for its part, does not prescribe but rather advises descriptively (Sachs 2003). Among the countries considered, Italy is the most open toward English, as proven by corpus analyses (Berger 2001). One possible explanation lies not least in the distinctive behavior of the speakers toward their language. Italy’s efforts with regard to language policy center on so-called italianità, the spread of Italian at the expense of the numerous dialects. This could be the reason for never declaring English as a disruptive factor. One more reason for the Italians’ tolerant attitude towards English lies undoubtedly in the fundamentally descriptive mode not only of the Academy but also of the non-professional linguists.29 Normative questions are decided from the perspective of the majority of the language users, with reference to the present and not the past (as in traditional France). 4. Language policies in the countries of Eastern Europe Since the upheaval of 1989, but above all with the projected entry into the European Union, the countries of Eastern Europe have participated in the process of globalization, which has elicited policies of linguistic self-assertion and delimitation. Due to their distinct historical, political, and ideological circumstances, however, they react in a manner different from the West European countries and choose to assert themselves against more languages than just English. Since 7 October 1999 Poland has a “Law about the Polish Language”, which became effective on 9 May 2000. This law, which came into being during the negotiations for entry into the EU, aims to strengthen the Polish language and to stem the influence of German, Russian and English. The Preamble reads: …given the experience, that historically the occupiers’ and oppressors’ campaigns against the Polish language were a tool of de-nationalization, (and) discerning the necessity to protect national identity in the process of globalization the Parliament of the Republic of Poland decrees … the present law. 30 Here the term “occupiers and oppressors” refers to Germans and Russians. The law draws on the painful history of attempts to “Germanize” or “Russify” the indigenous population, which fell to Austrian, Prussian, and Russian rule after the Partition of Poland, as well as on the experience of persecution in Language Policies in East and West 109 the German and Soviet occupied areas during World War II; an integral element of that persecution aimed at the use of Polish (Grucza 1998: 118–136). “Globalization” cannot be equated with “Americanization” here, rather it relates more to the consequences of the entry into the EU and not least to the fears about a “United Europe of the German Nation”. Only in Article 7, Paragraph 1, in which “foreign-language” product names, service designations, offers, advertisements, instructions, forms, invoices, receipts, etc. are expressly prohibited, does the demarcation against English become apparent. Article 11 responds with exceptions to these restrictive proscriptions: the use of proper names, foreign newspapers, magazines, books and computer programs, activities in the universities and schools, technical and commercial terminology. In contrast to the French law the Polish law does not introduce any radical changes into the language. Yet only the future will show whether against the background of this law a demand for the Polonization of international English terms will arise. There are already initial indications of this (Cirko 2001: 4). The articles 6, 7 (paragraph 2), and 8 also stipulate the use of Polish for international legal communication, a fact that Cirko (2000: 4) considers “important and sensible”, but one that led to a reminder from the EU that such stipulations, in the limitations they put on the exchange of goods, contradict the ban on trade restrictions. In this regard one can expect the law to be amended (Gärtner/Hempel 2001: 9–14). Offenses against the law are punishable with (largely symbolic) fines equal to 50 to 100 Euro (Article 15). The Latvian language law of 6 October 1989 was passed to counter the influence of Russian. Latvian, which had been forced out of education and public administration in the course of Russification, has now become the official language of the country. After the Republic of Latvia declared independence on 4 May 1990, the law regulating the official language was variously emended and could take effect (Eckert 2002: 601, 602). Offenses are to be punished by fines: up to the equivalent of 200 Euro. Russian is now associated with occupation and violence, whereas the English language, which is also increasingly leaving its mark on Latvian (especially in the lexical area), is considered the language of the Free World (Blinkena 1995: 168–169). A second law, passed on 1 September 1999 and in effect since 1 September 2000, protects the status of minority languages and is therefore welcomed by the EU.31 After separating from the Czech Republic on 1 January 1993, Slovakians became an independent people with their own state for the first time. On 15 November 1995 a law was passed declaring the Slovakian language the language of that state. When the law took effect, Czech reverted from the offi- 110 Petra Braselmann cial state language to become a minority language. This law was changed on 1 June 1999 with respect to ratification of the EU Charter concerning minority languages, which grants minorities of 20 % in any community the right to use their mother tongue when communicating with the authorities. This arrangement relates to 513 localities with Hungarian inhabitants and to four other localities, two with German and two with Croatian minorities (Gladrow 2002: 493). The protective function of the law is directed against the dominance of Hungarian and the Hungarians, and only secondly against English (Ohnheiser 2004). In the language one easily detects a decrease in Germanicisms and Russianisms in favor of an increasing lexical presence of Anglicisms in the areas of politics, business, sports, music, and entertainment (Gladrow 2002: 487). Since 1989 the political and social importance of Russian has also more generally declined in favor of English (Kaãala 1995: 93). The debate about a law to protect the Romanian language began on 10 November 1997 and is yet in its early stages. Different drafts exist; the last consideration in the Senate took place on 19 December 2002.32 The likelihood that the law will pass is good: the last Senate vote counted 72 for and 10 against with 6 abstentions. Above all the question here is the protection of Romanian in public places, texts, and institutions. These, for example, include advertisements, posters, consumer information, packing, television and radio programming. Material in foreign languages have to be translated, in the case of written materials with letters in the same size as the original, in oral transmission “just as loud and starkly accentuated as the model.” The requirement of oral transmission cannot be found in any other language law, not even in the French one. Paragraph 5 offers numerous exceptions: the law cannot be applied to registered brand names, scientific or literary-artistic texts, publications in foreign languages, including those of minorities, radio and television programs in the languages of minorities, programs with religious content of those with minority languages. Paragraph 7 threatens violators with sanctions, in fact with substantial fines (up to about 1446 in euros), which are graded according to which paragraphs have been violated. Traditionally and historically Romania has adopted much from France and this also extends to the area of language legislation: some adopted aspects can be found, e.g. in parts of the application area and the duty to give translations in letters of the same size as the original. Admittedly the Romanian case differs from the French in the explicit acceptance of minority languages (as noted above France is still working on this) and more generally in the abundance of exceptions. The law is not very precise, offering no examples. the legal protection of language in eastern countries has high priority.g. above all in the area of language. threaten to infiltrate the language with foreign elements from which Hungarian needs protection.k. From them several things should have become clear: Due to the threat of globalization. and in advertisements (§ 1).2).1). Concluding considerations Our observations about “Language Policies in West and East” are subtitled “National Language Policies as a Response to the Pressures of Globalization”. for economic reasons (to strengthen the economy the settlement of German and American companies in Hungary is greatly desired). However.g. show windows and on posters (§ 2. in the press. just as in France. Still the law. an increasing interest in protecting one’s identity. however. While among the western countries only France has a language law. This is not only .Language Policies in East and West 111 In Hungary the system began to change in 1988. which rejects a purist and retrospective ideal norm.-Monarchie” may still be employed (§ 5. Radical political. The new media and the internet. “Speis” (German or Austrian) or “k.1). which affect the language (Balász 1995: 171–181). and this was reinforced by the elections of 1990. – The dependence on the French model is evident in that the law addresses the danger of English infiltration. Public streets are marked by signs in foreign languages – especially German and English – but this does not disturb the Hungarians (Balász 1995: 176). In this the attempt to guard against English becomes apparent. Accepted designations such as e. Otherwise translation is required. in businesses. for company and product names. The preamble stresses that Hungarian is a flexible language which has derived much from other languages. The only sanction for transgressing the law as of 1 January 2003 is the removal of the foreign language posters and signage. and in letters exactly as large as the foreign-language original (§ 3. apart from some exceptions the law is a pro-forma law. is rather tame: so it still allows foreign language designations e. 5. on the radio and television. especially in ones that have recently regained their sovereignty. with its many exceptions. Every Hungarian has the right to be informed about the “new world” in his/her own language. has arisen in all countries. economic and social changes took place and continue to take place. Currently among the West European countries a tendency is becoming evident not only in Italy but also in Spain and even in France.u. Since 27 November 2001 a language law has existed that regulates the presence of the Hungarian language above all in the media and in public signage. French. it is the single linguistic and cultural “enemy”. i. At the same time in these countries. Russian (Poland. Globalization certainly does not always mean “Americanization”. As the discussion of language laws shows. and thereby English assumes the prestige they once held. In the West the “allergy” to English is pronounced. for each has distinct historical. whose economic. as the case of France demonstrates. political. France’s language policy is becoming a prototype worth emulating. but there the attitudes toward English (still) vary. one is able to detect a significant interest of speakers in protecting their own languages.112 Petra Braselmann the result of convictions. these countries want to restrict the influence of dominant and domineering languages. This only became possible at the turn of the century after the French changed course and replaced (internationally derided or criticized) claims supporting the “exception culturelle” of the French and France with the official demand for a multilingual Europe. and Hungarian (Slovakia). it can also mean “Russification” or “Germanization” or something similar and it must moreover be distinguished from “Internationalization. and Hungary) and. such as the threat of removal for foreign-language signage in Hungary or in Poland or extremely minimal fines. This is more or less evident in the symbolic punishments for transgression. ideological and political requirements. Latvia).. To remain with the image of the “killer language”: English is replacing other languages in international communication. The “American Virus” reached the East after the political transformation. Language policies directed toward English have just been initiated (e. given the economic power of the United States. or German in the East. in Poland. Russian. Romania. they will be instituted only half-heartedly. of the normative power of language usage on a national level and of the pressure from the EU on an international one.e. it replaced French as the first foreign language in the West.33 The French language policy cannot simply be applied to other countries. German (Poland). but also. In the East English still stands as the language of the Free World.” 34 . and cultural norms appear worthy of imitation.g. something which expresses itself in the increase of borrowings from English. 3. Braselmann (2002a: 324–327). Denmark. refer also to the discussion of recent literature.fr/culture/dglf/rapport/2002/index. Sweden. German. 23. See Braselmann (1997: 445–464). For a more extensive treatment see Braselmann (2002a: 321–324). 20. 9/10/2002). 6. Brumme/Bochmann (1993: 63–190). and Hungary.culture. Great Britain.ulaval. Available at: http://www. See Braselmann/Hinger (1999: 289–292).htm. Switzerland (as the first land already in 1997).2002 (www. 2002a). then in the revocation of prohibitions on Anglicisms and the acceptance of common English words (Braselmann 2002a: 321–324). For the genesis of the law see Braselmann (1999: 9–25).tlfq. For the prototypical French normative discussion see Klein-Zirbes (2001: 47–60). 19. Croatia. 15. 7. and 2002c: 26–29). 96–602 du 3 juillet 1996 relatif à l’enrichissement de la langue française.voxlatina. 5. Abs.int) the following lands had ratified it: Armenia. above all the empirical analyses of French.7. Available at: http://www. 10. § 49. Ketteman (2002: 61–86). see Braselmann (2001: 171–173). 66 v. Slovakia. Drucksache 14/7250 Drucksache14/8203. 2.2002 (http://conventions. 18. Available at: http: www.ca/axl/europe/france. Hoberg (2000.com – Nr. See the chart in Lilienkamp (2001: 22). Glahn (2002: 220–223).fr/culture/dglf/entretien-BC. Interior Ministry of the Senate. For a differentiated presentation of the German loyalty to language see Lilienkamp (2001: 361–392). For the language politics of the French Revolution see Schlieben-Lange (1987: 26–38). Noll (1991). See Braselmann (1999: 4ff. See above all the consistent argumentation of the distinct strategies for evaluating language in Spitzmüller (2002: 247–265). See for instance: Braselmann/Hinger (1999: 287–292).culture. “Überdachungssprache”. Norway. Liechtenstein.htm. 11.9. 4. Slovenia. 17. 24. . pp. Finland. For more on the French postulate concerning multiple languages that is sometimes pushed forward. 16. Spain.coe./29.Language Policies in East and West 113 Notes 1. Austria. 9. 22. presentation at a conference in Beirut am 28. At first this can be ascertained in the professionalization of the commissions and the democraticization of the language cultivation (Braselmann 2001: 167–179). see Brumme/Bochmann (1993: 191–238). 12. 76–82 et passim. 8.htm. See Albert Salon. 21. 2. and Spanish music magazines in Lilienkamp (2001). For the linguistic influence on the neighboring romance lands. 13. 14. Germany. Pressemitteilung 42 (9/5/01). According to sources by 3. 2002). 25. Regarding the loyalty to language of the French see Lilienkamp (2001: 249–280). the Netherlands. Décret n. The Nuffield Report drafts strategies to advance knowledge of foreign languages on all levels (Durrell 2002: 286–297). For more on the new activities see Braselmann (2001. See Lebsanft (1997: 96–99). 33.ro. which the academy allows to transpose into Castilian (travelín. Cf. Innsbruck: Diplomarbeit. See Sachs (2003: 104–107) and Braselmann 2004. In: Rudolf Hoberg (ed. 27. Aina 1995 Die Kultur der lettischen Sprache. 34. Cf. 31. Bettina 2001 Globalisation und Antiglobalisation: Angloamerikanismen im Internet. yaz). http://www.und Computerbereich des Italienischen. jazz). Main: Peter Lang. (Translation by the author) 28. Mannheim/Leipzig/Vienna/New York: Duden (Thema Deutsch.). 171–181. However. Thus books of style often leave Anglicisms in their original (for instance: traveling. La bella lingua. In: Maria . Braselmann (2002d: 959–978). Frankfurt a.tlfq. Volume 3). refer to the newly association formed by parliamentarians from different political parties. whereby regional languages are meant as well as global English (Metzeltin 1988: 377). Balázs.ulaval. The origins of the drafts are well documented. Blinkena. 29. In: Jürgen Scharnhorst (ed. See Schmitt (2001: 464ff. see http://www. Angloamerikanische Sprache und Kultur als transglossisches Phänomen in der Romania. 139–151. Deutsch – Englisch – Europäisch.ca/axl/europe/lettonie. whose purpose is to protect Italian from the influence of other languages. Ulrich 1998 Ist Deutsch noch internationale Wissenschaftssprache? Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. Translation by the author. Sprachsituation und Sprachkultur im internationalen Vergleich.). In: Jürgen Scharnhorst (ed. Unlike the purists in France. Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang. Géza 1995 Die Kultur der ungarischen Sprache. 30.htm. Impulse für eine neue Sprachpolitik. Braselmann. Sprachsituation und Sprachkultur im internationalen Vergleich.). in Spain the opponents [of Anglo-Americanisms] are not drastic or emotional. Berger.cdep.). 32. Petra 1997 Sprachkontakt – Kulturkontakt. and they express themselves in a less deprecating or ridiculing manner about the preservation of language than the indifferent observers in Germany. 159–170.114 Petra Braselmann 26. 2002 Deutsch unter Druck von Englisch in Wissenschaft und Politik. References Ammon. Braselmann (2002c: 31–39). Impulse für eine neue Sprachpolitik. 286–297. In: Rudolf Hoberg (ed. 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The Impact of English on the Vocabulary and Grammatical Structure of German . . die von Verfall und Bedrohtheit sprechen. We should be concerned about the future of the German language in the age of globalization. Perhaps one can take comfort from the fact that the future of German is closely related to the fate of European languages in general. die das Klagelied anstimmen. but this might be some kind of cold comfort. We should work out an honest diagnosis and think about possible remedies. und zwar sowohl was seine internationale Stellung als auch was seinen Einfluß auf das Deutsche betrifft. It seems evident and therefore to be presupposed that there are indeed prob- . Wie geht das Deutsche mit den fremden Wörtern um? Kann es sie assimilieren oder gar integrieren? In welchem Sinn oder welcher Richtung verändert es sich dabei? Könnte eine Bedrohung entstehen? 1. Meist wird dabei dem Englischen eine besondere Rolle zugeschrieben. Immer gibt es Sprachkritiker. Politiker erinnern bei ihrer Meinung nach passender Gelegenheit an die marginale Rolle des Deutschen in internationalen Organisationen und einige Sprachwissenschaftler halten die Kraft des Deutschen zur Assimilation oder Integration fremden Sprachmaterials für nur noch gering. wenn wir in einem solchen Zusammenhang von unserer Sprache selbst reden wollen und nicht einfach ein kulturkritisches Lamento auf die Sprache übertragen? Der Beitrag möchte diese Frage ernst nehmen. nämlich der Flexionsmorphologie. Wissenschaftler befürchten einen Verlust der universellen Ausdrucksmöglichkeiten. zuzunehmen. Auch scheint die Zahl der Stimmen.German as an Endangered Language? Peter Eisenberg Zusammenfassung Über den Zustand des Deutschen wird in den vergangenen Jahren mehr und lauter geklagt. Was aber kann genau gemeint sein. Er spricht eine Reihe von Möglichkeiten an und wendet sich dann ein wenig genauer einem der Paradefälle für den Einfluß des Englischen auf das Deutsche zu. Endangeredness By conversational maxim the title of the New York conference – “The Fate of European Languages in the Age of Globalization: The Future of German” – has to be read as a request. aber inzwischen sehen fast sechzig Prozent der Deutschen die Entwicklung ihrer Sprache als bedenklich oder sogar als beunruhigend an. and only such. had no problem in constituting a highly reputable academic advisory board. and . German philology cannot simply ignore the public language debate.122 Peter Eisenberg lems for the future of German. calling German a dying. languages which are in danger of becoming extinct by the loss of native speakers. such as Joachim Heinrich Campe. Walter Krämer’s Verein deutsche Sprache (VdS). We have to be involved. which was only founded in 1992 and which is the most influential private organisation fighting the influence of English on German. but of course we have to insist on retaining the most important achievement of modern linguistics. whose attempts to translate foreign words into German are now labelled as some kind of ‘enlightened purism’ (Campe 1813. Stickel 1998: 42). if only because a large majority of the Germans consider the development of their mother tongue to be alarming or disquieting (“beunruhigend oder bedenklich”. This tradition has never been interrupted and is still alive (see Schiewe 1998 for an overview touching on today’s situation and Schrodt 1995 for an elucidating report on the intricate relationship between German philology and language criticism in the 19th and 20th centuries). Haß-Zumkehr 2001: 111– 118). At all times we find professionals who were concerned about the state and the development of the language. are blamed again and again for not being really interested in their subject matter. Linguists and modern linguistics as their academic discipline. that is its status as an empirical discipline. see also Glück 2000). The main goals of the society are the collection and distribution of information about the language situation world wide. Within linguistics the term is used for such. Schiewe 1998: 125–150. It is from this side that we hear the reproach: “Die Sprachwissenschaft und die sprachpflegenden Institutionen haben diese Entwicklung ignoriert und sich so aus ihrer Verantwortung für unsere Sprache gestohlen” (Glück and Krämer 2000: 90. More radical formulations can be heard at many places and in many contexts. Some years ago the Society of Endangered Languages (Gesellschaft für bedrohte Sprachen) was founded. This is all the more the case as in the German tradition there has never been a simple division between academic work on language on the one hand and popular or even populistic language criticism on the other. Jacob Grimm – who is still considered the founder of the discipline now called Germanistik – was worried about the German language during the greater part of his working life. a threatened. or at least an endangered language. Descriptive linguistics can contribute in an essential way to the language debate by clarifying what could be meant if one talks and worries about “endangeredness” with respect to a language such as German. an extensive literature and a subtle social stratification. 2002). Furthermore Peter von Polenz in his overview (Polenz 1999: 264–293) makes it quite clear that at several points in its history purism was not even able to identify the areas of influence from other languages on German. Yet it seems of some importance not to give the impression that there is anything special here with respect to German.de/GbS/). But even if it is true that the Germans are less active and more opportunistic in this respect than for instance the French. certain scientific terminologies have not been transferred. For the period of a rapidly developing language movement as part of the nationalistic euphoria after 1871 he states: “Über der Fremdwort-Jagd an der Oberfläche der Sprache (Ausdrucksseite) wurde der viel größere innere Lehneinfluß auf den ‚Geist‘ der deutschen Sprache völlig ignoriert” (Polenz 1999: 270). they are in most cases neither linguistic nor can they be directly related to linguistic argumentations. What has been deplored during recent years is first of all the decreasing importance of German as a language for international scientific communication. ‘alien’ or ‘nonnative’ and therefore replaceable by a ‘domestic’ or ‘native’ word. if etymological facts are sufficient to mark a word as ‘strange’. Ammon 1998. Motivations have been manifold in this heterogeneous movement. And even worse. They are standardized as spoken and as written languages but nevertheless include numerous dialects and technical terminologies. And as far as the foreign vocabulary is concerned he identifies a lack of differen- . This again is not to state that we should stay inactive. to German regardless of whether this would be easily possible or useful (Pörksen 1994. If arguments or at least something like reasons can be found for the claim that the language is threatened. this aspect of language globalization has nothing whatsoever to do with German. even if one only takes into consideration the attempts to purify or protect the language from foreign words.German as an Endangered Language? 123 raising funds for the documentation of at least some of the about fifty languages dying every year (for further information see http://www. A more specific aspect of endangeredness applies to what has been called the universal character of a language. The group of languages fulfilling the conditions is not very large. The kind of language threat which constitutes the long and ongoing history of German purism is completely different in nature. all kinds of registers for special purposes.unikoeln. When talking about a language with nearly 100 million speakers and more than 20 million learners one should carefully avoid even the slightest associative links in this direction. or not completely. Differences between German and languages comparable in size and status are gradual in nature. If purity is a value in itself. then there is not very much left for linguistic reasoning. 2. . Muttersprache had been the official organ of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Sprachverein. Alien anglicisms Academic as well as public interest in loan words was awakened to new life so to speak in Germany after World War II by Peter von Polenz’ article “Fremdwort und Lehnwort sprachwissenschaftlich betrachtet”. By this step one gains access to the tools designed for the systematic exploration of language contact as it has been developed and applied e. We will then attempt to identify some of the relevant properties of German anglicisms on one level of grammatical description. where ‘grammar’ in turn can simply be understood as a description of the phonological.124 Peter Eisenberg tiation as the main problem: “Trotz häufiger Erklärungen und Dementis über maßvolles. The distinction between ‘Fremdwort’ and ‘Lehnwort’ is by no means uniform and uncontroversial in the literature. To agree upon a satisfying terminology we will now briefly review some of the literature proposing a classification of nonnative words and especially anglicisms (section 2). namely the level of inflection (section 3). morphological and syntactic systems. and the article appeared in the same journal as many chauvinistic and racist language articles before 1945. possibly augmented by a description of the graphemic system. The article was first published in 1967 in the journal Muttersprache (Polenz 1979).g. in the epochal work of Uriel Weinreich (Weinreich 1967). These and some other circumstances clearly signalized that fundamental changes were taking place in the field. At the moment it will suffice to remember that at least one reading of ‘integration’ is ‘adapted to the core grammar’ of the borrowing language. We will use the following section 2 to go a bit further into terminological questions. this simple and seemingly evident kind of analysis has not become dominant or even influential in the discussion of the status of loan words in German. aber niemals definitorisch geklärt […]” (Polenz 1999: 270). It was the same year in which Polenz edited the second German edition of Saussure’s “Cour”. Section 4 draws some conclusions by returning to the question of what can be said about endangeredness. As we will see. differenziertes Vorgehen wurde der Unterschied zwischen zu ersetzendem Fremdwort und unentbehrlichem Lehnwort zwar postuliert. but most authors make use of ‘integration’ when explicating it. Nonnative words can then be described with respect to their structural properties as integrated or not integrated. and these properties can eventually be related to the respective ones in other languages. Instead they are elements of the German. Of course he discussed in some detail the necessity to differentiate ‘Lehnwörter’ (as integrated) from ‘Fremdwörter’ (as not integrated). man brauche zur Beurteilung des gegenwärtigen Zustands einer Sprache nur die Etymologie anzuwenden […]” (Polenz 1979: 13). vocabulary.German as an Endangered Language? 125 For the questions we are discussing the most important issue was Polenz’ appeal to synchronic linguistic analysis. though most of the morphs in question are borrowed from these languages. Polenz (1979: 26–29) gives many examples and describes some basic regularities of productive word formation with foreign stems and affixes. and possibly only of the German. Despite the reliance on synchronic linguistics Polenz left the range of words to be treated as foreign words or loan words as it was. But first of all the foreign origin has to be assured. Two main points can be made. Instead he suggests considering words with respect to their sociological and structural properties. Within this domain of ‘foreign’ elements in the literal sense of the word any question may be asked. But we do want to bring to attention the fact that etymological considerations still play a basic role in that they define the domain of the vocabulary in question. So it becomes evident that most foreign words do not even exist in the languages from which they are supposed to originate. but they are nevertheless foreign words. one is in general occupied with “Wörtern mit aus Fremdsprachen stammenden Bestandteilen” (1979: 27). The basis for the whole discussion was nevertheless the origin of the units to be analyzed from languages other than German. The second point is of equal significance. What he criticizes is “Der methodologische Irrtum eines Philologen. It seems to have been largely unthinkable or at least not realized in the German tradition that it could be of some interest to consider such words not exclusively from an etymological perspective. where the criteria could be either sociolinguistic or structural in nature. “Wörter und Wortstämme aus anderen Sprachen” (1979: 26) or. all kinds of properties can be explored. i. citing Hans Marchand. explicitly not as part of the Greek or Latin system. The fundamental question is formulated as “Wie verhalten sich Wörter fremdsprachiger Herkunft im Systemzusammenhang des Wortschatzes zu den sinnbenachbarten Wörtern aus heimischem Sprachmaterial?” (Polenz 1979: 17). First Polenz argued that a purely etymological perspective can end up in all kinds of racist reasonings about the status of words in general and above all of loan words. We do not want to suppose that there is anything wrong with this approach.e. Polenz takes it that one is considering “Wörter fremdsprachiger Herkunft” (1979: 17). He analyses the morphological processes involved as part of the German language system. And it has to be added that . However it is anything but compelling to talk about the influence of one language on another language and about the consequences of this influence if one does not even know what exactly this influence consists of. die auf Transferenz der englischen Sprache zurückgeht” (Busse 2001: 134). as “Oberbegriff von Entlehnungen aus dem britischen Englisch. for example. The term is defined. for instance.126 Peter Eisenberg this is also the case in most of the later attempts to define notions such as. One tries hard to detect these units no matter whether identifiable by their properties as anglicisms or not. for loan creations (Klimaanlage ǟ air conditioner. ‘anglicism in German’. Killer. Kicker. streiken. then they are seen as anglicisms despite the fact that they are fully integrated into German and behave in every respect like German words from the core vocabulary. Helligkeitsregler ǟ dimmer. Each class may be further differentiated since for some of the words the meaning in German seems to be very close to the English meaning. ‘Lehnbedeutung’). kicken. They are considered to be loan words and “borrowed from English” (Jorgensen and Moraco 1984: 104) though they were generated in German. it will not help us to answer the question of whether German is threatened . killen. They all are anglicisms for genetic. Under such headings we then find elaborate classifications of linguistic units starting with morphemes and ending up with phrases. ‘Lehnschöpfung’) and for semantic loans (heiß ǟ hot. If it can be shown that words such as starten. tanken. whereas for others this is not the case. Arbeitsessen. and “[…] often it can not be established beyond doubt that the equivalence is really based on translation” (Busse/Görlach 2002: 26). Tanker were first used in English and only later on in German. Again it should be stressed that we do not want to question in any way the research on language contact which is trying to understand the circumstances under which linguistic forms or meanings are taken over by a language. which are used in German and whose form or meaning or whose form and meaning can be said to originate in English. The ‘hidden’ influence of English on German is extensively discussed in the literature. To pursue this idea might even appear a bit like looking for the threat. dem amerikanischen Englisch. realisieren ǟ to realize. not structural reasons. one of the results being “Anglizismen dieser Art nachzuweisen ist schwierig und bedarf intensiver Recherchen […]” (Busse 2001: 137). Umeltschutz. feuern ǟ to fire. ‘Lehnprägung’). The same holds for so called loan translations (Eierkopf. Stoßzeit ǟ rush hour. sowie den übrigen englischsprachigen Ländern […]” (Yang 1990: 1) or somewhat more abstract as for use in the Anglizismen-Wörterbuch (Carstensen and Busse 1993) as “[…] jede Erscheinung der deutschen Sprache […]. However interesting such research may be. Dschungel. not by origin. The influence of English on German. City. Sie vermutet. We have to even go one step further by including words which do not embody any English morpheme. As a consequence of this reasoning. On the other hand we do not see any problem in classifying words such as computerisieren. They are anglicisms by structure. Sie denkt. We just do not know what it could mean for a language to be threatened this way. can be more clearly defined if one talks about the language systems.German as an Endangered Language? 127 by the influence of English. It would. and Showmaster as well as Cocktailparty or Bodyguard. The same is true for all other words which come into German (probably) via English but do not have any specific English grammatical properties in German. For the native speaker of German they are nonnative for different reasons. daß …). daß …. for example. changed. The opposite stance is taken here with respect to words or other units which are not borrowed from English but contain anglicisms as parts or have grammatical properties specific for English. Wigwam. Air-Bus. daß …). Waggon. Känguru. as for instance Taifun. It would also be interesting to know what it means that German now uses a verb such as denken more like a transitive verb (Sie denkt dies. I would not in principle deny the possibility of talking also about what Polenz quotes as the ‘Geist’ [‘spirit’] of a language. semantic loans such as realisieren (‘to understand’). this would be of no importance for their status as anglicisms in German. kontrollieren (‘to intentionally influence’) or Philosophie (‘rules for behavior’) are not to be taken as anglicisms at all but as latinisms or greekisms. in the sense that German is affected. threatened or endangered by this influence. For the native speaker of German the famous Handy is an anglicism as well as Baby. undoubtedly be of interest to know whether German is changing in the way it constructs its metaphors. In a normal English dictionary as well as in the “AnglizismenWörterbuch” one finds words or constituents of words such as Smarty and Nuts. but not of words such as Snickers and Twix. Anti-Dumping and Beatmusik as anglicisms which are latinisms or greekisms at the same time. Bumerang. Is it an important change if one takes into account that (1) the older argument pattern of denken is still alive (denken an etwas) and (2) German has for a long time had similar verbs with the argument structure in question (Sie glaubt. Even if the latter exist somewhere in English. Body. The main group of such words consists of the so called pseudoanglicisms. And what does it . So it might well be the case that the speaker classifies a word as nonnative without being able to relate it to a specific language. though this seems difficult particularly if one compares closely related languages. but without an appropriate world knowledge he can not perceive them as originating from English. Is there any serious influence of English? Is the German system even on the way to becoming more and more similar to the English system? We will discuss these questions briefly with examples from the three open inflecting word classes. (1) a.e. proper. the verbs and the nouns. gentle. Most importantly. top . it seems possible to order the adjectives along a scale of integratedness. tough b. fair. 3. cool. English and German are still fundamentally different as far as inflection is concermed. we use the term ‘anglicism in German’ for language units of German exhibiting grammatical properties which for the average native speaker are properties of English and at the same time not properties of units describable within the core grammar of German. It should make sense (‘Es sollte Sinn machen’) to talk about language by talking about language systems. 3. The goal of the present paper is more moderate and concrete. fit. Hence. safe. taking the inflectional behavior of the prototypical native adjective as the point of reference. the adjectives. hip. As a first step we distinguish the following classes (1). clever. clean. So in what follows we will talk about ‘alien anglicisms’.1 Adjectives The inflectional behavior of anglicistic adjectives is rather heterogeneous. and this all the more so as it is at least imaginable that a language can be destroyed by the destruction of its system. soft. but of the terms available this seems by far the most suitable. Anglicisms in German inflection Though closely related in many respects. i. In the German literature such units are often called ‘fremd’ (Wurzel 1981: 908– 910). It should therefore be interesting to consider how German inflects its anglicisms. smart. hot.128 Peter Eisenberg mean that the Germans now tend to say in 2002 instead of the traditional im Jahr 2002? What does it mean if one takes into account that for a long time they have said vor/seit/nach 2002? Perhaps somebody will come up with something interesting on such issues. This does not exactly match ‘alien’ found in the English literature. open c. yet anything but chaotic. f. So we have hip besides hipp. Kartoffeln satt. sexy relaxed. heiteres – properes as well as heitres – propres. but we often hear phrases like ein . Since integration of spelling is in general difficult to achieve. The anglicisms follow them as soon as they are integrated phonologically. They are marked as anglicisms by their spelling or by some phonological peculiarities. It is a widespread phenomenon that certain integrational steps can trigger others which might or might not be directly related to them. To inflect is a significant step away from the one-form English to the multi-form German word paradigm.).s. live (and perhaps pur) are used in postnominal position (Linguistik light. electronic. Dürscheid 2002: 62–70). full. So soft is pronounced as [sft]. The adjectives of the fourth group (1d) are confined to predicative and adverbial position for purely orthographic reasons. The voiceless [s] is not found in initial position before a vowel in the core vocabulary. trendy. An interesting point can be made for an adjective like cool. offen. Urlaub total. pronounced as [kuùĭ] with a velarised [ĭ]. tricky. h. The construction seems to be gaining importance in German and is realized with adjectives of all types (Eishockey brutal. groggy. Eisenberg 1998: 174–175). essential The adjectives of the first class are inflectionally integrated. this gemination does at least not appear immediately. e. recycled. They are taken over with their English spelling. Whisky pur). e. When inflected as in attributive position.German as an Endangered Language? 129 d. pur pink easy. live. dirty. Fußball live. gelabelled. or at least by many speakers. airconditioned big. this alien phonological feature disappears. They differ with respect to possible reductions of schwa (Raffelsiefen 1995. fancy.o. In the core vocabulary the same three classes of bisyllabic adjectival stems with a sonorant forming the coda of a reduced syllable can be found: heiter. happy. edel. As anglicistic adjectives light. A single consonant letter marking the position between a stressed lax vowel and schwa has to be geminated. cooles – [kuùl«s] a. Neither gentle nor open has made this step.g. which is normally. but this spelling could not be preserved in inflected forms. Similar considerations seem to be in place for the second group (1b). light. gepuzzled. where it is uninflected and therefore most similar to the English form. second. The inflected forms are then fully integrated morphologically and phonologically (coole – [kuùl«]. So live and light can be said to be not inflected for syntactic reasons and partially integrated. g. For most adjectives the first step is the occurrence in predicative or adverbial position. For the context given it is of importance that they are restricted to uninflected use as long as the English -ed is preserved in the written form. At present they simply seem to be ‘too anglicistic’ for this kind of usage. The form is fully integrated phonologically. Simple stems with a second unstressed open full syllable in German generally avoid a naked reduced syllable following them. So pink is integrated into this group. On water-bottles we find the form enteisent (‘deironed’) which nobody uses in every day language. which then also leads to a different position of schwa. which both also work for pink. türkis. oliv. Pink is nevertheless hardly inflected in written language. This is the reason why the adjectives of 1f cannot be inflected. This is probably one of the cases where speakers are simply aware of the fact that the word is borrowed. In German this is – unlike in English – only possible under special conditions which are not met here. With the last group (1h) we would like to demonstrate what it means to be not integrated. These adjectives are English words and not anglicisms of . They might become further integrated one day by being used in attributive position without inflection as is the case for the longstanding color terms lila and rosa (eine lila/rosa Latzhose). regeln from the core vocabulary.130 Peter Eisenberg fittes Team while hesitating to write them. since German has adjectives like krank. We get recycelt. The behavior of pink (1e) appears to be somewhat special if not seen in the semantic field of color terms. It is inflectionally fully integrated. This would mean airconditionet for our candidate. such as beige. which now looks more like an abortive than an integrated anglicism. Normative grammar offers türkisenes and türkisfarbenes as ways out of the difficulties. But being integrated at all stabilizes the behavior. though some of them are not directly derived from verb stems. the respective verbs build it as in verregnen with the participle verregnet. azur. orange. The alternative airconditiont is problematic in the way some mechanically built participles in the core vocabulary are. We do not need to discuss the complex question of how such forms could be derived. The verb recyceln now inflects exactly like segeln. A process of this kind can not be expected for airconditioned. not (yet) into the core vocabulary. flink as well as many verbal and nominal stems of this structure. In some of them this ending can easily be replaced by the German -t. Furthermore a gemination in attributive but not predicative position would lead to different spellings for the stem form of such a word paradigm. Since the infinitive ends with an -n. The adjectives of 4g have the form of participles. handeln. schlank. recyceltes Papier and the infinitive recyceln instead of the less integrated recyclen. Therefore they treat it in analogy to the numerous alien color terms which hardly ever inflect. doubeln. There are no formal obstacles to taking these steps. catchen. Furthermore. anklicken. Monosyllabic anglicistic verbs even adopt the pecularities of the German system (2c). to dip produce the German pinnen. to job. A verb like stressen does not differentiate the 2nd and 3rd person . beaten. 3. Gemination is then preserved in all forms. strippen. As far as I can see at the moment they do not integrate. verb stems adopt immediately the orthographic gemination of consonant letters in final position. Bisyllabic stems with final -er and -el (2b) can also be fully integrated in following the pattern of verbs such as rudern and segeln. stylen. The English to pin. antörnen. Most of the simple monosyllabic stems (2a) immediately include all finite and infinite forms of the verbal paradigm and select the auxiliary for the perfect according to the general rules (Er hat gedealt.e. powern. tunen. Some of them may have to make several steps. labeln.German as an Endangered Language? 131 German.g. aufsplitten.2 Verbs The integration processes for verb stems are even simpler and more uniform than for adjective stems. upgraden All verbs follow the weak declension. dealen. splitten. At least the following classes can be distinguished: (2) a. setteln c. jobben. Such spelling difference is not permitted in the core vocabulary. coachen. The weak verb follows what Wurzel (1984) calls stem inflection. jobben. As a consequence the verb stem and the respective noun stem often differ in that the former exposes gemination whereas the latter does not (pinnen – der Pin. covern. i. dippen. the English fasten). flirten. it marks a stem as alien. ausknocken e. there are no forms which consist of the pure stem without any suffix. lasern. stressen. aufpoppen. ausflippen. joggen b. Sie ist zum Brandenburger Tor gejoggt). puzzeln. jazzen. bowlen. They are mostly found in phrases which are at least interpretable as purely English phrases such as Wir sind Ihr electronic partner or eine CD von Essential Classics. as has been demonstrated above for recyclen Ǟ recyceln. surfen. websurfen. babysitten. This is different for the verbs with final -en (e. boomen. jobben – der Job). which is without doubt the unmarked pattern in present-day German. mixen. jetten d. hotten. downloaden. Coach. Foul. ob er babysittet/ bauspart). Band. ?Er hat baugespart). Beach. Show. Camp. A verb like beaten on the other hand has at this point bisyllabic forms (du beatest. The most productive word formation pattern for simplex verb stems of the core vocabulary is their combination with verbal particles. Bike. Boom. Drive b. er stresst) exactly as in du hasst. Job. Chip. It seems that these types also occur as anglicisms. Drum. We find them as well in the core grammar. 3. Cup. So there are structural problems with certain anglicisms. One runs into the same problems with both verbs when trying to separate the first constituent syntactically (?Er sittet baby. they follow this pattern without problems. Chip. Where it is difficult to find such a noun. Cash. er bietet). Rate. Since the mono. Cream. Kid As can be seen from the examples in 3. 2d gives just some examples of this kind. Steak. Date. Fight. Girl. Crew.3 Nouns The first and most important step English noun stems have to perform for becoming usable in German is the choice of gender. Clinch. Mail. ?Er spart bau) or morphologically (?Er hat babygesittet. er hasst. Soap. We can use the infinitive and all finite forms as long as the first constituent is not separated (Er will babysitten/bausparen. Site. Trend. Coil. (3) a. simplex nouns and especially monosyllabics obtain their gender from the German noun which is most similar in meaning. Shop. Carstensen 1980. . Claim. Line. Dope.and bisyllabic anglicistic verb stems do not show serious formal differences here.g. Brain. So babysitten behaves like bausparen.132 Peter Eisenberg singular in present tense (du stresst. Check. in most cases the masculine is chosen as the unmarked gender (e. der Check. Home. Face. Boy. Claim. Couch. Farm c. but they are not specific ones. Even more impressive are the examples of 2e. Goal. er beatet) again like the core verbs of this type (du bietest. Gregor 1983). German has several types of verbs for which it is not clear if or to what degree a unit is grammaticalized as a verbal particle (Eschenlohr 1999). Gang. Crime. Drink. Lunch. Deal. The status of the s-inflection and in particular the s-plural is controversial in the literature. orthographic facts seem to play an important role here (Wegener 1999. which is independent of gender. which takes the s-plural as marked. but not for the declension type as a whole. For the masculines and neuters of the core vocabulary. Streik. In his popular book on the relation between rule-based and analogy-based linguistic structures. das Dope – des Dopes). but unmarked in use for special purposes. . As an example take the noun Bach from the core vocabulary with its plural Bäche.German as an Endangered Language? 133 It is widely agreed in the literature that within core grammar the declension type of nouns corresponds to the gender (Bittner 1999. but they still follow the s-inflection. whereas for the anglicisms it has to be nonsyllabic (des Fights/*Fightes). Eisenberg 2001: 205). where the stem does not change at all. Again. In contrast the family name of the Leipzig composer has the plural die Bachs. All we can say is that there are no formal properties which could force a monosyllabic simplex to give up this choice. the s-plural is chosen when the stem should be unaffected by inflection as far as possible. Choosing the s-inflection may therefore be understood as an integrational step. Nouns like der Schal. It marks the plural forms of all nouns as well as the genitive singular of the masculines and neuters by a nonsyllabic -s. Instead they stick to the sinflection. This position is strengthened by the functional interpretation Wegener (2002) proposes for this plural marker. One also has to state that anglicisms can preserve the s-inflection for a long time and by this avoid full integration. but we are far from a real understanding of these processes. For anglicisms like the ones in 3 this does not hold. An alternative is the more traditional position. Full integration is in most cases bound to special phonological conditions (der Boss – die Bosse. though one leading to partial integration only. following Wiese and Clahsen. Start are completely integrated with respect to their phonological properties and their spelling. So the s-inflection is not just a borrowing from English. Thieroff 2001). -s is the unmarked suffix in the genitive singular. Pinker (1999). According to her approach. though only a small minority of nouns adhere to it (Wiese 1996. The plural stem form has only one sound in common with the base form. If at all this could be stated for the plural marker. We have argued elsewhere that this position is untenable for systematic reasons (Eisenberg 2002). takes the s-plural as unmarked in the overall system. Here it can normally be syllabic (des Stuhls/Stuhles). otherwise it remains marginal (die Couch – die Couchen. der Stress – des Stresses). Clahsen 1999). Moreover the plural has two syllables with the boundary separating the final consonant of the stem. and the anglicistic nouns might even help to induce a more serious systematic change. There are some frictions. Conclusion German anglicisms are not always smoothly integrated into the core inflectional system. das Auto) and with some related classes of nouns. with short terms. Hippie. The core system would not have changed since the s-plural would be marked. For anglicisms it would be ‘functional’ to preserve the splural as long as the word is not well known and accepted in German and should therefore be used with one and only one stem form.134 Peter Eisenberg Names are linguistically sacrosanct and for this reason they mark the plural by the heavy consonant s instead of the syllabic suffixes from the rest of the core system. nouns such as der Jockey. Besides proper names the s-plural goes with abbreviations. How can this situation be evaluated? Görlach compares the influence of Romance languages on English in the 14th century with the present situation and concludes: “The parallels to present-day anglicisms in European languages are obvious” (Görlach 1999: 124). der Browser – die Browser). with plurisyllabic words ending in an open unstressed syllable with a full vowel (der Uhu. das Baby. It is a real challenge to think about methods for answering this kind of question empirically. 4. Things are much easier for most polysyllabic and morphologically complex nouns. These words are fully integrated in that they behave like the respective nouns from the core vocabulary (der Eimer – die Eimer. Disco. and we have to conclude: Either Pinker’s view is correct. The core grammar would have already changed at this point. die City. die Oma. For the data given this seems to be difficult. We will just mention two examples. (2) German anglicisms ending in -er and selecting the masculine for whatever reason are expected to take the so called zero plural (der Raver – die Raver. der Denker – die Denker). (1) As German anglicisms. Or Pinker’s view is not correct. With respect to the German inflectional system this view seems at least to be exaggerated. The anglicisms in question are then fully integrated in that the s-plural would be part of the core grammar. The anglicisms are then only partially integrated. The influence of English is still marginal compared to the deep changes of the derivational and inflectional system caused by Latin and French. It might not be completely unrealistic to look for a motivation of this kind when considering the inflectional behavior of alien words. At the moment we can not even be sure . Dummy are expected to take the s-plural for reasons based on regularities of German – and indeed this is the case. 2 vols. In: Manfred Görlach and Ulrich Busse(eds. Busse.). Joachim Heinrich 1813 Wörterbuch zur Erklärung und Verdeutschung der unserer Sprache aufgedrungenen fremden Ausdrücke. Broder 1980 Das Genus englischer Fremd. Gender in Grammar and Cognition.).). .). In: Wolfgang Viereck (ed. Studien zum Einfluß der englischen Sprache auf das Deutsche.).und Lehnwörter im Deutschen. In: Gerhard Stickel (ed. Tübingen: Narr. A–E. Mannheim: Dudenverlag. 139–151. 131–155. 3 vols. Bittner. English in Europe. Dagmar 1999 Gender classification and the inflectional system of German. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. 37–75. Ulrich and Manfred Görlach 2002 German. Neues und fremdes im deutschen Wortschatz. Berlin: de Gruyter. 13–36. In: Barbara Unterbeck and Matti Rissanen (eds. Der Einfluß des Englischen auf den deutschen Wortschatz nach 1945. Impulse für eine neue Sprachpolitik. Englisch. Carstensen. Deutsch. Only if these questions are answered could it be possible to reflect about threats and destruction. 1–23. Broder and Ulrich Busse 1993 Anglizismen-Wörterbuch.German as an Endangered Language? 135 which changes are in fact taking place and – if there are serious ones – which of them go back to English. Ulrich 1998 Ist das Deutsche noch internationale Wissenschaftssprache? Berlin/ New York: de Gruyter 2002 Deutsch unter Druck von Englisch in Wissenschaft und Politik. In: Rudolf Hoberg (ed. Campe. Ein Ergänzungsband zu Adelung’s und Campe’s Wörterbüchern. Europäisch. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. Band 1. Aktueller lexikalischer Wandel. Busse. Ulrich 2001 Typen von Anglizismen: von der heilago geist bis Extremsparing – aufgezeigt anhand ausgewählter lexikographischer Kategorisierungen. References Ammon. And not later than at this point will it become evident that it is hardly imaginable to separate ‘normal changes’ from threats and destruction. Braunschweig. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Carstensen. Bernd 1983 Genuszuordnung.). Ulrike 2001 Deutsche Wörterbücher – Brennpunkt von Sprach. Spektrum Verlag 2000. Band III. Gregor. Christa 2002 “Polemik statt Wahlkampf pur” – Das postnominale Adjektiv im Deutschen.). Berlin: de Gruyter. Das Genus englischer Lehnwörter im Deutschen. Eschenlohr. Stefanie 1999 Vom Nomen zum Verb: Konversion. 19. 62–70. Literature. 9–31. Frankfurt/M. Hildesheim: Olms.und Kulturgeschichte. Peter A. Bahavioral and Brain Sciences 22: 991–1013. In: Form. Harald 1999 Lexical entries and rules of language. Steven 1999 Words and Rules. New York: Basic. München: UTB Fink. Görlach. 104–114. In: Peter Braun (ed. Zeitschrift für germanistische Linguistik 30. Leipzig: Klett. 183–209. Die Zukunft der deutschen Sprache. Read. Manfred 1999 Morphological Problems of Integration: English Loanwords Ending in -er and -ing in selected European Languages. 2002 Über Steven Pinker. Was fängt das Deutsche mit seinen Latinismen und Anglizismen an? In: Gerhard Stickel (ed. Helmut 2000 Dürfen Linguisten werten? In: Helmut Glück and Walter Krämer (eds. Göppingen: Kümmerle.). Jahrhundert.Metzler. Polenz. Haß-Zumkehr. und 20. Pinker. 1999 Deutsche Sprachgeschichte vom Spätmittelalter bis zur Gegenwart. Band 1: Das Wort.: Lang. Moelleken (ed. Stuttgart/ Weimar: J. and Donna Anglin Moraco 1984 The categorization of English loanwords in German. Tübingen: Niemeyer. function and variation in English: studies in honour of Klaus Hansen.136 Peter Eisenberg Clahsen. . Festschrift für Carroll E. 2001 Die grammatische Integration von Fremdwörtern. Eine Streitschrift. Heidelberg/Berlin.B. In: Wolfgang W. Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft 21: 57–81. Präfigierung und Rückbildung im Deutschen. Jorgensen. Dürscheid. Fremdwort-Diskussion.).1: 100–109. A multidisciplinary study of German inflection. Aus dem Englischen von Martina Wiese. Die Natur der Sprache. Dialectology. Linguistics. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. Neues und Fremdes im deutschen Wortschatz. 117– 125. Berlin: de Gruyter. Peter 1998 Grundriß der deutschen Grammatik. Aktueller lexikalischer Wandel. Eisenberg. Glück. Peter von 1979 Fremdwort und Lehnwort sprachwissenschaftlich betrachtet. Weinreich. Oxford: OUP.euvfrankfurt-o.): Sprache. The Hague: Mouton (first edition 1953). www. Berlin: Akademie. Wiese. 898–990. Yang. Seminar für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft.German as an Endangered Language? 137 Pörksen. München: C. Richard 1996 The Phonology of German. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. Wien: Passagen. Jürgen 1998 Die Macht der Sprache. 69). Heide 1999 Die Pluralbildung im Deutschen. Tübingen: Niemeyer. Berlin: AkademieVerlag. Linguistik online 4/3.Beck. Schiewe. Renate 1995 Conditions for stability. . Thieroff. Gerhard 1998 Zur Sprachbefindlichkeit der Deutschen: Erste Ergebnisse einer Repräsentativumfrage. Folia Linguistica XXXVI/ 3–4: 261–295. Raffelsiefen. Sprachwissenschaft. Tübingen. Rolf 2001 Morphosyntax nominaler Einheiten im Deutschen. Grundzüge einer deutschen Grammatik. Findings and Problems. Eine Geschichte der Sprachkritik von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. 16–44. Richard 1995 Warum geht die deutsche Sprache immer wieder unter? Die Problematik der Werthaltungen im Deutschen.de/3_99/wegener. Ein Beitrag zur morphologischen Theoriebildung. Wolfgang Ulrich 1981 Phonologie: Segmentale Struktur.html 2002 Aufbau von markierten Pluralklassen im Deutschen – eine Herausforderung für die Markiertheitstheorie. Universität Bonn. Uwe 1994 Wissenschaftssprache und Sprachkritik.. (Arbeiten des SFB 282. Schrodt. Habilitationsschrift. Öffentlichkeit. In: Gerhard Stickel (ed. Wurzel. 1984 Flexionsmorphologie und Natürlichkeit. In: Karl Erich Heidolph et al. Nr. Universität Düsseldorf . Uriel 1967 Languages in Contact. Wenliang 1990 Anglizismen im Deutschen: am Beispiel des Nachrichtenmagazins Der Spiegel. Wegener.H. Stickel. Untersuchungen zu Geschichte und Gegenwart. . Deren Vielfalt ersetzt die Babelsche Einfalt. Alltagsinformatik und vielen anderen besonders weit fortgeschritten. Wörter sind jedoch nicht nur naturhaft-akustische Lautgebilde. Dieter Zusammenfassung Die Lexik einer Sprache ist der (genokulturelle) Code derjenigen „Kultur. die sich seiner bedient“. dass ihm der pflegliche Umgang mit der . Sport. dem ist auch nicht ohne weiteres zuzutrauen. Das Sterben der sprachlich-kulturellen Vielfalt unter dem Druck der einen „einzigen“. statt sich zu differenzierten Sätzen zu fügen. Mode. Eigensprachliche und/oder längst assimilierte Wörter zur Bezeichnung von Begriffen werden massenhaft des Landes verwiesen. Naturschutz dagegen als zukunftsweisend. Namen haben nur deshalb einen Sinn.Does “Denglish” 1 Dedifferentiate Our Perceptions of Nature? The View of a Nature Lover and Language “Fighter” Hermann H. d. interessant. nicht pfleglich umgeht. Neue werden kaum mehr gebildet und die ersatzweise hereingelassenen sind häufig nur in Form von Wortbruch verfügbar. anregend. Dieser Zusammenhang muss endlich weltweit dieselbe umweltpolitische Beachtung wie der Artenschutz finden! In Deutschland ist die Deformierung der „Kultursprache Deutsch“ zum Denglischen in den Bereichen Musik. bilden sich aus ihnen komplexe Kulturund „Sozial“produkte. dabei zur Allerweltsart verkommenden Sprache wird im Sinne eines Sprachdarwinismus fast naturgeschichtlich zwingend hingenommen. Sprachenschutz gilt heute noch als rückständig. In Form von Sprachen regelhaft organisiert. So entsteht zur Zeit in Deutschland Sprachbruch namens Denglisch und weltweit BSE – Bad Simple English.h. Der Zusammenhang Sprachenschutz/kulturelle Vielfalt hat deshalb auch unmittelbar mit natürlicher Vielfalt. Zu viele Mutationen auf einmal zerstören den Phänotyp. weil es für dasselbe Ding oder denselben Begriff immer unermesslich viele Deutungen oder Sichtweisen gibt. Schutz und Nutzung von Natur und Begeisterung für sie zu tun. Wer mit Sprache nicht sprachökologisch. Sie sind auch Kulturdenkmale im Kleinstformat (trotz ihrer ständig wechselnden Bedeutung). Not only in Europe. something is going on that is fundamentally wrong….140 Hermann H. but . Unter dem Druck der eindimensional ökonomischen Vernunft und ihrer Sprache gerät schon heute das Beziehungsgeflecht aus Mensch. by its former chief editor Jürgen Räuschel (Räuschel 2000). so ist Sprachvernichtung immer auch Vernichtung der Wahrnehmbarkeit von Natur im weiteren und von menschlicher Umwelt im engeren Sinne. Sprachenpflege ist deshalb nicht nur eine Aufgabe der Kultur-. wie z. der B. 1. We speak here not of English. 4/2000 (p. sondern auch der Umwelt.. Wahrnehmungsraster.und Naturschutzpolitik.D. Introduction “There is a close relationship between environmental destruction and cultural breaches. from the global increase in pollution (to the) sometimes devastating consequences of globalization for indigenous peoples and their cultures (and) to the loss of a marketing-free living environment here in the west… Every interpersonal emotion.und Angstgegner des Natur. auf solchen Sprachstil einlassen. Wunsch. Sollten sich auch die Antipoden der global player. Natur und Umwelt unter die ökonomischen Zweckzwänge der einen. Increasingly uninhibited neo. begriffliche Gliederungen der Wirklichkeit und ihre sprachlich immer neue Wiedergabe und inhaltliche Wichtung. Linguistic and ecological diversity are equally under pressure 1. Der mächtige ADAC beispielsweise. an important forum and stimulus in nature conservation. Greenpeace u. every locality is transformed into merchandise.N. der VCD. Wenn Sprachen sterben. dann verlören sie ihre Glaubwürdigkeit als Anwälte von Natur und „Nachhaltigkeit“. but of BSE – Bad Simple English – the language of global marketing.or turbo-capitalism is environmentally destructive and its coupling to the one. is culturally destructive. diese Sprache beherrschenden Macht. indeed “single” turbo-language. So wie Artenvernichtung immer auch Vernichtung von menschlicher Kultur (geschichte) und Kultivierbarkeit von Natur ist. Blickwinkel.B. This observation corresponds to “the unspecific feeling that in spite of the economic boom and the global advance of democracy.a. schreibt Denglisch in seiner Mitgliederzeitschrift längst „groß“.U.” This overdue observation was made in no. sterben Denkweisen.und Umweltschutzes.1. 5) of the BUNDmagazin. Dieter Natur ein Anliegen ist. For many this has become alarming” (Klein 2001). They expect the same attitude from their dear customers as well. Would a linguistic-cultural contract between generations help? “If these cultures disappear they and their intimate relationship with nature will be lost forever. the public pays for supporting other cultural assets as well (i.Does “Denglish” Dedifferentiate Our Perceptions of Nature? 141 all over the world. The arrival of Naomi Klein’s book and Räuschel’s observation in the European Year of Languages. exhibitions.” said Klaus Töpfer.500 are threatened with extinction. We must do all we can to protect these people. it stands for the erosion of cultures. It may even regard the multidimensionality of world views that this diversity opens up as an obstacle to unhampered trade. Linguistic diversity is not dear to them. “Cultural diversity in Europe and all over the world are a first rate challenge” (Hamm and Hoffmann.000 speakers are needed to keep just one of the existing languages alive and capable of development (UNEP 2001). the general public. one might say – why not? After all.e. you and I. when it is a matter of their language. 2. Otherwise. Of these.2. theatres. these would no longer be able to share in their inventions of the global market. 1. not merely “just in time” which in German usage would be “Denglish” [ = hotchpotch of German (Deutsch) and English words]. Taking a somewhat cynical approach. . propagate exclusively “their” English. hence. more than half may have disappeared. but too dear. and museums). Only about 100 languages can be preserved for the future in written form and at least 100. Executive Director of UNEP. came in the nick of time. so why should it not pay for preserving linguistic diversity? Today 5000 to 7000 languages are still spoken around the world. 2002).. The global market is not interested in maintaining linguistic and cultural diversity. However. They will not even have the chance to pass on the cultural heritage they bear within them to the coming generations. 2001. and. and by the year 2025. during the 21st session of UNEP’s Governing Council in early February 2001 in Nairobi. It looks as if the costs of maintaining diversity will be left to those who always pay where the market does not feel responsible: the state. Language displacement – NO THANKS! It does not do justice to the English language to caricature it as the language of uninhibited turbo-capitalism. it is indisputable that its apologists. Language development – YES PLEASE! The lexicon – the spoken and written vocabulary of a language – could. Historically speaking. the present state is primarily characterized by the global displacement of cultures and languages under the pressure of one “single. birds. destroy the phenotype.” de facto self-protecting common species. – politically welcome it. Abandoned and less resistant. the others lose any chance to evolve. bats or moths and hence the diversity of natural species. “be described as” the (genocultural) code of that “culture which uses it” (Kerckhove 1994: 158). Put simply: 1 word stem = 1 gene. contentrelated interpretation and modification of words follow a language’s individually developed linguistic-historical phonetic. – dress it up as scientific fact by the platitude “languages evolve”.142 Hermann H. linking. whilst chauvinism and provincialism meet the least resistance and thrive best where the linguistic and cultural identity of a people is disregarded or where an identity not their own is imposed on them. large mammals.” But an exchange between linguistically dead cultures would be just as lifeless as the globally uniform language is undifferentiated. – historically play it down. The decoding. In view of this extinction of languages under the pressure of English. and – naturalistically trivialize it: “language is very alive. . as it helps to overcome “chauvinism and provincialism”. there is hardly an emotive word dull enough to not – fashionably transfigure it. regulation. with regard to its function and developmental capability. grammatical and syntactical systems of rules. Dieter 1.3. But the death of linguistic-cultural diversity under the pressure of the one “single” language degenerating to a commonplace language is accepted as if it were a linguistic Darwinian law. Too many mutations at once. as “we have seen all this before”. as it promotes “cultural exchange through globalization”. We are distressed by observations of the alarming increase in omnipresent species when we see them threatening orchids. This is how a linguistic breach is occurring at present – called “Denglisch” in Germany and globally BSE – a commonplace English for linguistic simpletons. especially if they are arbitrarily set and not adaptable to the respective system of rules. 2000 in Mainz. Additionally. Language and perception of nature Today. they form complex cultural and “social” products. President of the German Federal Republic. Organized with rules in the form of languages. whilst nature conservation is something forward-looking. “Diversity replaces Babelian uniformity and simplicity. Therefore. social and many more categories of “culture”. stimulating and interesting. language conservation is still considered backward-looking. Along with “Rio” came finally the development of a positive awareness to the benefit of a friendly nature conservation that encourages us to get involved.Does “Denglish” Dedifferentiate Our Perceptions of Nature? 143 2. Names are given meaning. although their meanings and connotations are changing continuously. They are also miniature cultural monuments. plants and animals is the result of a diversified perception of nature in linguistic. Language diversification is not only a precondition for the development of cultural diversity but also for a diversified perception of nature. the precise term “culture” in the sense of sustainable exploitation of soil. It links the Biblical order given to humankind – to have dominion over nature – with the pleasure of cultivating nature. linguistic diversity and cultivation of nature 2. the European Year of Languages proclaimed by the European Commission and the Strasbourg parliament in 2001 was intended to increase the awareness of the advantages of multilingualism. (Werthebach 2000). The idea of the globe being a “sustainably cultured garden” includes its being as a “garden of many (human) cultures”. Johannes Rau. The contextual connection between language and (cultural) diversity is not just a mere analogy for the interdependence between species diversity and diversity of natural habitats. Multilingualism allows us to change viewpoints with never-ending variety. but not with work. because there are many meanings” (Porsch 2001). But the interdependence between language conservation and natural diversity must still be laboriously brought to their awareness. for its corresponding conservation and for joy in its perceived diversity. The connection between species conservation and natural diversity has reached at least the minds of the decision-makers. Berlin’s former minister (“Senator”) for internal affairs. wished for more loyalty to our national and – to most of us – mother tongue. Werthebach. worries and plagues (Makowski . Species conservation. Words are not merely acoustic articulations. by contrast emphasized its socially integrative function and considered it necessary to protect it by law. aesthetic. In the cultural sense.1. in his “Gutenberg speech” of November 23. and sometimes only one. and hence of its lexicon (vocabulary) and structure (grammar). The finer their linguistic perception. But a word can only express in language a few real aspects. Dieter und Buderath 1983). By “precaution” we mean that nature can only remain permanently cultivatable through scientifically cultivated recourse to the wilderness (= uncultivated nature. in harmony with a genetically extremely diverse flora and fauna. and the world and language. of the concept described. In central Africa. these are described in words for the purpose of communication. and the less broken the transition. very differentiated and equally efficient form of land cultivation using canals. For example. the more careful consideration we can use in shaping the environment through targeted interventions and permanently cultivate nature through recourse to wilderness (see above). thought and the world. the Aka pygmies possess highly differentiated knowledge of the healing powers of certain plants. It follows that “a garden is the purest of human pleasures” (Francis Bacon [1625]. The complexity of the linguistic means of a culture. 2. terraces and fields at an altitude of 4000 m has endured for over 3000 years. an ancient. Such differentiated cultural relationships between nature and humans are also reflected in the respective “cultural” language in each example. Dedifferentiation of perceptions of nature through dedifferentiation of language In the transitional stage between non-culture and culture.2. For centuries. is a measure of the differentiation with which they consider reality. through circumspect recourse to its chemical or genetic resources. and never completely. It was “cultivated” for centuries in Europe by means of unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. The basket weaving art of the Tlingit people in the northwest United States is unsurpassed (UNEP 2001). we break up and dissect an unspeakably complex reality into culturally specific patterns of perception or concepts. hence. and in turn are expressed through language (“put into words”). with which its speakers internally communicate about reality. as cited in Makowski & Buderath 1983). the more elaborated our concepts of environment. the Dai have lived in the “Holy Hills” of the Chinese province of Yunnan. For example. in the Andes Mountains of South America.144 Hermann H. for example. whilst we moderns often speak of sustainability and precaution. the less broken their relationship with reality. are never structurally congruent. The broken concepts become ideas. or “non-culture”). They . nature and wilderness are. For this reason. Therefore. by both subjecting it to and describing it from a singular. even the picture itself. The “literal” ability to describe. 1). It illustrates what is behind the assessment of the nature of the lexicon. There are many more examples of non-industrialized ways of cultivating nature illustrated in a 1999 report by the UNEP (Posey 1999). sensual perception.” Only through their diverse linguistic refraction do reason. 2. by René Magritte (fig. and subsequently. and the subconscious become capable of experience. Language refracts and fractures reality (see fig. and communication. as differentiated from the structure of languages. for here we see everything “only” from a special viewpoint. can see only on his easel? Is the window. through different accentuations. hence in front of René Magritte’s personal eyepiece and his field of projection. This connection threatens to break if the . For every language reflects reality with different shades. but is also the beginning of cultural history and cultural diversity. speech and knowledge determine the genocultural “code” (Kerckhove 1994). how closely language. hence the structure and content of the knowledge of “primitive” societies. sight. Today this complex refraction is threatened by its degeneration into a simple “predetermined breaking-point” of the connection between species protection and natural diversity. to focus and refract reality. through the eyepiece of Magritte! Every language differs from all other views of reality. health and intellectual aspects of the unity of linguistic and natural biodiversity). for his concept of landscape and nature (differentiated or less differentiated) than what we. La condition humaine. inherent to all the many languages that we have not used from birth. the linguistic-conceptual refraction and breaking of perceptions in the area of transition between nature and culture is both inescapable and unavoidably complex. Magritte’s painting is an allegory of this. in this case. Is there not something else behind this easel. It shows.Does “Denglish” Dedifferentiate Our Perceptions of Nature? 145 could disappear along with the language before we and our “Western Civilization” have a chance to see how differentially these cultures perceived nature. the cultivation of biodiversity (other topics are the social. stands for just as many other concepts of the “world. unique viewpoint. in different angles of light. a staffage? What could be hidden behind it? We do not know. for instance. merely an easel. 2): this is not only inescapable. The preservation of as many languages as possible and their speakers is essential for the preservation. A philosophical view Now let us take a look at the “picture of our way of thinking and perceiving”.3. as demanded in 2002 by UNICEF and in 2001 by UNEP.146 Hermann H. La condition humaine (René Magritte) © VG Bild-Kunst Bonn 2002 . receive the same global environmental policy attention as species conservation! Figure 1. Dieter connection between language protection and cultural diversity does not finally. 4. Language refracts and fractures reality (and every language differently) .1. differentiated perceptions of it. From Denglish /BSE … In the meantime. Case study: The German language 3.Does “Denglish” Dedifferentiate Our Perceptions of Nature? 147 2. we irrevocably lose culturally specific knowledge. and eventually replaced by an ostensibly more focussed eyepiece. devalued. Conclusion from Section 2 Along with every linguistic eyepiece that is unfocussed. which differentiates among dealings with nature. and differentiated use. The result is more unpleasant than merely disloyally breaking one’s word – it is a break with our specific culture and perception of reality. we have started to break away from our mother tongue. Our linguistic eyepiece is becoming unfocussed and cloudy under the pressure of the Figure 2. Linguistic dedifferentiation under the pressure of the one more favoured language thus leads to a dedifferentiation of our perception of “nature” and our possibilities to sustainably protect and cultivate it! 3. the German motto would – in the spirit of this essay – refer with complete ease to the mutual contextual dependencies of the terms “nature” and “culture. everyday computing and many others have been witness to the extensive progression of the deformation of the German “language of culture” into Denglish. sport. but instead our native language was pushed aside as de facto old-fashioned. but also the huge semantic field related to “Geist” (“mind” or “spirit”). Dieter “prefabricated words” (Dieter 2000) of the “single” other eyepiece. In brief. fashion. not ready for tomorrow. spots for nature. the German not only expresses (blind?) ‘busyness’ for nature. backward. outdated in favour of bad English (or Denglish).148 Hermann H. Is even the language of nature conservation threatened by this de-differentiation? Some observations: (1) In the summer of 2000 the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation – German: Bundesamt für Naturschutz or “BfN” – invented the English motto “Busy for Nature” for its abbreviation. Hence. rather than strung together into differentiated sentences. which is loaded with associations and indeed related to culture in a narrower sense. . Hardly any new words are being formed and those let in as replacements are often only available in the form of broken words. in Germany the fields of music. “Begeistert für Natur” ( = enthusiastic about Nature) would have been just as suitable. But in contrast to the English motto.” Should this context really be lost to the more important purpose in favour of the mindless (!) advertising purpose? The BfN’s press office asseverated that the (D)English motto was only developed with a view to the “youth” target group – and that it is only three words! But do we have to really explain to an organisation like the BfN that today’s youth is the creator of tomorrow’s language and its semantic fields and that “many a mickle makes a muckle” also applies analogously to the diffuse overloading of a language with bits of words that can be neither added to nor expanded in these fields? This careless attitude towards our most important cultural asset by the BfN unfortunately has a systematic background. Words for concepts either originating from the German language and/or that have been long assimilated in it are being expelled from the country en masse. as is demonstrated by the title it gave its competition in 2002 for particularly impressive photos and films on nature. i. the cultural asset of linguistic diversity has long begun its march off into the museum. it has already become a nightmare. The BfN with its “spots.Does “Denglish” Dedifferentiate Our Perceptions of Nature? 149 (2) In October 2000 the linguistically careless sentence “Greening our children’s future” on a carefully designed invitation from the Berlin BUND2 to its 20 th anniversary celebration came to my eye. emotionally charged English (Doppelpunkt 2000) – unless we are able to patiently overlook it. From all of their perspectives. The only “cultured” village language would be Bad Simple English. the paradisiacal vision of the global village threatens to degenerate into a worldwide village of merchandise. to welcome).” the Berlin BUND’s greening slogan and the unsuspecting “birding for kids” of the NABU aim into the conceptual nebula for the sake of short-term effects. Hence.e. expressive and graphic way of speaking (nuances)? What does the verb “to green” actually mean? Its meaning intended here (“to make green” as a transitive verb) does not exist in the English language – let alone “to bird” (instead of “to go birding”)! Hence. whose worldwide variations hardly differentiate from one another any more than the dog breeds Airedale and Yorkshire Terrier in the gardens of the culturally unsophisticated villagers. what is its semantic field in German – with the connotations so important for a precise. . 2/2000 spoke of “Birding for Kids” and “Fit for Birding” in conjunction with bird watching Who is going to build such Denglish bits into structured German sentences? Is this perhaps not even desired? How is “busy” inflected. Perhaps for a time one or the other non-English language would come into fashion as the after-work and at-home dialect. They aim “roughly precisely” towards where the “busy mainstream Denglish” of fast profit-seekers and trendsetters have long been swimming – from fast food chains to big tourist transporters all the way to the true global (gambling) players. the “creators” of such expressions are forcing us to use a Germanised. Wouldn’t its presumed message be much more vivid if it had used a play on words with the German words begrünen (to green) and begrüßen (to greet. a false.” with its “Busy for Nature. hence moving away from the linguistic mainstream (“Die Zukunft begrünen – für unsere Kinder”)? (3) The NABU 3 booklet no. into the cultural deep freeze. In some parts of the world. the culture of the Native American Hopi. both intellectually and conceptually. …to simple-minded diversity. Greenpeace. as would the word “alcohol” for a certain aspect of a good wine or the word “mammal” for someone’s lover..” Grasping reality means grasping it linguistically (H. reality. v. Weisgerber/B. Only those who also consider this can expect to personally motivate people globally and lastingly for the model of “sustainability. even in natural sciences.150 Hermann H. Gadamer). Imagination pays. Oh simple-minded diversity! The powerful ADAC (the German automobile association). G. Dieter 3. more or less rationalized. one “single” global language eyepiece. should be drawn into such a poor linguistic style (which already appears to be the case for the BfN). Creative utilization of our national and mother tongue not only requires cultural imagination. the ideal and bogy opponent of nature conservation and environmental protection. Whorf. in which the time factor plays a constitutive role (see Whorf 1971: 58. the VCD.” would allow us to perceive only one single. all other “less rational” languages would soon be obsolete. This interpretation of the role of any language in discovering reality by refracting it was called “aspective realism” (Rothacker 1959).” According to Benjamin L. then they would not only lose their linguistic profiles. What a prospect! . even highly praised as “scientifically essential. through the creation of added value as regards content. According to W.2. and a short summary in Störig 2002: 313). language conveys more than just univocal ideas. etc. Sapir. Hence. Humboldt said of thought that it follows “a network of rails that are set down in the respective language. Lee Whorf/E. It cannot be produced through blindly adopting and cloning prefabricated words from other language “species” (Dieter 2000). has long made full use of Denglish in its members’ magazine. Wilhelm v. If now its antipodes like the BUND. Humboldt/L. having the same power of explanation as Newton’s conception of the world. as well as government agencies dedicated to environmental protection and nature conservation. Hence. They would also lose their credibility as advocates of the environmentally and socially proper utilization of the term “sustainability. but also creates our concept of the future! Only institutions such as the military or international air traffic can (and must) function without imagination. the same applies to the language of conceptions of nature. Next to it. would have even been able to develop a physical conception of the world without the factor of time.” This term has not only an ecological and economic. whose language has no expression for ‘time’ as we know it in Indo-European languages. but also a sociocultural component. while the destruction of a language is also the destruction of the perceptibility of nature in a broader and of the human environment in a narrower sense. is not only in indirect proportion to the relationship between species conservation and natural diversity. is revoking the contract between generations. potentials of nature. language cultivation is not only a matter of cultural policy as stated again recently in a resolution by a “World’s Cultural Forum” (2002). perspectives. and their different respective renderings and content weighting. ways of thinking. under the pressure of the one economic reason and its onedimensional language. or a simple plant species (e. much less from a socio-cultural or political point of view.3. It is also a matter of environmental protection and policy to protect diversity of natural species and habitats. conceptual categories of reality. 3. the interlaced relationships between humans. When languages die. . we cannot expect to understand how to treat nature with care (Dieter 1994).g. For the destruction of species is also always the destruction of human culture (cultural history) and of the ability to cultivate nature. This cannot be aligned with making the concept of sustainability concrete in a way that is diverse as regards content – not from an ecological and not from an economic.” to come back to the interpretation of the painting by R. “the world can only be seemingly clarified in its different levels of reality. Already today. perception patterns.g.Does “Denglish” Dedifferentiate Our Perceptions of Nature? 151 If we do not handle language ecologically. Magritte. die along with them. Just compare the content of the “trivial” names from only a few languages for one single insect family (e. Therefore. The connection between language protection and cultural diversity is therefore more than merely analogous. for lily of the valley 4)! Each language illuminates an entirely different aspect of what we perceive of the insect or plant and keeps it alive in the cultural and scientific memory of humankind. Conclusion from Section 3 The destruction of languages results not only in the destruction of cultural. Thus the destruction of future possibilities for living and shaping life. nature and the environment are coming under the economic expedient constraint of the one power that uses this language all too eagerly. In addition.” (Makowski und Buderath 1983). just like the destruction of natural resources. Therefore. but also of functional. with care. i.e. there are also direct connections between language protection and natural diversity and between species protection and cultural diversity. for butterflies). through “application of reason. They would be doing so for the linguistically and culturally sustainable future of our children! . However. From conclusions 2.D. exchange but not an undifferentiated intermixing between all of them. as well as (4) actively speaking at least two foreign languages. both among experts and in everyday language: “grünen” rather than “greening”. a certain concept of “nature” is always the product of a certain linguistic-cultural perception. (3) making preferential use of and further developing the linguistic resources of the closest.4 and 3. and understanding others so that an ever larger part of international communication is made possible on the basis of fluency. hence the national or mother. and possibly soon even electronically on the basis of acoustic language recognition programs (Hilberg 2000). today in Germany with Anglicisms.U. as well as by public institutions that work for sustainable species protection and nature conservation in the sense of the UNEP (2001). Think global. functionally circumspect use of words as long as they are foreign to our own linguistic code. It should be adhered to by the B.N. e. language.3 it follows that the response of environmental and nature conservation policy to linguistic levelling in a global mono “culture” should be: (1) Loyalty to our own and openness to other languages. Practical/political consequences Environmental and nature conservation policy are right to stop the dediversification of nature. intensive ‘cultivation’ of terminologies. (2) critical. Dieter 4.152 Hermann H. “Begeistert für Natur” rather than “Busy for Nature”. “Vögel schauen” rather than the impossible “birding”.g. speak local: This motto briefly and concisely summarizes all four responses. by Greenpeace and other organisations. one from a directly neighbouring country. and Bernhard Buderath 1983 Die Natur dem Menschen Untertan: Ökologie im Spiegel der Landschaftsmalerei.de). Naomi 2001 No Logo! – Der Kampf der Global Players um Marktmacht. held under the auspices of Viviane Reding. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag. Schmetterling (German). The German “Schmetter-” comes from Slavic smetana for “butter” (>Schmetterling = butterfly. Derrick de 1994 “Kunst und Natur”: Ökologische Ästhetik. Hilberg.kat-akademie. Germany. Dietmar Kamper and Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht. Doppelpunkt 2/2000. In: Christoph Wulf. In the Middle Ages this word was used for flying witches who came by night to steal the butter). München: Riemann. München: Kindler. Hermann H. Member of the European Commission for Culture. 1994 Ökologie als Sprachkritik. NABU = Naturschutzbund Deutschland (German Association for the Conservation of Nature and Wildlife) 4.und Naturschutz Deutschland (German Association for the Protection of Environment and Nature) 3.com/erno.dioezese-trier. Butterfly = papillon (French). Doppelpunkt 2000 Deutsch-Jahresthema: Es gibt kein richtiges Deutsch im falschen Englisch. similar to English. . Ethik der Ästhetik. BUND = Bund für Umwelt. Maiglöckchen (= German “May bell”) References Dieter. Klein. scent). October 17–20.Does “Denglish” Dedifferentiate Our Perceptions of Nature? 153 Notes 1. www.scientificjournals. UWSF 6/3: 121–122. “Denglish” = hotchpotch of German (Deutsch) and English words 2. Hamm. Kerckhove. 2000 Hat Deutsch als Wissenschaftssprache wirklich keine Zukunft? Forschung & Lehre 12: 628–630. Makowski. Bernd and Herbert Hoffmann 2002 Invitation to the International Conference “Cultural Imperialism or blossoming diversity”. at the Catholic Academy of Trier (www. ERNO 1/3: 125–127. W. 2000 Fertigwörter – Fertigkost. Lily of the Valley = le muguet (= French from Latin muscus = odour. Henry. Gipper (ed.2000: 6. Eckart 2000 Die deutsche Sprache braucht gesetzlichen Schutz! Berliner Morgenpost. UNEP 2001 United Nations Environment Programme: Press release of 8 February 2001 on the 21st session of the UNEP Council. Whorf.sachsen. (ed.): Sprache als Schlüssel zur Welt. In: H. Hans Joachim 2002 Abenteuer Sprache. World Cultural Forum 2002 For the linguistic and cultural diversity and against linguistic-cultural hegemony. München: dtv. Paderborn. Wirklichkeit. Vilmar (eds. Festschrift für Leo Weisgerber. Dieter Porsch. Benjamin L. 1971 Sprache. Rothacker. April issue.) 1999 Cultural and Spiritual Values of Biodiversity: A Complementary Contribution to the Global Biodiversity Assessment.org/GC/GC21.12. ISBN 3 931263 304. Erich 1959 Ontologische Voraussetzungen des Begriffs Muttersprache. Paris: UNEP Publications. Jürgen 2000 Korrespondenz in Sachen Rechtschreibung.154 Hermann H. (Marcel. 31. 39–46. Paderborn: IfBVerlag. Darrell A. Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt. Störig. Peter 2001 Sehnsucht nach Babel.). Parlament von links. Gawlitta and F. Denken. UNICEF-Kurier 4. Düsseldorf: Schwann. .de.) Posey. www. In: K.Braumann@slt. BUNDmagazin 4. “Deutsch nix wichtig” – Engagement für die deutsche Sprache. Werthebach. Räuschel.unep. Internationalizing Science and Technology . . durchaus gleichen Formats wie Englisch und auch Französisch. ähnlich wie Französisch. Abschließend werden die Probleme deutschsprachiger Wissenschaftler in heutiger Zeit dargestellt. der hauptsächlich den USA zugute kommt. durch Hinwendung zum Englischen als Wissenschaftssprache die internationale Stellung des Deutschen weiter zu unterminieren oder sich auf Deutsch im provinziellen Bereich zu bewegen. in welchem Ausmaß und warum Deutsch in der Zeit gegen Ende des 19. dagegen schwächer in den angewandten Naturwissenschaften und in den Sozialwissenschaften und am wenigsten tiefgreifend in den Geisteswissenschaften. Jahrhunderts eine Weltsprache der Wissenschaft war. Darüber hinaus werden auch die hauptsächlichen Ursachen angesprochen: der wirtschaftliche Ruin der deutschsprachigen Länder durch den I. der Boykott gegen deutschsprachige Wissenschaftler und Deutsch als Wissenschaftssprache seitens alliierter Wissenschaftler in der Zeit nach dem I. und zu Beginn des 20. warum der Stellungsverlust von Deutsch und der Stellungsgewinn von Englisch in den theoretischen Naturwissenschaften besonders dramatisch verlaufen ist. Es wird beschrieben und erklärt. wie und warum seit Ende des I. – wie im vorliegenden Beitrag gezeigt wird – ein Mythos. Weltkriegs Deutsch als internationale Wissenschaftssprache an Boden verloren hat. Die seit 1997/98 eingeführten Internationalen Studiengänge an deutschen Universitäten in englischer Sprache erhellen besonders dramatisch die Sprachschwierigkeiten der deutschsprachigen Länder in der internationalen Kommunikation. wenn die Studierenden in ihrem Rahmen auch Deutsch lernen oder sogar an deutschsprachigen Lehrveranstaltungen teilnehmen müssen. Die quantitativen Verschiebungen werden anhand diverser Statistiken aufgezeigt. Weltkrieg. Diese Studiengänge untergraben nur dann nicht das Studium von Deutsch als Fremdsprache im Ausland. Abschließend . Sie haben. zugespitzt gesagt. dass es in den Geisteswissenschaften noch gesicherte Nischen für Deutsch als internationale Wissenschaftssprache gibt. Weltkrieg. die Wahl. Mord und Vertreibung zahlreicher deutscher Wissenschaftler in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus. und wie und warum Englisch eine immer herausragendere Stellung gewonnen hat. abermaliger wirtschaftlicher Ruin durch den II. Allerdings ist die verbreitete Meinung. Weltkrieg und der seitdem anhaltende brain drain. Es wird auch belegt und begründet.German as an International Language of the Sciences – Recent Past and Present 1 Ulrich Ammon Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag legt dar. Today. Introductory remark This text is based on a paper I presented at the conference “The Fate of European Languages in the Age of Globalisation: The Future of German” that took place in the Deutsches Haus in April . this is entirely normal. about the conference languages. to speak English even at a conference in the USA. Als Signal für diese Zielsetzung sollte die Weltsprache umbenannt werden. threatening positive face. This would definitely be true in a somewhat global setting. it was left to each speaker to decide what language to use. H. During the preparation for the conference. especially with the president of the Gesellschaft für Deutsche Sprache. 1. the choice of any language other than English is felt to be deviant. Lawrence writes in his famous novel was by no means unusual at the time before WW I. i.158 Ulrich Ammon wird begründet. the organisers had a debate with some of the potential participants. A hundred years ago. What D. German was one of the world languages of science at the end of the 19th and in the early 20th century Lady Chatterley. The organisers had proposed to use English for the presentation of the papers for practical purposes. because they feared that potential participants would otherwise be excluded for want of sufficient knowledge of German. a Germanist. dass den Muttersprachlern des Englischen. English or German. 2. since it is much more likely that people will know English than any other foreign language. warum die derzeitigen sprachlichen Nachteile deutschsprachiger und anderer nicht-englischsprachiger Wissenschaftler letztlich nur dadurch beseitigt werden können. There. und zwar von Englisch in Globalisch (auf Globalisch natürlich Globalish). and to some participants speaking German might appear the more marked choice. die normative Kontrolle über die Weltsprache entrissen wird. and her husband studied in Germany – until the war forced them back home. I am mentioning this conflict because it is an intrinsic aspect of my topic. I assume that such a choice is perceived as potentially more face-threatening. The conflict was solved by the offer of the Gesellschaft für Deutsche Sprache to pay for simultaneous interpretation if necessary. die unter der englischsprachigen Weltbevölkerung immer mehr in die Minderheit geraten. her sister.e. 2002. namely for British . it would probably have been conspicuous for a scholar of German. Rudolf Hoberg. (Vorwort. which now – with hindsight – almost appears to have been the German century. The importance of German increased however hand in hand with the advancement of science and scholarship in the German-speaking countries. A. literary. who otherwise admired things German. in the 1998 volume: Germany now has the reputation of being the most advanced country in the sciences. Latin and French were still the more important languages of science in Germany. Therefore. “Tout s’y passe en théorie” [everything remains theoretical]. In the course of the century however. The 20th century took another turn At its end. who is trying to make himself master of any subject […] whether he is not compelled to read half a dozen times as many German as English books.German as an International Language of the Sciences 159 students to study at a German university and of course to know German. a Japanese scholar of a Samurai family. One often encounters the opinion that Nazism and WW II were crucial for the decline of German and also of French. translation U. (see Gizyncki 1973: 477) At the beginning of the 19th century. Jintaro Omura. and the simultaneous rise of . natural sciences and empirical research developed as a consequence of Wilhelm von Humboldt’s university reform. published in Japan. or theological. Thomas Huxley expressed British concerns as early as 1869 when he wrote: Ask the man who is investigating any question profoundly and thoroughly – be it historical. philosophical. was even the verdict of Germaine de Staël’s. nor was German a world language. the USA celebrated the 20th century as hers. 3. The same holds true for students of various other countries. The parallels are. writes in the journal Deutsche Sprache. which is in fact the case. This development was based on favorable economic and political conditions in the course of the 19th century.) Until the early 19th century the German universities had the reputation of being too speculative. misleading. to the same extent as the USA or English are today. In addition. the political basis of German prevalence was more fragile and problematic. among other reasons. however. physical. the most eager students from all countries choose to study there. Germany was never a scientific center. Number of quotations by five-year intervals in The Journal of the American Chemical Society 1926 from the four most frequently quoted chemistry journals 1871– 1875 33 – – – 1901– 1905 Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft Journal of the Chemical Society Liebigs Annalen der Chemie Zeitschrift für physikalische Chemie 79 47 23 19 1876– 1880 44 1 13 – 1906– 1910 115 45 33 29 1881– 1885 53 2 18 – 1911– 1915 67 60 37 21 1886– 1890 56 5 19 6 1916– 1920 30 37 8 6 1891– 1895 60 20 21 16 1921– 1925 78 122 26 53 1896– 1900 64 21 22 28 Sum total 668 390 278 191 Journal Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft Journal of the Chemical Society Liebigs Annalen der Chemie Zeitschrift für physikalische Chemie . which started to become the economically strongest country in the world even before WW I. English was positioned much better than German for becoming the global language early on: as a wide-spread colonial language and as the national language of the USA. However. this development began earlier. It would probably have happened even without the wars and without Nazism. Table 1. though more slowly and to a lesser extent. and has never been No 1.160 Ulrich Ammon English. Germany was economically second then. I will come back to this later. They regularly give a comprehensive overview of the publications in the respective . French can hardly be accepted as a substitute […]. except English. but becomes more evident in the more comprehensive study by Minoru Tsunoda (1983: 144– 155) (cf. M. The frequency of their citation. in real proportions the distance between English and any other language of scientific publications would be much greater. while the share of English continued to rise. The periodical bibliographies are an indicator of that development. using German as their sole language of publication. its share continually declined. and no other language accounted for more than 2 percent. Notice that the ordinate of Figure 2 has been compressed. Figure 1). Table 1). and E. which was later replaced by Spanish. In the 1920’s. the American scientists P. German had been replaced by French as the most frequently studied foreign language. In the 1990’s. Thereafter however. I found this in a follow-up study to Tsunoda I carried out myself using the same bibliographical data bases Tsunoda had used for his previous study (results in Figure 2). Table 1). is an important indicator of evaluation. over 90 percent of the natural-science publications were in English. and so did the share of French. He found that German exceeded any other language in the number of publications in the natural sciences during the first two decades of the 19th century. On close inspection. On that basis the two researchers made recommendations for journal subscriptions – but also for foreign language learning. though perhaps not immediately. but also in their evaluation. The fourth journal was British. Of the four journals cited most often. L. namely: Certainly it should be insisted that a reading knowledge of German be required of every student majoring in chemistry in college. and had negative impacts on German as an international language of science. The Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft were clearly in first place (cf. it shows even in the Gross’ findings (cf. all the other languages of science of any significance.German as an International Language of the Sciences 161 A language’s position in the sciences shows in the number of publications in that language. three appeared in Germany. By 1996. (Gross/Gross 1927: 388) The last sentence aimed at the shift in foreign language learning in the USA during and after WW I. The replacement of German was the consequence of anti-German attitudes during and after the war. had shrunk to the same low level. the “impact factor” in the case of a journal. Gross (full first names not given) identified the journals that served as the main citation sources of American chemists (Gross/Gross 1927). The decline of German as a foreign language during and after WW I was not limited to the USA. 68 33 English French 27. If one glances through their volumes year by year one can virtually see the language shift.07 0 1880 1890 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 Figure 1.9 4. together with English and French. however.23 25.29 21. There can. or Physikalische Berichte.1 60 55. founded as early as 1830 and absorbed by Chemical Abstracts in 1969. As to official languages and language choice in international scientific conferences.2 27. no comprehensive long-term investigation.64 40 35.21 33.21 14.26 30. founded in 1845 and taken over by Physics Abstracts in 1995.15 15. Examples are Chemisches Zentralblatt. Proportional language use in scientific publications in the course of one century (cf Tsunoda 1983) . as we would call them today. were formerly produced in Germany. but that most of them were taken over by their Anglo-Saxon competitors.82 14. to my knowledge. there is.6 German 20 23.31 50.62 50 48.35 12.8 37.38 9. It is of additional interest for our topic that some of the most representative of these bibliographical data bases.66 30 27.55 44 46.6 7.43 10.16 11.3 10 14.6 22.5 33. % 70 64.162 Ulrich Ammon field. be no doubt that German was regularly among the official conference languages before WW I.29 53. 1 80. It was initiated by the French and the Belgian science organisations and joined by most of the allied countries. The history of this boycott and counter boycott is presently being researched by Roswitha Reinbothe in connection with myself at the University of Duisburg-Essen. % 100 74.3 2.3 1.2 1 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 Figure 2. 1990). The protagonists of the boycott justified it as the punishment for the German scientists’ support of their government’s military endeavors.German as an International Language of the Sciences 163 This changed as a consequence of the international boycott against German scientists and the German language after WW I.6 77.6 1.4 1. Schroeder-Gudehus 1966.2 90.1 2.6 1.7 English 10 French German 3.4 2.5 87. not a single German scientist was able to participate. In more than 60 percent of the 275 international science conferences during these years.9 3. Proportional use of languages in natural science publications 1980 –1996 (Ammon 1998: 152) . As a consequence. The German scientists responded with a counter boycott which dragged on until the Nazis came to power (cf.5 3. German and Austrian scientists and the German language were virtually banned from international science conferences until the mid 1920s. University professors expelled from Germany by 1936 8 11 62 30 166 132 12 Archeologists Architects Art Historians Biologists Chemists National Economists Pedagogues 54 20 53 113 60 457 31 Engineers Geographers Historians Legal Scholars Mathematicians Medical Scientists Musical Scholars 96 55 124 26 39 23 45 Philologists Philosophers Physicists Psychologists Sociologists Theologians Zoologists 1. Scientists from other linguistic backgrounds therefore have to publish in English if they want their findings to be read by their most influential and powerful colleagues. 1.164 Ulrich Ammon The Nazi period stands out. Australia 17 As a consequence of Nazism the country was in ruin and there were virtually no resources left for science. American scientists who play a dominant role in the international scientific community have thus been encouraged not to read publications in languages other than English.617 university professors and researchers had been expelled.617 – Thereof 1. We at least can thus nourish the belief that the German scientists may have refused to build nuclear weapons for Hitler.160 to English-Speaking Countries: USA 825. William Mackey (personal communication) believes that the American Tertiary Institutions’ decision to reduce or to abolish foreign language requirements had a major impact on the decline of languages other than English as international languages of science. of whom 1. again mainly to the USA. Part 1: 7. . followed. not only Jews. Many of them decided to reduce or to abolish language requirements especially for natural science studies after they had “come under mounting criticism as being of doubtful utility” (Wiltsey 1972. or are no longer able to do so. as the Nazi leaders themselves finally had to admit. By as early as 1936. among other atrocities. A huge brain drain. Table 2). 825 of them to the USA (cf. Scientific self-destruction went so far that even sciences essential for the war suffered. for details on the discussion Ammon 1998: 13). Table 2. A complimentary blow at German and all other international languages of science except English was dealt by an important change of foreign language requirements at American colleges and universities in the 1960’s. Britain 318. as a spectacular example of a country’s scientific self-destruction.160 went to English-speaking countries. cf. That amount of money could pay for more than 50.000 additional full professorships if costs of a professorship are taken as $ 0. The Economist. as a rule. only a miracle could have preserved the previous international standing of German as a language of science.103. where the brain drain from Germany to the USA continues.German as an International Language of the Sciences 165 This brings us to the present. Germany spent 1. with Britain leading in the 19th and the USA in the 20th century. However. Today. the regional extension of German was reduced through the loss of all the colonies and the reduction of German and Austrian linguistic influence in Central-Eastern and Eastern Europe. 4. Canada came first. Germany ranked lowest of all the 10 countries compared. English was destined to become the dominant international language. compared to Germany’s meagre $ 37 billion. with the USA second. also of the sciences. Germany was such an exception in the 19th and early 20th century. and the English-speaking countries had been economically dominant for centuries. the English-speaking countries have more than five times the economic strength (in terms of GDP) of the German-speaking countries. In 1998.5 . Both wars also increased the economic discrepancy between the German-speaking and the English-speaking countries. As a consequence of WW I.804 billion). proportional to its economic strength.345 billion (German GDP in 1999 was $ 2. the USA spent $ 185 billion on research and development. If Germany raised its spending to the same percentage it would have to add $ 27. Even before WW I. English had been spread around the globe to a much greater extent than German as a consequence of successful colonialism. though of course more moderately. 16 Nov. this is not my opinion. The wars certainly accelerated the decline of German and the rise of English.3 % less of its GDP on tertiary education than the United States. or that a society’s achievement in the sciences is. 2002: 35). though there are exceptions. The entirety of the German financing disaster becomes obvious in the comparison of the spending of 10 developed countries on tertiary education as % of GDP (year 1999. Some aspects of the present situation My sketch of the historical development may have left the impression that the wars and German crimes alone have caused the decline of German as an international language of science. Under these circumstances. Sociologist of science de Solla Price (1986: 142) has found “that the share each country has of the world’s scientific literature […] turns out to be very close – almost always a factor of 2 – to that country’s share of the world’s wealth (measured most conveniently in terms of GNP)”. Thus. This movement is explicated in Table 3.1 1992 10.8 51.3 4.6 4.3 – – 1.4 1.0 Shares in English-Language Publications 2.3 .0 6. the financing of niche subjects (Orchideenfächer) at German Universities has been reduced lately.3 Shares in German-Language Publications 5.3 0.4 27.0 1988 26.2 5. in a recent attempt at developing mere competitive clout in the natural sciences.2 58. This amount of professorships is missing in Germany’s competition with the USA. This unequal competition is mirrored in the German scientists’ choice of English as their language of publication as well as in the flight from German by the scientists from other linguistic backgrounds than German.8 5. Table 3. An example is Hethitology which has been dramatically underfinanced at the Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur [Academy of Science and Literature] at the University of Mainz.166 Ulrich Ammon million annually). It shows that the German scientists’ share has increased in the world-wide publications in English as well as in German.8 5.7 1. with noticeable negative effects on the international standing of German in this field (Heinrich Otten.3 MathSciDisc (%) 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1982 1983 1985 1990 1995 1.3 5. This has had disastrous effects on some fields.1 12.7 38.3 6.9 6.7 1984 23.2 12. The second line of figures indicates that the German scientists shifted to English.4 1995 77.9 1. which those privileged by it will certainly not permit. Shares of authors from Germany in Biological Abstracts and MathSciDisc Biological Abstracts (%) Shares in GermanLanguage Publications Shares in EnglishLanguage Publications 1980 22. German science cannot seriously compete with US science.2 12.2 10. Under these conditions.1 4. at least not generally.6 3. it still gives a rough impression of the enormity of the gap.0 0.0 6.7 3. To close this gap Germany would probably have to remold its entire social system. personal communication). Simplistic as this calculation certainly is.8 2. In addition. In reality. It has so far been successful. for details Ammon 1998: 170–179). There might at best be a chance to compete in special fields. in fields like Classical Archeology or Philology. 5. They often simply adopt English terms. The USA does not invest so much in them. One should be aware. However. This development further undermines the international standing of German. since teaching in English is considered essential for attracting foreign students and for preparing German students and professors linguistically for globalization (Ammon/McConnell 2002). there is. with a few exceptions. It seems at times that German scientists and scholars are not up to the task. however. so-called International Study Programs have been introduced in the natural sciences and technologies at German universities with English as the language of teaching. Germany does not really invest in these fields either. especially reference books. that there are other viewpoints on that question based on different interests and that maintenance efforts will have to continue to avert further substitution of English for German. there is a strong tendency that more and more German books are being translated into English. Starting in the winter semester 1997/98. They are based on democratic ideals – science should remain linguistically accessible to everyone – and on Germany’s linguistic interests. even in the . Problems and possibilities of relief There seems to be no danger for the national standing of German as a scientific language on first view. even in the humanities. as smaller countries can successfully compete with larger ones through specialization. for motives similar to the USA. And the German language still has some international standing there. There is also the important problem of continuously modernizing German as a language of science. The struggle is now for maintaining German as an additional language of teaching in these programs. They have since been expanding.German as an International Language of the Sciences 167 and the first line of figures indicates that scientists of other linguistic background fled from German (details in Ammon 1998: 153–155). I assume these programs are there to stay. A recent example is the New Pauly 2003. however. especially in the natural sciences and technologies. The arguments for maintaining German appear strong. The effect on German as a foreign language might otherwise be disastrous. Chances seem to be best in the humanities rather than in the natural sciences. probably because of their assumed irrelevance for power and the economy. which Harald Weinrich has dubbed “niche subjects” of German (cf. clustered random sample of German scientists (n=69) I did some years ago (results in Ammon 1990). On the other hand. and they face continuous role conflicts and criticism for whatever language choice they make. Kant’s Kritik der reinen Vernunft. however. and from the other side. The danger of isolation became obvious in a survey of a small. German scientists and scholars have to serve two scientific markets at the same time: the national and the global. one motive in favor of German. increase the communicative difficulties and perceived distance between the academic and the non-academic part of German society. compete with about half a dozen other languages of similarly limited importance. if the use of English was required. There remains. 38 % in oral comprehension. and admittedly also of French: its importance for the history of numerous fields. it will be difficult for German scientists and scholars to maintain two sets of scientific terms: one in German and one in English. They have not yet become familiar with today’s dominant language of science to the same extent as their Dutch or Scandinavian colleagues. but also to demonstrate that science and scholarship in the German-speaking countries are. and they are quite isolated from the global scientific community. for academic reasons. for betraying their own language community. Some historically-minded scientists or scholars may want to read some groundbreaking publications in the original language. to mention just a few. they are criticized for being provincial. and 33% would not publish (Ammon 1990). Marx’ Das Kapital. Their skills in English are often limited. Thus. 24 % would not have contacts with colleagues. or Einstein’s Relativitätstheorie. German must. one must assume. From one side. and 57 % in writing. For German scientists the present linguistic situation is difficult. whose scientists publish largely in English. . The latter will be indispensable if they want to participate in international scientific communication. as I hope. The unmodified adoption of English terms will. those surveyed would not engage in the following undoubtedly important activities: 19 % would not participate in conferences. Whatever the real level of skills. the mere thought that they may be insufficient seems to keep individuals from participating in international communication. for which neither Geschlechterforschung nor any other German translation is considered an adequate translation. One of many examples is the term Gender Studies. There are reasons outside academia to continue studying German as a foreign language.168 Ulrich Ammon humanities. 25 % of them confessed difficulty in reading English texts. better than their reputation. Freud’s Traumdeutung. These days. It is important that they should engage in global communication in order to learn. such as. Each community has the genuine interest in spreading its language. it seems. participate in this kind of discrimination. It nevertheless deserves careful examination (see for details Ammon 2003). The term linguicism has been proposed by Tove Skutnabb-Kangas and Robert Phillipson (e. and also use English for international communication. would so many language communities readily give up their traditional tongue. contribute to changing English into an even more global language. since their use value increases in proportion to the number of owners. as I said. Even sociolinguists. especially in the case of written texts. air for breathing for instance. 1995: 105). These are goods which are not only available for free. which sounds pejorative). It should be openly criticized as the attempt to protect linguistic privileges for reasons of prestige. English native speakers’ corrective behavior versus non-natives can well be regarded as a kind of linguicism.g. They should especially help put an end to the native speakers’ exclusive control of global language norms and their intolerant correctness judgments. Languages are. if learning and handling an additional language were to everyone’s taste. people mostly do so only under pressure. Ammon 2000 b). but it is pressure nevertheless. like public goods. since the use value of that language increases in proportion to its communicative range.. in addition. or from its foreign language speakers. communicative advantage and economic pay-off (cf. for details de Swaan 2001: 27–33). especially on the national level. I am of course aware that this is a huge task that even seems impossible to solve at the moment.German as an International Language of the Sciences 169 It seems that German scientists and scholars should do both: maintain their own language of science.e. but of which the “owners” – if one chooses to call them that – should be grateful to those who acquire them. which linguists deplore as “language death”. seems in order in light of the fact that not every individual is. Let me finish with a note which may sound pessimistic but which should be seriously considered to avoid illusion and disappointment. Gratefulness from the side of the native speakers of a language. They should. To indicate a fairer direction of development the global language should be renamed something like Globalish (not Globalese. for example. linguistic discrimination of a minority against a majority. towards those who newly acquire it. Rather. Such pressure may be subtle as. Why. Abram de Swaan has explained this convincingly on the basis of the idea that languages are “hypercollective goods” (cf. from whom I have collected numerous examples. interested in learning or handling an additional language. such hypercollective goods. when one would otherwise be classified as uneducated. i. or why would people in the English-speaking world be so reluctant to study foreign languages . in light of these thoughts. Berlin/ New York: Walter de Gruyter. References Ammon. It might be worth examining carefully. Language Conflict and Minorities. compared for instance to mathematics. whether there will still be any need to study German as a foreign language once every German.). admit that I do not see any way out of this tunnel that may end in abolishing German as an international language. A shorter version of this paper appears in: Ammon 2004. I am afraid this holds true even against Wilhelm von Humboldt’s or Whorf’s views that every language entails a specific view on the world. even into the primary school curriculum. Note 1. 1998 Ist Deutsch noch internationale Wissenschaftssprache? – Englisch auch für die Lehre an den deutschsprachigen Hochschulen. or at least every reasonably educated German. The reader is referred to these two publications for more details and for further references. and they are not particularly efficient cognitive instruments. 33–51.170 Ulrich Ammon under the impression that their mother tongue suffices for communication world-wide? Additional languages provide mainly additional forms but little additional content. supposed to finally lead? I must. or at least the unintended outcome. The German language community may have no other choice than to undermine itself the international standing of its own language. Bonn: Dümmler. or Globalish. This paper is based on the author’s book Ist Deutsch noch internationale Wissenschaftssprache? Englisch auch für die Lehre an den deutschsprachigen Hochschule (1998) and on his article Ammon 2000a. . In: Peter Nelde (ed. however. Ulrich 1990 German or English? The Problems of Language Choice Experienced by German-Speaking Scientists. of present language politics and language teaching in Germany? Or where else is the recent introduction of English. And isn’t this the long-term objective. knows English. I am arguing this way to raise awareness of the possibility that German may be studied as a foreign language only so long as there are recognizable advantages to the knowledge and use of the language. Reagan (eds. 1973 Centre and Periphery in the International Scientific Communication: Germany. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. etc. Big Science … and Beyond. 1990 Internationale Wissenschaftsbeziehungen und auswärtige Kulturpolitik 1919–1933. Gross.111–116. In: Friedhelm Debus. 1914– 1928. 59–80. Gross 1927 College Libraries and Chemical Education. 71–110. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. Jahrhundert. Europäische Sprachenpolitik European Language Policy./19. Ulrich and Grant McConnell 2002 English as an Academic Language in Europe. In: Robert Phillipson (ed.). Ammon. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner. Language in the Twenty-First Century. France and Great Britain in the 19th Century. L. Canick.). Forschung im Spannungsfeld von Politik und Gesellschaft. Geschichte und Struktur der Kaiser-Wilhelm-/Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. Minerva 11. . Vom Boykott und Gegen-Boykott zu ihrer Wiederaufnahme. Frankfurt a. Berlin/New York: Mouton-de Gruyter. In: Rüdiger Ahrens (ed. Leiden: Brill. M. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter. Diss. Franz G.: Peter Lang. Brigitte 1966 Deutsche Wissenschaft und Internationale Zusammenarbeit. phil. Tonkin and T. M. In: H. 477.). Brocke (eds.German as an International Language of the Sciences 2000a 171 Entwicklung der deutschen Wissenschaftssprache im 20. Gizyncki. 385–389. P. Jahrhundert – Vorträge des Internationalen Symposions vom 18. In: R. A Survey of its Use in Teaching. Hubert (ed. R.). Equity.) 2003 Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopedia of The Ancient World. Mahwah. Skutnabb-Kangas. 858– 888. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. New York: Columbia University Press. 2003 Global English and the non-native speaker. Past and Present. Schroeder-Gudehus. Vierhaus and B. Januar 2000. In: Tove Skutnabb-Kangas and Robert Phillipson (eds.). Linguistic Human Rights. Rights to Language. Overcoming disadvantage. Science 66. 2004 The Decline of German and the Rise of English as International Languages of the Sciences. Tove and Robert Phillipson 1995 Linguistic Human Rights.). Kollmann and Uwe Pörksen (eds. and E. 2000b Towards more Fairness in International English: Linguistic Rights of Non-native speakers. Genf. Power and Education. Derek J. 1986 Little Science. Deutsch als Wissenschaftssprache im 20. de Solla Price. 1972 Doctoral Use of Foreign Languages: A Survey. Cambridge. NJ: Educational Testing Service. The Global Language System. Minoru 1983 Les langues internationales dans les publications scientifiques es techniques.172 Ulrich Ammon de Swaan. Robert G. Abram 2001 Words of the World. UK: Polity Press. 2 Parts. Wiltsey. Princeton. Tsunoda. Sophia linguistica 13: 144–155. . – Sie gewährleisten zugleich die Übermittlung der Erkenntnisse in das allgemeine gesellschaftliche Kommunikationsmedium und tragen dadurch einem fundamentalen demokratischen Erfordernis Rechnung. ist aufs engste mit dem so genannten “Globalisierungsdiskurs” verbunden. Die Monolingualisierung steht im Widerspruch zu hauptsächlichen Kennzeichen der neuzeitlichen Wissenschaftsentwicklung. The so-called globalization concerns various areas of societal life to different extents. Wissenschaftlichkeit wird zugleich in einem parallelen Prozess (im Sinne der in der angelsächsischen Welt ungebrochenen Scheidung von scientiae und artes) zunehmend nur noch den Naturwissenschaften und den an sie methodologisch adaptierten Sozialwissenschaften attribuiert – was nicht zuletzt forschungspolitische Konsequenzen hat. on . Europa mit seinen vielfältigen nationalsprachlich verfassten Wissenschaftskulturen wird mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit der Ort sein. die vor allem von einer Reihe von Naturwissenschaften ausgeht und immer stärkere Pressionen – auch bildungspolitischer Art – entfaltet.The Future of German and Other Non-English Languages of Academic Communication Konrad Ehlich Zusammenfassung Die Monolingualisierung des wissenschaftlichen Betriebes. for example. Economics. the sphere of production. Wissenschaftssprachen als Tresore des Wissens und Ressourcen seiner Aneignung und Weiterentwicklung haben eine substantielle Beziehung zu ihren Gegenständen und den Methoden ihrer Erforschung. appears to be different for “global players” and for medium-sized businesses or the service sector. an dem sich die Zukunft einer mehrsprachigen Wissenschaft für die Weltwissenschaftsentwicklung des neuen Jahrhunderts entscheidet. and even within these areas there are considerable differences. 1. die ihre Dynamik gerade über die Umsetzung in die Volkssprachen gewonnen hat. This diversity appears as a relic which is not only superfluous. research publication. Globalization seems to be on the agenda of German politics for certain societal domains such as the university. or comes into being through that “invisible hand” which controls the actions and future of the actors involved. varies with respect to the results of globalization as compared to the sphere of distribution. science itself seems to strive for and insist on the necessity of monolingualism. One of the probable globalization victims will be the linguistic diversity of scientific communication. and opportunities of making profit and siphoning it off is driven by the parameter of time. Among these are claims that globalization “just happens”. the world spirit itself (Inwood 1992. all subglobal aspects seem. Another one of these lies is the claim that globalization is an unalterable fate. The connection between research. Basic research. the schools. globalization discourse is marked by several prota pseude. seems to be less directly dependent on a uniform scientific language. This view and the movement to make it real is particularly powerful in the natural sciences. in other words. Globalization seems – and is propagated to be – an expression of unsurpassable modernity. The connection between public knowledge gain and private exploitation of research results may mean that it is a matter of days and – under the condition of the Internet – a matter of hours. on the other hand. eo ipso. and imperiously commands its critics to remain in silence. such as those of major industry. According to this view.” and thus into profit. In my opinion. minutes. and it is all the more powerful the more directly results of research appear to be transformable into “applications. 275) which speaks in globalization. 2. It is. these are unquestionably old institutions. but distinctly annoying. and still another one is the “semantic fallacy” which is realized in and through the term itself: if something has to do with the globe. initial lies. the Weltgeist. behind their backs.174 Konrad Ehlich the other hand. This entails all those verdicts which are generally articulated when criticizing ideas that refuse to succumb to the modern demand of being “modern”. and even seconds of publication priority that decides who counts as the originator of an idea and who does not. . and beyond that. In comparison to other areas. no longer relevant. achieved – the language of mathematics.” The ever increasing. Originality claims and exploitation interests of the natural sciences have pushed for a friction-free international medium of communication. The written form of it with its “Arabic” digits differs semiotically from the written forms of any spoken language. Understanding language simply as a means of transport which can be arbitrarily replaced sees the production of knowledge as language-free. and even as non-sciences. Vagueness which is indispensable in everyday language counts as something to be eliminated. Thus. The methodological discourse which begins at the natural sciences radicalizes the Cartesian program. because it is chatty. as simply insignificant. natural sciences set about turning the tables in the next one and a half centuries.German and Other Non-English Languages of Academic Communication 175 This creates immense pressure to publish important research – or that found to be important – in that and more and more only that very language in which the claim to the ownership of the research results will be internationally recognized. vehement pressure of natural sciences to establish themselves as the only kinds of science is reflected in a number of programmatic blueprints. English is thought to be that vehicle today. English is propagated to be that language. the place most estranged from it. however. Natural sciences and the humanities have been leading a bitter “dispute of the faculties” for a long time. among the most important of which are Neopositivism and the . discrediting the “Geisteswissenschaften. if not dangerous. therefore. 3.” the humanities. in principle. natural – and other – sciences are tending towards a unified language. The number signs and other symbols construct their own world. In fact. 4. nature – and. While at the beginning of the 19th century. it is another language in which a languageindependent understanding of the objects is strived for and. What comes between them has a tendency of being redundant. maybe. a vehicle which can go back and forth between the different locations of scientific practice at will. or to be more exact: that part of this program which goes beyond the “Meditationes de prima philosophia. Yet an artificial language would succeed at this better than any of the ones handed down. the sciences referring to it – were judged as being the pure relinquishment of the spirit. the theory of understanding. a universal writing system. as well as its radicalized application to scientific theoretical requirements for all thinking by Apel have made clear that the Leibnizian hope is more of an illusion than of a program. if possible.enlightenment and advancement. Leibniz’ hope is bound to the thought of a universal language. Wittgenstein’s individual “turn. the goal of which was to develop a scientia generalis. At the latest. perfection of the human intellect. However – the Leibnizian program did not limit itself to the object area of nature. which succumbs to the pressure of elimination. the general common wealth which. In this. a piece of a Leibnizian program is carried out. the “linguistic turn” in the Anglo-Saxon language philosophy.” and the hermeneutic turn... above all. Only few elements of a theory and practice of understanding in a hermeneutic sense of the term are accepted in natural science. however. Since science eo ipso tends towards reflexivity. a lingua philosophica or grammatica rationalis.176 Konrad Ehlich “Unified Theory of Science. These elements are transmitted by a rigorous rite of initiation for novices. mistakes would only appear in the form of simple calculation errors. Within the Anglo-Saxon – and in particular within the US American – scientific tradition. 5. and they are made invisible as such by declaring them as integral part of positivistic practice of science. 1507). and above all. was to be realized in this life” (Schepers 1992. the result of philosophical construction.were.. This universal language is. With the help of this language. in no way identical to any existing languages. to be more exact. The elimination of alternative scientific discourses concerns the communication processes of the scientific community to different extents. This scientia was to use a universal language. . It is rather.. at best. What goes beyond counts as superfluous and is discredited.” and which have as their methods formalization and calculation. censoring all language that is not within its own postulates. The “actual goals. a gap between the academic disciplines is established on terminological grounds. or. Thus they are rendered immune against reflection. The antique-middle age term of scientia is awarded only to those academic disciplines which have as their object “nature. hermeneutics.” The latter is not striving for a “Unified Theory of Signs” for nothing. of personal timely happiness and eternal salvation. that elimination means the elimination of those areas of reflection from which natural sciences believe to have emancipated themselves from. It is. In view of the diversity of human language structure. Given that chemistry with its system of abbreviations can deliver a prima vista plausibility for this view. which analogously approach social sciences and the humanities with it as a challenge to be strived for. e. indeed. a case of specific terminology.German and Other Non-English Languages of Academic Communication 177 Everyday language is necessarily the last meta-language. It remains an objective of the natural scientific disciplines. Such a translation is a fragment of the Leibnizian program. has only seemingly been left behind. Terminologies always seem to be particularly handy – and independent of the individual languages – when they are translated into something mathematic. When this translation is successful. everyday language is only to be had as a single. particular one (cf. though of a special kind. language of science is considered to be. means then to appropriately use these word tokens in agreement with the definition results. by and large. it is improbable from the start that scientific communication in languages based on these everyday languages is unconditionally the same. it becomes increasingly complicated the more science nears life and mental objects. however. the language basis.g. – like the characters used for putting mathematics into writing – . because – Wittgenstein made this clear – mathematics in itself is a language. According to these notions. Weinrich 2002).. in view of the differences to be found even there where languages are attested to being closely related or where their family similarity is assumed. 6. However. Using an everyday language for the business of science requires that the assessments and limits of that everyday language for doing this job are both elaborated in great detail and with specific reference to the very qualities of the particular language in question. The philosophical reflection and theoretical foundation of science are unavertibly thrown back to those languages from which the language of science was supposed to differentiate itself. thus submitting the speaker to the status quo of the definition power of the scientific community. This language. But this is exactly what is commonly thought about scientific language. chemistry. This terminology is seen as a special vocabulary in which word tokens are combined for carefully limited and “defined” objects. Each and every science is thus indispensably bound to linguisticity. To speak the language of the science of. These founding movements of modern science meant a new way of acquiring knowledge of the world and of the development of thought. The emancipation from authoritative knowledge structures strived for a new method of understanding – with new personnel. the consciousness of this language bond has increased. had reduced this to a Latin which was expanded to include foreign. there had been a naive-ethnocentric confidence in language which saw in Greek-Latin the obvious prerequisite and the sufficient equipment for everything which should be expressed in the process of thinking. Latin-Western knowledge. and as a result of the use of all those cognitive. as opposed to the Greek East. neither German. The variety of procedures for the gain of knowledge. This. personnel from the people. methods. Ever since science has been practiced in a modern sense. or rather: the blindness to its language bond. occurs at the price of a loss of control which was practiced by the authorizing bodies before. the dialetti volgari. Before that. however. and operative resources which lend themselves to the curiosity of wanting to know. In the reality of the European practice of science since the 15th century. This.. and everything scientific that lies beyond them. 7. shook this naive trust. for the linguistic transposition of knowledge. guiding questions. is bound to language and thus to languages. science lost its linguistic innocence. everything which does not unfold in the categories of number or quantification. To do science in such an environment means that a multitude of approaches. and for the utilization of knowledge occurs in a competitive ensemble whose limits are determined solely by the commitment . and then with the ByzantineGreek one after the disasters of 1204 and 1453. and applications constantly arises and is continuously practiced. words. Greek. i. indeed. at first with the Arabic knowledge world in its broad and superior form. nor French – and also not English. Everything scientific that goes before mathematization and mathematicability. is exactly the reason why the language of mathematics is not the same as any of the existing languages of science. and with other. different languages. the languages of the people. The immense shock of intercultural encounters.e.178 Konrad Ehlich actually lies beyond particular everyday languages. which surpasses them. linguistic. It has happened both by means of enormous expansion in all directions. Their assessments depend substantially on the general cultural and. and with different results for the respective languages of science. The concrete organizational forms of the discourse communities are founded in the overall capacities provided by their linguistic reference domains. and this to an extent which cannot be seen by the terminological abridgement of the scientific language. The present-day languages of science contain specific results of these reception processes. It has taken on varying forms. the scientific findings and contributions differ with respect to the different scientific cultures. on their political environment – as the recent history of German science drastically demonstrates. The distribution of avant-garde and arrière-garde positions has fluctuated strongly over time. Their common ground is a continuous process of exchange. 8. and transfer which is characteristic for the entire modern period. At the same time. whose final ground and only realization possibility lie in the self-obligation of the researcher. They are open forms for the structuring of the scientific process. up to reflected encounters of different scientific cultures. All European science languages are treasuries of acquisition processes of this general knowledge. The individual languages of science are coined in a substantial way by the history knowledge has taken in these discourse communities. guarantees the communicability of knowledge. from brain drain and expulsion. as well as the tradition of and initiation into existing knowledge. they enable diversified innovation paths based on a generalized common knowledge. in particular. to letter exchange and net culture. . They warrant a communication which guarantees creativity and innovation. A rigid ethics of science.German and Other Non-English Languages of Academic Communication 179 to these very procedures. at different times. The linguistic communities maintain scientific practices which can and do work. Correspondingly. in different ways. to scientific exchange in the form of migration-movements. they guarantee the variety and multitude of innovation. The languages of science being based on particular languages are an expression of exactly these larger discoursive contexts. translation. Instead of unilateral uniformity. These acquisition processes have taken place in the different European science cultures. they obstruct the dimensions of the actual scientific communicative facts for a cynical common sense public. scientific-linguistic multilingualism offers a further central feature which is important for the future of societies.g. and. and. Moreover. then evaluation criteria are necessary in order to determine the quality of the different scientific languages. too coincidental are the scientific discoursive encounters.180 Konrad Ehlich 9. ERASMUS and SOCRATES. Europe offers both the chances and the reflective foundation for making this the object of future research. politics still keeps its eyes closed to the requirements of the implementation of a new European language policy which makes educational-political action follow the articulated concepts of multilingualism. a more exact research into the assessment and limits of the particular languages of science is among the most urgent desiderata of a science of science. Basically and in a salient way this question has to be faced by Europe. Indeed. the processes just described have yet to be researched extensively. and too hesitant are the educational-political financers to enable the necessary density and intensity of European multilingualism in the sciences to become a constant and continuous reality. Europe is the place where the diversity of scientific linguistic practice has emerged and has been supported to the present. and if this future consequently not to be committed to a new naiveté that forgets all that science really is. thereby. Next to the wealth of a diverse development of science which is generalized in transfer processes. Europe has the biggest chances and the declared political will to let multilingualism become reality. However: the depth of these problems and the extent of the research efforts necessary have not yet been consciously recognized. In particular. If the future of the development of science is not simply to be left to the natural drives of the “market”. at the same time. their value for the world scientific culture. neither for the scientific communication nor for a successful multilingual policy. 10. Spectacular cases of scientific linguistic camouflage indicate the type of problems inherent in these transfer processes. In my opinion. For each lan- . Too timid are the mobility programs of the European scientific cultures such as e. which reflectively takes care of the fundaments of scientific practice. in particular. where science finds optimal conditions. as an unchangeable fate. It is much more surprising. on the other hand. they contribute massively to its stabilization and realization. of the fact that modern democracies are knowledge societies. These calculations. the constellation described above. Knowledge innovations are full of risks. discourse abundance. and freedom of research which translates into innovation remain to be found almost exclusively in the USA nowadays. and even to conceptualize. The crises of expertocracies will otherwise be crises of the societies themselves. 11. This means that calculations for dealing with the unknown are unavoidable. therefore. . The recent Nobel Prize development illustrates this in an exemplary scenario. that both educational planners and politicians of science in Europe obviously seem to accept. On the contrary. accumulation of monetary resources. cannot be left to science alone. however. This permeability is increasingly indispensable for democratic societies. societies which have complex knowledge structures as a foundation for their existence. societies as a whole must be able to democratically decide about them. it is characteristic that although knowledge resources are indeed distributed throughout different parts of the world.German and Other Non-English Languages of Academic Communication 181 guage community. Science languages based on the languages of the people can decisively contribute to finding appropriate solutions. Traditional societies were able to reach back to a wealth of experience which had been proved reliable throughout a long history. the language of science must remain accessible to him or her. Unmistakably. Modern knowledge societies exist by permanently revolutionizing knowledge stocks. The question of the languages of science is not in the least a question of access to the resources of knowledge. the processing of which remains an important societal task. In order for the emancipated citizen to be able to make appropriate decisions. This is a result. In doing so. It is not surprising that these conclusions are internalized particularly by young scientists and increasingly determine their individual career planning. Here. it guarantees a linguistic and communicative permeability in principle. between everyday language and the language of science. Here lies a hidden inner conflict of modern societies. the future of knowledge gain and the future of the use of knowledge resources has the best chances there. 182 Konrad Ehlich The scientific landscape of the United States of America has become rich, diverse, and increasingly successful through the developments of the 20th century. To a large extent, it is self-sufficient, which was not the case at the beginning of the 20th century. Solely with the intake of the best minds from all over the world, it orients itself beyond its own borders. This is a factual policy of science, which in itself is understandable. What is less understandable is that other large scientific communities are increasingly defining themselves complementarily to that policy. Thought production is driven by the motor of the language of science in a decisive way. This is to be understood in a plain, straightforward way. Look, for an example, to the book market. It remains significant for university practice even in times of the Internet. The development of the German-language market as opposed to the English-language market demonstrates the problematic situation in all desirable clarity. The substitution of German-language textbooks with English-language ones has been in part completed in several natural sciences and medicine. The repercussions which result for knowledge gain have not, in my opinion, been sociologically examined up to now, even though this should really urgently be done. The hope of a few German publishers to play along with the US American and Commonwealth market of scientific literature does not seem to be well-grounded. These markets exist within themselves. In order for something to be interesting to them, scientific texts must have already been written in or published in English. If anything at all is brought into these markets from outside, it is in the form of buying the scientists themselves, possibly at even higher salary rates than those of the natives. The self-definition of European science as complementary to English language scientific needs means that de facto European science removes itself from the market. This, in my opinion, cannot be in the best interests of European societies. The future of European science communication will either be successful by strengthening the European science languages and the development of scientific multilingualism, or it will lose itself as a subcontractor for intelligence for the needs of the US American market. The alleged globalization of the practice of science is at no place free of the post-national bases which make and will continue to make themselves clear, not in the least in the financial foundation of this practice. A competitive model of science which could indeed offer a forum for the achievement of scientific diversity can hardly consist of the self-removal of a majority of competitors from the market. Monopolization comes at a high price and is in constant danger of transforming into loss of knowledge. German and Other Non-English Languages of Academic Communication 183 12. The linguistic reductionism which sees modern multilingual scientific development as simply being on the wrong track for world knowledge development has some prima-vista arguments for itself. A closer observation of the relationship between science and language and of the sociolinguistic reflections of a multilateral development of science supports a different view, an educational-political concept for the future of scientific communication in which multilingualism plays a central role. This is, as stated before, above all a task for Europe. If preserving and developing the wealth of multilingual science languages is successful there, it will remain indispensable in general. This will perhaps even make it attractive for scientists from within the English speaking sphere to learn languages and, at the same time, to experience a consciousness of language in their own work, and of utilizing reflection on language as a part of their own scientific reflection, seeing and accepting the hermeneutic quality of all scientific work, even that of natural sciences. References Apel, Karl-Otto 1973 Transformationen der Philosophie [Tr.: (1998) Towards a Transformation of Philosophy. Translated by Glyn Adey and David Fisby. Milwaukee, Wis.: Marquette UP]. Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp. Descartes, René (1641) 1959 Meditationes de prima philosophia...Lüder Gäbe (ed.) [Tr.: (1960) Meditations on First Philosophy. Translated by Laurence J. Lafluer. New York: Liberal Arts Press]. Hamburg: Meiner. Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (1830) 1959 Enzyklopädie der philosophischen Wissenschaften. Friedhelm Nicolin and Otto Pöggeler (eds.) [Tr.: (1959) Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Translated by Gustav Emil Mueller. New York: Philosophical Library]. Hamburg: Meiner. Inwood, Michael J. 1992 A Hegel Dictionary. Oxford: Blackwell. 184 Konrad Ehlich Schepers, Heinrich 1992 Articel “Scientia generalis”. In: Joachim Ritter and Karlfried Gründer (eds.), Historisches Wörterbuch der Philosophie, Volume 8, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, col. 1504–1507. Weinrich, Harald 2002 Sprache, das heißt Sprachen [Language, That Means Languages]. Tübingen: Narr. Language and Identity The German Language and the Linguistic Diversity of Europe 1 Wolfgang Thierse Zusammenfassung Über den Zustand der deutschen Sprache wird in Öffentlichkeit und Politik immer wieder kontrovers diskutiert, gerade mit Blick auf die Anglizismen. Die Pflege unserer Muttersprache sollte eigentlich selbstverständlich sein: Sprache bedeutet Heimat. Pauschale Fremdwortablehnung und deutschtümelnder Purismus sind allerdings im Zeitalter der Globalisierung wenig sinnvoll. Sensibel verwendet, können Anglizismen unser Denken erweitern, unsere Sprache und Kultur bereichern. Das Scheitern aller Sprachlenkungsversuche in der frühen DDR hat belegt, dass sich der Sprachgebrauch nicht verordnen lässt. Demokratie bedeutet nicht zuletzt auch Freiheit der Sprache. Die Situation der deutschen Sprache in Europa und darüber hinaus ist derzeit von gegenläufigen Tendenzen gekennzeichnet. Einerseits ist weltweit ein Rückgang als Wissenschaftssprache unübersehbar. Auf EU-Ebene gab es wiederholt Versuche, die Amtssprachen auf Englisch und Französisch zu reduzieren, obwohl Deutsch in der Europäischen Union die größte Zahl an Muttersprachlern und die zweitgrößte Gesamtsprecherzahl – also Mutter- und Fremdsprachler – aufweist. Der anstehende Beitritt verschiedener osteuropäischer Staaten mit verbreiteten Deutschkenntnissen stärkt die Stellung der deutschen Sprache in Europa. Diese Chance gilt es zu nutzen und zugleich die Fremdsprachenkenntnisse deutscher Schüler und Studenten zu verbessern. Gerade die Auseinandersetzung mit unseren Nachbarsprachen fördert eine europäische Bürgergesellschaft, in der sich die einzelnen Sprachen und Kulturen wechselseitig bereichern. In his novel The Meeting at Telgte, Günter Grass, one of the undisputed masters of the German language, described a meeting of German poets during the Thirty Years War. The poets discuss what can be done to counter the decay of the German language, its infiltration with foreign expressions and the danger of its being displaced by French. Günter Grass, who is the best illustrator of his own texts, summed up the answer to these problems with a 188 Wolfgang Thierse memorable drawing: a field of stones from which a hand rises holding a quill – embodying good style and the careful use of language. This drawing by Günter Grass often comes to mind in connection with the linguistic rubble and debris we encounter ever more often, particularly in the media. The quill held high is a good symbol for the task of handling one of our most important cultural goods responsibly and sensitively. The unification of Europe does not make the careful use of our mother tongue in any way superfluous – quite the contrary. Anyone who wishes to preserve cultural plurality in Europe should look after their own culture. And anyone who wishes to uphold the linguistic diversity of Europe must also establish, or maintain, order in their own language. I will therefore begin by making a few remarks about the state of the German language and then discuss linguistic diversity in a Europe that, in spite of the introduction of the single currency, the euro, and the use of English as a lingua franca, ought to remain a Europe of linguistic and cultural diversity. Passionate debates about the German language break out time and again in politics and public life, on talkshows and in the culture sections of the broadsheet newspapers – focussing mainly on Anglicisms and Americanisms. As the President of the Bundestag, I too have a tale or two to tell about such expressions. I receive large numbers of invitations packed with a confusion of fashionable Anglo-Saxon words: a Mega-Event involving a Performance with a high degree of Media-Präsenz, or a round-tableconference with a subsequent Presse-Briefing, etc. Sometimes I just want to pass on these letters to the Bundestag’s in-house language services – asking for them to be translated back into German. However, I am not just concerned about foreign words, but about the thoughtless, sloppy use of our language in general. Having studied the German language and German literature, and specialized in cultural studies, I feel growing unease at the way with which our language is treated – and not just in the media. Politics also makes its contribution. The linguist Uwe Pörksen coined the term “plastic words” for expressions that are easy to combine with other terms, give the impression of being extremely significant, but often do not actually mean very much. Structural policy, development, communication, winding down and zero growth are empty phrases of this kind that are widely found in political language. Incidentally, Pörksen also quotes the word Leittechnologie ‘leading technology’, which is reminiscent of the phrase deutsche Leitkultur [‘leading German culture’], a term much discussed in the debate on multiculturalism. This raises the suspicion that Leitkultur too could be a “plastic word”: everybody knows it, many people use it, whether approvingly or with great it has become clear in the discussion about Leitkultur that the supposedly “German” elements of the “leading culture” are. in the age of Europeanization and globalization. extend our thinking and enrich our culture as a whole. who immediately subject everything to exhaustive philosophical scrutiny. in reality. thoughtless use of foreign words can lead to difficulties of comprehension. The inflationary. This is particularly true when it comes to foreign words. Why should it be any different as far as today’s Anglicisms are concerned? After all. there were. A sense of proportion and calmness are required here. ridiculous modish phrases and affected displays of education. But many of the riches of classical civilization were introduced into our culture along with the borrowings from Latin. maybe too often. and then French. French loan words and formations are also an expression of the influence exerted by French culture. nationalistic purism would make little sense. This is why there would be little point in a law to protect the German language. of course. an out-and-out rejection of foreign words and narrow-minded. the Germans. This example shows how important sensitivity towards the public use of language is and what a powerful educational effect the criticism of political language can have. take a fundamental approach to matters. Just as today. In consequence. This is proved by a look at the history of our language. however. Anglicisms and Americanisms complement our language. something called for by some people. influences that certainly did not have a negative impact on the development of our language. in the 17th and 18th centuries. as well as a loss of the expressive potential of our mother tongue. general European and Western values – and that the particularly productive periods of German culture have always been times when we Germans opened ourselves to the best influences of other cultures: during the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Ultimately. Sensibly and sensitively deployed. the current criticism of the state of the German language often overshoots the mark. could well do with a dose of Anglo-Saxon pragmatism. By contrast. above all else. and should really be a matter of course. in particular the thinking of the French Enlightenment. The high points of German culture have always come when it has been wedded to other cultures – and also to other languages. Cultivating our mother tongue makes a great deal of sense. The Anglicisms of today have a similar place to that held by imports from Latin. Language cannot be regu- . which Lessing parodied very amusingly in his play Minna von Barnhelm. who always.The German Language and the Linguistic Diversity of Europe 189 hostility. but above all in our orientation towards the basic values of Western democracy since 1945. This was a process that has had many positive consequences for our cultural and political history. and no one really knows exactly what it means. The sensitivity to spoken and written language developed by citizens of the GDR has hopefully not disappeared with the well deserved end of the GDR. the jargon of the functionaries in the GDR was exposed and undermined by the popular wit. It is impossible to prescribe how language should be used in public. Democracy means not least freedom of language. Why is it that. In addition to this. How we use our mother tongue always shows to a certain extent how important our culture is to us. Rather. For example. I have many years of experience with regulated language. However. My scepticism on this point has not just linguistic. it should continue to be close to the hearts of all Germans. the inherent right of the individual to use the words they want to use and not the words other people want them to use. “Speak that I may see you. of necessity.190 Wolfgang Thierse lated. and all kinds of ridicule and irony: examples include the twisting of the Marxist formula das Sein bestimmt das Bewußtsein [‘being determines consciousness’] into das Sein verstimmt das Bewußtsein [‘being [in the GDR] casts a shadow over consciousness’]. As a former citizen of the GDR. in the everyday life of the GDR one developed. but also biographical grounds. a special sense that enabled one to identify the kind of person one was dealing with from the language they used. and that means above all: speaking freely and being able to talk openly. not just a playground for amateur linguists and armchair critics. let alone in private. people always call for action by others. But to the present day I have still not lost the feeling of happiness that I live in freedom. or the pun on the clichéd phrase sozialistische Wertegemeinschaft [‘socialist community of values’] when one of the endless queues in front of the shops was described as a sozialistische Wartegemeinschaft [‘socialist community of waiting’]. particularly with the party jargon of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) – and with the failure of all attempts to impose it in general usage – though this jargon did have some effect on the language used by East Germans. for laws. These linguistic regulations have become history. anyone who merely said hier [‘here’] instead of bei uns in der DDR [‘we in the GDR’] was signaling a certain degree of reserve.” was the relevant maxim. for academies. And anyone who wrote the foreword to a book about grain mites without including a reference to the “achievements of socialist agriculture in the light of the resolutions adopted at the umpteenth Party Conference of the SED” had to be prepared for condemnation by the censors as an “objectivist” or “bourgeois” researcher. how much we are prepared to champion it. in the current debate about the German language. The use of our language is not a matter of secondary importance. for linguistic . Every attempt to do this inevitably provokes resistance. the bewildering German of the bureaucrats. Newspapers have a special responsibility for the use of our language. This brings me to the second aspect of the subject: the linguistic diversity of Europe. Children should be taught to appreciate the beauty and expressiveness of the German language in their German lessons. the directors-general and editors of public and. The truth is that. we need to set a good example ourselves. incomprehensible lawyers’ cant. Let us therefore seek to drive back the tide of frothy language in the media and advertising.The German Language and the Linguistic Diversity of Europe 191 guardians? Instead. Schiller and Heine to Thomas Mann. the ongoing process of European unification had awakened fears that. but powerful. but also in other contexts. secondly French – will . Let us seek to produce comprehensible. The Council of Europe and the European Union designated 2001 the “European Year of Languages”. Brecht and Grass. clearly formulated German. will probably have almost thirty members. Land and federal ministers. instead of depriving ourselves of its magnificent linguistic resources. influence of good practice in public speaking and writing. along with its linguistic diversity. the trend towards common languages of communication – and that means firstly English. from Goethe. our parliaments are also places that could provide positive linguistic models. This is a field where the directors-general of broadcasting stations. After all. demonstrating the unobtrusive. Our mother tongue is the foundation of the diversity and richness of our culture. stylistically good. This was a good sign. the Germans have no lack of exemplary literary texts. empty. in a European Union that. We should have the opportunity to read texts written in comprehensible. Europe’s cultural plurality was also under threat. public authorities and. We should not allow it to be taken from us – and certainly not sacrifice it to tendencies towards uniformity in Europe. by using our language in a way that is worthy of emulation. By the same token. Good. in the foreseeable future. meaningless political jargon. vivid German in the daily and weekly newspapers. Certainly. This is a field in which much can be done in the family and at school to lay the foundations for the good and correct use of one’s mother tongue. above all. especially. skilled teachers can open many doors and awaken their pupils’ interest in the riches of German language and literature. Let us exploit the expressive richness and beauty of our mother tongue. Language means home. the managers of public bodies. Journalists can also set an example. private radio and television stations should pay greater attention to their presenters’ occasionally sloppy use of language. and debaters should lead by example. Government offices. On that occasion. Kant and Hegel to Thomas Mann. . worrying tendencies are noticeable at various levels. The humanities. This is true not just as regards the obvious decrease in the use of German as a language in the academic sphere. we should not permit the German language to have the door slammed in its face in Europe. Mark Twain (…) once said that. This loss of significance is associated with the circumstance that. Certainly. Particularly in view of this. This was illustrated.” However. in which German still has weight and prestige as the language of “poets and thinkers” from Goethe. Nietzsche. by the decision no longer to offer German as a working language for deliberations below ministerial level within the EU that was taken by the European Council during the Swedish Presidency in the first six months of 2001. the Federal Republic of Germany will also work to ensure that the German language continues to be used at all levels in the EU – and that a knowledge of German is given greater consideration as an educational and qualifying criterion for employees of EU bodies. and German was finally provided as a working language after all. in a Europe that is growing ever closer together. “a gifted person ought to learn English in thirty hours. But there are also irritating signals in the political arena. among other things.192 Wolfgang Thierse become even stronger than in the past. English dominates publications about the natural sciences – in spite of a whole list of German Nobel laureates. In future. and German in thirty years. There had already been a similar attempt to restrict the working languages of the European Union to English and French under the earlier Finnish Presidency. The “European Year of Languages” was organized under the motto “Languages open doors” – a statement that is just as correct as it is forward-looking. are currently not accorded the importance that one would wish them to have – which has a negative impact on the use of German as an academic language. the German Federal Government protested successfully. as the international academic language. excluding the language that has the largest number of mother-tongue speakers in the European Community and the second largest number of users – if we count everyone who speaks it as a first or foreign language – is neither in line with citizens’ needs nor in any way a compelling necessity. Heidegger and Habermas. These changes could take place at the expense of German – if we do not take care. German is not an easy language to learn. the arts and the field of cultural studies. In this respect. French in thirty days. particularly in the humanities – a field in which our language still had global importance in the 19th and early-20th centuries. they . German. Apart from cultivating their own language. at the upper secondary level of schooling as well. Our aim should be – in the words of Thomas Mann – not a German Europe. Certainly. The EU’s education and exchange programmes. German is spoken by many future EU citizens in Poland. Nevertheless. anyone who prizes linguistic and cultural diversity in Europe must also be ready to deepen and extend their knowledge of other European languages and cultures. we Germans will have to work harder to acquire foreign languages. and not English. but also in vocational and political education. particularly by our schools and universities. Many teachers today would be happy if the majority of their pupils could at least write their own language reasonably well and knew how to make themselves understood to a certain extent in English. therefore. We should therefore put an end as soon as possible to the long period during which the financial support for the important work done by the branches of the Goethe Institute across Europe and the world has been consistently reduced and. people who do not know other languages will face increasing difficulties – particularly as far as their career prospects are concerned. have certainly proved their worth in the higher education sector and. Of course. strengthening the status of the German language as European unification progresses must not become an end in itself at national level.The German Language and the Linguistic Diversity of Europe 193 The accession of the new East European member states will open up very promising opportunities for promoting the German language in the European Union. However. in an expanding Europe. such as Socrates. There is particular interest in the services provided by the Goethe Institute there. often serves as a lingua franca in business dealings in the region. Nowadays. one can get by with German in most tourist centres. the Algarve or Tuscany. provide more funding! Clearly. We can make a start on our annual holidays to Mallorca. In future. to a certain extent. The need for broader foreign language skills and the educational consequences to be drawn from this will have to be addressed more strongly than in the past. the Czech Republic and Slovenia. instead. It is no coincidence that demand for German language courses and skills is so high in the countries of Eastern Europe. but a European Germany in a culturally diverse Europe. one of the aims defined for the “European Year of Languages” – that future EU citizens should have a mastery of at least three languages: their mother tongue and two foreign languages – sounds very idealistic. as well as in the Baltic states. But it is a sign of respect for the culture and interest in the people of these countries if we Germans try to master at least the basics of the local language – particularly if we are planning to go back next year anyway. he believed that it was more useful to learn one foreign language for a short time. based on the formula 3 plus 3 plus 3 years – it would be possible to convey a great deal of basic knowledge that could be refreshed and consolidated later – in higher education. at the same time. the bilingual skills of the foreign citizens who live in Germany – from the former Yugoslavia. ideally. Wilhelm von Humboldt definitely did not argue for a single language to be learned over many years.194 Wolfgang Thierse begin relatively late. at present. it can be well worth teaching even supposedly exotic languages. to learn English at school for up to eight years – so losing time for other languages. there is no avoiding the need for English as a first or second foreign language. It would be good to begin language teaching in schools earlier – something that is already happening in German primary schools – and also to liberate it from the compulsive German thoroughness that. the German higher education entrance qualification. Last. In a globalized world. Encounters with foreign languages make us aware of perspectives and intellectual possibilities that would otherwise remain closed to us. particularly the everyday life of a people. forces children who take the Abitur. Greece and Turkey. They form the basis of all intercultural competence. while Dutch is more relevant on the Lower Rhine. one or two years. After all. And if there are successful town twinning schemes – why not offer lessons in Danish. and Polish on the Oder. in a work setting or as a leisure activity. relativize our own view of the world. Wilhelm von Humboldt showed that our thinking and understanding of the world are always mediated by language and that each individual language opens up its own. In this respect. extend our knowledge of others and. Italy. but not least. then a second for a similar period and. foreign language teaching in Germany has moved a long way from Humboldt’s concept of education. Nor should we confine ourselves to just English. unique perception of the world. can break down divisions and adversarial think- . Rather. Czech or Russian? In an age of “global players”. languages are much more than just tools for communication. Each foreign language allows us to gain a certain degree of insight into a new view of things. French and Spanish when choosing which languages to learn. such as Japanese or Chinese. It is well known that young children find it easier to learn foreign languages. With corresponding models of foreign language learning – for example. then go on to add even more. But why not pay more attention than in the past to our linguistic neighbours in Europe? French is close in every sense on the Upper Rhine. Spain and Portugal – could be used much more effectively than in the past to promote language skills – and to build a European consciousness. while he feels at home everywhere abroad. Latin and Greek. and promote understanding and tolerance. the diversity of languages in Europe is the linguistic touchstone of the subsidiarity principle of a European Community that wants to maintain and protect not just the national languages. the maintenance of linguistic diversity. or even fears. The process of European unification is in no way intended to bring about uniformity. Rather. This broadening of perspectives will be of great significance for the further progress of European unification.The German Language and the Linguistic Diversity of Europe 195 ing. such as Romany. about the idea of Europe becoming ever more closely integrated. but above all represents an immense cultural asset. The goal is rather a heterogeneous. the efforts to promote a European consciousness by broadening people’s knowledge of other languages and cultures can only be effective as long as we have a sure command of our own mother tongue. This is why linguistic diversity is far more than a pleasing decorative appendage to the economic and political enlargement of the EU. It is in the interests of all Europeans to preserve these riches. but also of what we have in common. including the ancient European languages of culture.” Only a knowledge of other peoples’ languages gives us comprehensive access to their cultures. In this respect. let alone cultural particularities. Ultimately. so that no foreigner makes him feel uncomfortable at home. many EU citizens harbour reservations. The German Bundestag and the Federal Government see this as an important obligation for European policy. Education and information are the only ways of dispelling these fears and anxieties. However. The magnificent plurality of Europe’s languages reflects the cultural diversity of the European continent – a diversity that is not primarily a hindrance to understanding in the economic process. Goethe (…) summed up how learning foreign languages encourages tolerance when he wrote: “The German should learn all languages. let alone a levelling of the individual cultures and languages – quite the contrary. culturally and linguistically diverse Europe. while at the same time losing ever more of its cultural diversity. but regional languages such as Breton and Sorbian. The “European Year of Languages” demonstrated that securing linguistic and cultural diversity in Europe is a common task. and is equally concerned for minority languages. is a basic prerequisite for a democratic Europe growing peacefully together in which the individual cultures and languages mutually enrich each other. Concern about the loss of cultural identity goes hand in hand with the fear of being governed by anonymous bureaucracies in Brussels or Strasbourg that pay no attention to national or regional interests. as well as for the development and deepening of a European consciousness. allowing us to become aware not just of how they differ from us. . to use our mother tongue responsibly and sensitively. journalists and teachers committed to correct and comprehensible German. with our own writing and speaking. The quill held up in Günter Grass’s drawing is an urgent appeal to exploit the opportunities we have to combine our own and other cultures in an enlarging Europe. those of us who hold the German language and Europe’s linguistic diversity dear – philologists. natural scientists and cultural studies researchers who continue to publish their results in German.196 Wolfgang Thierse and use it carefully and responsibly. Revised version of the lecture Linguistic Diversity as a Political Obligation given at the Humboldt University in Berlin on 16 March 2001. We can all contribute to this. These are two sides of the same coin and there is much to be done in both areas even though the “European Year of Languages” is over. It would be best for us all to begin with ourselves. of course. and to approach the languages of other countries and cultures in a cosmopolitan. tolerant way. . politicians. Note 1. and also. modern languages lecturers and teachers. Der Beitrag endet mit einem kurzen Blick auf die gegenwärtige Diskussion der Bezüge zwischen deutscher Sprache und politischer/kultureller Identität. Wird Sprache zur Identitätsbestimmung herangezogen. The term does not denote a well defined ontological entity existing independent of its representation in language. in historischer und aktueller Sicht.). that part of the concept which owes its existence to acts of intellectual deliberation and .). as “a nation”. the various dimensions of identity are often subsumed under the heading of national identity. Reich o. Institutionen etc. Ausgangspunkt ist die Feststellung der semantischen Offenheit des Begriffs der Nation selbst. This paper deals with some of the historical and current debates relating language to identity in Germany. In thematisch einschlägigen Texten wird er durch vier sich überschneidende Komponenten bestimmt: einer politischen (Nation als politische Einheit. and denoted. als Staat. kultureller und ethnischer Integrität und Identität der Sprachgemeinschaft erscheinen kann. einer ethnischen (Nation als Abstammungsgemeinschaft) und einer voluntativen (Nation als Ausdruck eines gemeinsamen Willens). The concept of nation itself is a somewhat vague concept. dem Volk oft als so eng.Language and National Identity Andreas Gardt Zusammenfassung Bei der Bildung politischer. cultural and ethnic identity of societies. In texts of a more or less ideological character. dass eine ‘Gefährdung’ der Sprache – etwa durch Fremdwörter – zugleich als Gefährdung politischer. dient sie als Ausdruck der Identität einer Gemeinschaft. Der Beitrag beschreibt dies am Beispiel des Deutschen. It would be going too far to say that a nation is no more than what is generally regarded. häufig auch als ihr Motor. einer kulturellen (Nation als Resultat gemeinsamer Traditionen. In älteren Argumentationen wird das Deutsche immer wieder als überhistorische Größe beschrieben.ä. Language has always played a central role in the formation of the political. but it is obvious that the constructivist dimension of nation – i.e. die ihren Sprechern trotz aller politischer Uneinigkeit eine identitätsstiftende Orientierung bieten kann. kultureller und ethnischer Identität von Gemeinschaften spielt Sprache stets eine zentrale Rolle. Dabei gilt die Beziehung zwischen der Nationalsprache und der Nation bzw. Garantie von Bürgerrechten. rhetorical works etc. (state. identity of descent/origin/birth/race etc. Rechtsgleichheit der Bürger etc. country. In modern sociology and historiography this is almost a truism. guarantee of civil rights. handbooks of political history – e. Gemeinschaft des wirtschaftlichen . Stamm/Stammesgemeinschaft. Where the term “Nation” is used in a cultural sense it appears in the context of expressions like: identity of Sprache. The expressions that appear in the context of the word “Nation” are used either as synonyms of “Nation”. ranging from the 17th century to the present day. It is these four realms which constitute the concept of nation. with an emphasis on texts from the middle of the 19th century onward. the nationalist pamphlets from the middle of the 19th century. the correspondence of the members of the German language societies (“Sprachgesellschaften”) in the 17th century. Rasse etc. and volitional. Siedlung/Siedlungsraum. The following description of the concept of nation is based on the study of about 180 German texts. often expressed by a reference to Benedict Anderson’s famous definition of a nation as an “imagined community” 1. The majority of the texts however are concerned with language and contain explicit reference to the relationship between nation and language: e.g. equality of the citizens before the law etc). tribe. empire. Sitten und Gebräuchen. 2 The texts include historical and political treatises. and the comments of German writers in a divided Germany after 1945. Traditionen. cultural. various editions of the “Staatslexikon” –. politische Unabhängigkeit/Souveränität. Gemeinschaft des Territoriums.). Mythologien. political independence. and numerous essays on linguistic questions. Geburt. Where the term “Nation” is used in a political sense it appears in the context of expressions like: Staat. identity of Abstammung. (such as Jacob Grimm’s introduction to the “Deutsches Wörterbuch” in 1854). ethnic. Ursprung. Geschichte. (people/folk. grammars. the prefaces to dictionaries. the aggressive texts during the Third Reich. Land. Reich. Landsmannschaft. general encyclopedias etc. from the “Ermahnung an die Teutsche” by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1679) to Joachim Heinrich Campe’s puristic statements in the late 18th century. Where the term “Nation” is used in an ethnic sense it appears in the context of expressions like: Volk. unity of territory.198 Andreas Gardt their verbal communication rather than to “given facts of historical reality” – is far greater than it is with other concepts from the realm of politics. A study of these texts with particular regard to the expression “Nation” shows that there are four separate contexts in which the word mainly appears: political. political sovereignty. or they are used to define “Nation”. Religion. settlement.g. which provides it with an almost “natural” origin. it appears in the context of expressions like: Wille. cultural individuality etc. kulturelle Eigenständigkeit etc. common institutions. (will. common economic structures. The building of the nation seems less the result of deliberate decisions of human agents than as the necessary. Solidarität etc. Loyalität. which was to a large degree due to the lack of a unified territory until the late 19th century. loyalty. rather than of the history of the expression “Nation”. Whereas in modern German „Nation“ denotes a more political entity and “Volk” a more cultural and/or ethnic entity.). (identity of language. Bekenntnis. mythologies. Many of the semantic features “Nation” has acquired in more recent texts are covered by other expressions in earlier texts. Cultural and ethnic elements in the definition of the nation played a far greater role in Germany than.Language and National Identity 199 Lebens. profession. gemeinsames Wollen und Handeln. earlier texts still show the close relationship between “Nation” and its Latin predecessor “natio”. Two quotations from the “Brockhaus”-Encyclopedia. gemeinsame Organisationsformen/Institutionen. Any study of texts covering such a length of time must take into account the changes of meaning an expression like “Nation” undergoes. and language” (1991). religion.e. where a common territory was given and where the obvious multiethnic and multicultural character of the population would have weakened any definition of nation resting on ethnic or cultural uniformity. in North America. common belief and action. used mainly to describe the regional and ethnic origin of a person.4 Obviously. until 1945. customs and culture and are characterized by specific racial features” (1898) 3 vs. solidarity etc. the four components which constitute the concept of nation are not equally distributed in all texts at all times. customs. for example. The following quotations illustrate this. particularly by “Volk” (people). based on the notion of a common history. culture.). The texts under consideration illustrate that a concept of nation which is based on assumed ethnic and cultural uniformity is prone to generalizations and mystifications of various kinds: the nation is often seen as rooted in the – allegedly – ancient history of its people. where the term “Nation” is used in a volitional sense. In Germany. great emphasis was laid on the ethnic and cultural dimension of nation. from 1898 and1991. traditions. history. biological) “facts”. illustrate this: “Nation” seen as “a community of people who share the same descent. „Nation“ as “the frame within which people regard themselves as belonging to a specific cultural group and as politically independent. natural and self-evident consequence of given historical and ethnic (i. Finally. As the paper aims at a description of the concept of nation. . tradition. language. the cultural. its welfare. their history and their languages.7 An author of 1810 reflects upon this notion of the character of a nation. In all segments of a people there dwells a folklike thinking and feeling.] its inner nature. its life.. foreseeing and believing” (Jahn 1810. which is independent of its political fate” (Schiller 1797.8 It is these almost mystical forces and powers of its people which lead to the building of a nation. the author states. The same deontic quality can be seen in the phrase “nationale Identität” (national identity). German dignity would remain untainted. Volkswesen etc. of reproduction. spirit/soul/nature of the people). [.. so that each people has the nation which is appropriate of it. but may contain expressions which denote one or the other dimension of the concept. Nationalcharakter.. in using the word. and often the same holds true for the word “Nation” itself..] Even if the empire disappeared. national identity is . ethnic and volitional elements –. while not explicitly agitative. signifies a certain socio–political stand he takes.6 In 1797 Friedrich Schiller writes: “The German empire and the German nation are two different things. Volksgeist. Volksseele. (national culture. cultural. and great Germany” (Schottelius 1663. the political. The expressive function of “Nation” becomes apparent where a speaker or author.200 Andreas Gardt not all of the passages quoted contain the word “Nation”. the ethnic and the volitional sphere are often combined in a way which does not allow any rational definition of the concept. 5 “The Germany of today”. “is the same Germany which has existed for thousands of years” (1663. Gschnitzer et al. [. 1992. national character. 332). The phrase often appears in texts which. Rather. In the texts. it rests in the culture and in the character of the nation. 431). elements of these spheres are blended unspecifically. The components that constitute nation – political. its power of regeneration.] suffering and acting. The deontic quality of “Nation” lies in the fact that the very use of the word often seems to suggest the necessity of action to be taken concerning the nation. The meaning of these expressions is hard to define. not seldom charged with strong emotions.. In semantic categories. In a text of 1663 the author states that. also constitute national identity. which is reflected in lexical coinages such as Nationalkultur. 123). 48). the function of the word is frequently less referential than expressive (in Karl Bühler’s understanding of the term9) and deontic 10. its future. make use of semantically intense language. The quotations also illustrate that in texts dealing with the concept of nation. ancient.. when he describes what characterizes a people (Volk): “It is [. cf. its safety. when reflecting upon the countries of Europe. the only country one will find that has remained unconquered both by foreign powers as well as by foreign tongues is “the free. This dignity is of an ethical nature. Sprachwesen.14 For Wilhelm von Humboldt. “the different languages are the means of the particular ways of thinking and feeling of the nations”. in 1821. suggestive and deontic qualities of the expressions Deutsch (German) and Sprache (language) become more important than any clearly definable referential meaning they might have.17 A final quote by the East German writer Peter Schneider. defines a national language (“Nationalsprache”) as a “treasure trove of the thinking of a people”.13 Johann Gottfried Herder. Thomas Mann regards the responsibility of a people for its language as “a responsibility for the people itself. character of the language. Sprachgeist. enter the great hall of your inherited. common traditions. In 1918 the lexicographer Friedrich Kluge wrote that “the mother tongue is the symbol of the fatherland. or as something that is threatened (which then demands that measures be taken against these threats). a common language. hallow it and cherish it. What the above quotations also show is that in Germany.11 When language is introduced into this sphere of ‘the national’. from his book “Der Mauerspringer” (1982): “If there is still a fatherland of the Germans. in the whole of the empire.16 – Nearly a century later. more than in other countries. a common government and. ancient language. as a symbol of being German: What makes us German – so the argument runs – is not political unity (which does not fully exist). rassegemäße Sprache (nature of the language. Some quotations: In 1612 the reformer Wolfgang Ratke offers to the diet of Frankfurt a plan on “How. a common religion can be introduced”. “race adequate language”). arteigene Sprache. genius of the language. and common character traits. calls upon all Germans to “protect the freedom of our fatherland and of our language”. Sprachcharakter. it has most likely survived in their mother tongue”. it blends in easily. national language. in 1937. eventually. in his chronicle of a baroque language society.Language and National Identity 201 often presented either as something to be preserved (which demands certain activities). Carl Gustav von Hille. as a way of keeping untainted its image in the face of mankind”. the emotive. Nationalsprache. the life and future of your people depend on it”. but always the existence of a common language is stressed. The unity of the language is the unity of home [Heimat]. Other expressions used in these contexts are: Sprachnatur. of whatever territory or belief you may be. language is used as a symbol of the unity of the nation. in 1768. Sometimes the argument is extended to include common ethnic features.12 In 1647. “species adequate language”. but a common culture. Caring for the mother tongue .15 In 1854 Jacob Grimm ends the preface to his German dictionary with these words: “Beloved German countrymen. learn it. In contexts of this nature. Almost exactly a hundred years before. particularly at court. cultural). Foreign words threaten the integrity and identity of the German people: By reducing the scope (“Geltungsbereich”) of the German language. Theodor Körner wrote in his “Jägerlied”: “Uns knüpft der Sprache heilig Band. he gives up “the characteristic features of the thinking and of the attitudes of a German”.) and the cultural and ethnic unit (culture. “the Germanness of the citizens [Volksgenossen] is directly threatened”.22 The concept of Germanness (“Deutschtum”. 3).19 In 1794. people.21 A more negative picture of French linguistic influences is drawn by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn in1833: French words “blacken and poison our souls. to be exactly what nature has made him to be – to exactly the same degree” to which he uses foreign words instead of German ones (ibid. / Uns knüpft ein Gott. Moreover.). religious (i. ibid. ein Vaterland / ein treues deutsches Blut” (What links us is the holy tie of language.. the lexicographer Joachim Heinrich Campe states that the native language “is always the most appropriate one for the intellect. . the spirit. confuse our everyday life. and disfigure. the political unit (country. empire. the others are affected as well. XXIX).e. ethical and civil constitution” of Germany (ibid.) balance and support each other. the morals.23 With the rise of modern anthropology in the 19th century. an author warns of the consequences of linguistic subservience: “He who makes his language a maid will become a servant”. In the face of the increased use of French words in Germany in the 17th century. legal and political notions they bear”. distort and violate our Germanness [Deutschthum] by the different ethical.20 By virtue of the specific nature of its vocabulary and its grammar each language has an essential influence on the formation of the intellect (“Geistesausdehnung und Geistesausbildung”. “Deutschheit”) appears in the texts until 1945. the customs. the characteristic features and the political constitution of the people who speak it” (Campe 1794. political and ethnic features are inextricably intertwined. our fatherland / is our faithful German blood). which in turn fit perfectly well with the “natural. race etc. When one of these elements is brought out of balance. And by doing so. the language. XXVIII).e. the natural way is corrupted” (Hille 1647. This delicate balance is frequently referred to in texts which are of a more patriotic or even nationalist character. 18) of its speakers: “A German ceases to be German – i. darken our views.202 Andreas Gardt means caring for Germanness [Deutschtum]”. It is a commonplace in puristic statements that the frequent use of foreign words threatens not only the language in its lexical substance but also the identity of the community of speakers. Linguistic. nation etc.18 By using French expressions in German “the German spirit is alienated. is our God. the concept of race is introduced into the linguistic discussion. and volitional. cultural and ethnic community by referring to the language of this community.Language and National Identity 203 While this does not always take on an ideological character. Where. which results from his biological disposition (“Blutsanlagen”). be disputed that there are striking parallels in the ideological motifs and strategies of argumentation. as a mere tool. The ahistoricity follows from the logic of the argument: where language has the function of expressing and furthering national identity. culminating in the period of National Socialism. nation. the language of the community is usually – i. of course. as a concept. reliably codified and easily identifiable by all its speakers. is considered to be closely related to his individual “linguistic fate” (“Sprachschicksal”) and his fate as a member of his people (“volkliches Schicksal”).24 The “racial fate” of an individual (“Rasseschicksal”). In summing up what has been stated so far. for example. ethnic. Texts which bring together language and nation often present an ahistorical view of language: language as something monolithic and beyond time. it must appear firm and stable. The “racial characteristic” (“rassische Eigenart”) of the Germans finds its parallel in the specific character of the German language. is more or less exchangeable by any other set of signs and does not have any emotive and suggestive qualities. is constituted in a fourfold context: political. which only serves to convey information. of the puristic statements of Joachim Heinrich Campe around 1800. “the language does not tolerate foreign elements”. their intellectual and emotional life. It cannot. It is then seen in an almost intimate relationship with its speakers. the social and political backgrounds of the fight against French loanwords in the 17th century. cultural. but also serves as a constant stimulus to it. Ideological descriptions of language often have comparable aims and thus a similar structure. that the historical background in which these descriptions are embedded. which is not only an expression of this identity. however. this language must not be presented as an arbitrary set of signs. Language easily blends into this context. Instead. and like the race. National identity to a considerable degree depends on the national language. and of the aggressive ideological statements of the early 20th century are very different. is more or less identical. and the resulting political and cultural institutions of this life. as deeply linked to its cultural and sometimes even ethnic identity. in different historical contexts – presented as the natural form of expression of this community. it is intended to strengthen the identity of a political. it becomes increasingly ideological in the first decades of the 20th century. Obviously. . not exposed to quick change and superficial fashions (such as foreign words).e.25 The comparison of ideological descriptions of language in texts from several centuries does not imply. Publications concentrating on the influence of English on German (volumes of conference papers27. suggested the need for a reconsideration of all kinds of questions of “national” scope. In Austria. “kulturelle Identität” is. ceased to exist. but not with regard to the relations between German and English. for example. alone or together with other languages. In particular the ethnic dimension of earlier debates on questions of identity disappeared completely. the relationship between the Austrian variant of German and High German is discussed. German is an official language in seven European countries. Quite apart from that. this paper concentrates on the situation in Germany. but usually under headings different from the ones dealt with by the articles in this volume. but the debate on the use of Anglicisms in everyday German – is not caused by an excessive increase in Anglicisms over the past ten years but by the fact that these Anglicisms are viewed differently now. the debate on the use of Anglicisms in German is due to a reconsideration of the role the German language plays for the national identity of the Germans. the present situation regarding the relationship between language and identity in Germany will be sketched briefly. if anything. which had built up in Germany from around the middle of the 19th century. The expression “nationale Identität” is usually avoided. until the reunification of 1990. In all of these countries the question of language and national identity is discussed with regard to German. It must be added that the correlation of the German language and national identity is of course not only felt by Germans. texts of the “Deutsche . in Luxemburg the position of High German among the other official languages French and Lëtzebuergesch (Luxemburgish).26 These aspects also touch on the question of language and national identity. but also the changes in the country’s international position. the deep rooted nationalism. “die nationale Frage” (the national question) was hardly talked about officially. given preference. As the question of language in relation to national identity is dealt with differently in each country. There is no reliable evidence that allows a precise description of the role the German language plays for the national identity of the Germans nowadays. The new political situation within Germany. After 1945. as a consequence of the changes in public awareness in the wake of the reunification.204 Andreas Gardt At the end of this paper. Seen in this light. In academic circles the question of “language and national identity” does not seem to be a subject dealt with explicitly. for historical reasons. the question of Anglicisms plays a certain role in some of these countries as well. Due to the historical legacy. It is more than likely that the current debate on the influence of English on German – less the debate on the increasing importance of English as a lingua franca in the sciences. founded in 1997.Language and National Identity 205 Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung”/German Academy of Language and Literature 28 etc. but their criticism is not based on ideological arguments. Yet it seems likely that the very increase in the past ten years in the number of conferences and academic publications dealing with the language question is related to the political changes in Germany. Considering the four components which constitute national identity – the political. If a description of the role of the German language as regards questions of identity in present day Germany remains somewhat speculative. The society claims that it wants to further “the self respect and dignity of all people whose native language is German”29. this is even more the case concerning assumptions about future developments. Although the media have dealt with the use of Anglicisms fairly frequently in recent years. show a noticeable concern of many colleagues as regards the future of German as a language of science. The picture does change to a certain degree when taking into account publications of non academic language societies. which is seen as a growing international “dependency on the United States”. as the texts say – is combined with a criticism of globalization. The German language can no longer be used as an argument for the need to create a unified German state. In the same context. the ethnic. 29–32). the dangers of a loss of identity of the German speaking countries are described. Some of the arguments presented here are clearly ideological. and the volitional – it is however fairly safe to assume that ethnic arguments will not play any role in the discussion about identity.000 members (according to its own publications). The criticism of Anglicisms – or rather: Americanisms or AngloAmericanisms. or they may criticize the resulting “problems of comprehension” (“Verständnisschwierigkeiten”. Moreover. the cultural. political arguments may well play a certain role with regard to language policies in the . once and for all. The German language seen as “reverberating in the blood of its speakers” is. However. Where the media are concerned. it is probable that political arguments will either play no role at all or that they will play a role different from that in the past. a notion of the past. Authors may criticize “an irritating tendency to show off” (“ein bedenkliches Imponiergehabe”). as there has been such a state since 1990. overt national tones are avoided. “to gain prestige” (“Prestige-/Gewinndenken”) (Debus 1999. ibid. many colleagues share a certain dislike of the excessive use of Anglicisms in everyday speech.). The largest one in Germany is the “Verein Deutsche Sprache”. this picture does not really change much: a general reserve concerning the use of explicit political arguments in the debate. with about 13. Likewise.). . 2000a. Sitten. And it is not very likely that a nation-wide consensus in the question of language laws could be reached. supported by the argument that a native language is an immediate expression of the cultural traditions of its speakers and that choosing a different language would alienate the speakers from these traditions. and not of national government. A list of the texts would be beyond the scope of this paper. “Wenn man die Europeischen Landschaften / samt den enderungen / so denselbigen vielfaltiglich zugehangen / überdenken / und das Sprachwesen zugleich mit beobachten wird / alsdann sol sich das freye uhralte grosse Teutschland wol allein finden / welches von frömder Macht gäntzlich unbezwungen / und von frömden Sprachen unverworren geblieben. “Nation” as “die erbliche Stammes-. whereas Germany is not. Firstly. But there is no evidence so far that these arguments will lead to the introduction of language laws in Germany comparable to those in France.” . If German is to play a role in the context of the debate about a German identity. anti–American sentiments are far less prevalent in public life and in politics..206 Andreas Gardt context of immigration into Germany: The current political debate suggests that immigrants will be expected to learn the German language as a prerequisite to granting them the right to stay in the country. Anderson 1991. 2000b and (forthcoming). To argue against Anglicisms or against the growing dominance of English in the sciences is. Notes 1.a. France is governed centralistically. Kultur. this will most likely be supported by cultural arguments. 5. Sprache zumessen”. 4. the puristic tendencies in France are supported by a certain anti-American sentiment among intellectuals and members of the political class. polit. but without the ideological overtones of similar arguments in the past. To pass laws against the use of foreign words would in Germany most probably be within the legislative responsibility of the various German “Bundesländer” (states). “Nation” as a “Rahmen [. and will be. 3.und Kulturgemeinschaft. In Germany. Tradition. welche bestimmten Menschenmassen und Familien ein eigentümliches Rassegepräge aufdrückt”. Sprach-. for details of the texts see Gardt 1994. Selbständigkeit (Souveränität) unter Verweis auf eine als gemeinsam angenommene Geschichte. innerhalb dessen sich Menschen neben kultureller Eigenständigkeit v. 2.]. Secondly. The situation in France differs from the situation in Germany in two respects. 1999. 3).und Empfindungsarten der Nationen” (Humboldt 1821 [?]. Es gehe darum. LXVII).. 10.. Hermanns 1994. Koch’s use of the phrase “nationale Identität” led to a heated debate about political conservativism vs.. also das zu seyn.” 9. [.] zu erhalten sey” (Ratke 1612.] sein inwohnendes Wesen. “Der Deutsche hört in eben dem Maße auf ein Deutscher. so bliebe die deutsche Würde unangefochten. “Machst du die Sprach zur Magd: So wirst du werden Knecht” (Sigmund von Birken. “Deutsche geliebte landsleute. “Deutsches Reich und deutsche Nation sind zweierlei Dinge. 19. Bühler 1934.] Leiden und Handeln. he gives up “die Eigenthümlichkeiten der Denk– und Sinnesart eines Deutschen”.. 7.. eure volkskraft und dauer hängt in ihr” (Grimm 1854. 21. 13) 15.. b6r).. der von ihren politischen Schicksalen unabhängig ist. “unseres Vaterlands / und unserer Sprache Freyheit” zu bewahren (Hille 1647.] und wenn auch das Imperium untergienge. welches glaubens ihr seiet. seine Fortpflanzungsfähigkeit. Die Muttersprache ist “dem Geiste. 12. Cf. which in turn fit (“passen”) into the “natürliche. ein einträchtige Regierung. vnd Endlich Auch ein einträchtige Religion [.] Wie Jm Gantzen Reich ein einträchtige Sprache. 11. 11). den Landeigenheiten und der bürgerlichen Verfassung des sie redenden Volkes am allerangemessensten”. 18. in Neumark 1668.” 8.. 17. der Gemüthsart.] Ahnen und Glauben. den Sitten. Roland Koch. 14. “Gedankenschatz eines ganzen Volkes” (Herder 1768.. sein Regen und Leben. sittliche und bürgerliche Verfassung [Deutschlands]”.. seine Wiedererzeugungskraft. The deontic dimension of the phrase national identity became very obvious in Germany in 2001. [. 16. “Es ist [. 26). lernet und heiliget sie und haltet an ihr. 13.. sie wohnt in der Kultur u[nd] im Character der Nation. Reinerhaltung seines Bildes vorm Angesichte der Menschheit” (Mann 1937.. . “[. 24).Language and National Identity 207 6. 20. 78*).. as if the mere use of the phrase implied a certain political stance. Dadurch waltet in allen Volksgliedern ein volkstümliches Denken und Fühlen.] auch die Verantwortung für das eigene Volk. uralten sprache.. tretet ein in die euch allen aufgethane halle eurer angestammten. wozu die Natur ihn bestimmt hat” [in dem er seine Sprache mit Fremdwörtern durchsetzt]. [. when the chief minister of the state of Hesse. In doing so.. “daß [. Sie ist eine sittliche Größe.. “[.] das jtzige Teutschland annoch dasselbe Teutschland ist / welches vor etzlichen tausend Jahren gewesen”. welches reichs. Die Sprachen sind “die Organe der eigenthümlichen Denk. said that the question of “nationale Identität” should be made a central subject of his party’s (the Christian Democratic Union’) next campaign. “Durch die Sprachverderbnis wird die Rede / und der Teutsche Geist erfremdet / die rechte Art / verunartet” (Hille 1647. liberalism in Germany. “[ist] die Deutschheit unserer Volksgenossen unmittelbar bedroht” (Muttersprache 1934. unsere Grundansicht verdüstern. Nation und Sprache. 2000b Sprache – Nation und die Plurinationalität des Deutschen. References Ammon.. Stuttgart/New York: Fischer. in Muttersprache 1939. Die Diskussion ihres Verhältnisses in Geschichte und Gegenwart. See the homepage of the society: www.208 Andreas Gardt 22. Die Diskussion ihres Verhältnisses in Geschichte und Gegenwart. “Jene Wälschworte. Where German is “unterdrückt und zurückgedrängt”. 28. 24. London/New York: Verso. 29. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. entstellen und schänden” (Jahn 1833. rechtliche. Nr.vds-ev. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. Georg Schmidt–Rohr. Abhandlungen der geistes. Campe. nach Straßner 1995. Mainz. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (1983). Friedhelm 1999 Entwicklungen der deutschen Sprache in der Gegenwart – und in der Zukunft? Stuttgart (Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur. Dritter Versuch welcher den von dem königl.] duldet keine fremden Einflüsse” (Muttersprache 1935. 23. In: Andreas Gardt (ed. 267f. . 2). To mention only two recent publications: Debus/Kollmann/Pörksen 2001 and Hoberg 2002. zit. for an overview of the presence of German in Europe see Ammon 2000 and 2000a. Revised Edition. 412). Preuß. die Lebensverhältnisse verwirren. Die Darstellungsfunktion der Sprache (1934). sittliche. In: Andreas Gardt (ed.. Joachim Heinrich 1794 Ueber die Reinigung und Bereicherung der Deutschen Sprache. “[. 25. Karl 1982 Sprachtheorie. 298). und staatliche Begriffe das Deutschthum verunstalten. 471–494. Debus.).de.und sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse.). Ulrich 2000a Die Rolle des Deutschen in Europa. Gelehrtenverein zu Berlin ausgesetzten Preis erhalten hat. 206. 264). Anderson. Bendedict 1991 Imagined Communities. Braunschweig. und durch andersartige. The Academy has published statements concerning the use of Anglicisms in German and has dealt with the question on conferences (see for example the yearbook 2001 of the Academy). 509–524. 26. For a description of the language question in Austria see Wiesinger 2000. so Seelengift einschwärzen. Nation und Sprache. Bühler. 27. Werner 1992 Volk. 1. In: B. Januar 2000. Vorträge des Internationalen Symposiums vom 18. Andreas 1994 Sprachreflexion in Barock und Frühaufklärung. Fritz 1994 Schlüssel-.und Fahnenwörter.). In: Ulrich Ammon. In: Andreas Gardt (ed. Berlin/ New York: de Gruyter (Handbücher zur Sprach. Die Diskussion ihres Verhältnisses in Geschichte und Gegenwart.) 2001 Deutsch als Wissenschaftssprache im 20. Norbert Dittmar. Sociolinguistics – Soziolinguistik. vol. Andreas (ed. Gschnitzer. Nation und Sprache.Language and National Identity 209 Debus. Mannheim (Arbeiten aus dem Sonderforschungsbereich 245. Abhandlungen der geistes– und sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse. Fragmente. Grimm. 2.und Kommunikationswissenschaft). 2nd ed.). vol. 2000a Nation und Sprache in der Zeit der Aufklärung. Masse./19. Gardt. Stuttgart. In: Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm.).).). Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. Versuch einer historisch-systematischen Bestimmung am Beispiel des Deutschen. Berlin. 247–271. Ein internationales Handbuch zur Wissenschaft von Sprache und Gesellschaft.) 2000 Nation und Sprache. ( = Gardt 2000) Gardt. Schlag. In: Otto Brunner. Nation und Sprache. I–LXVII. Jacob 1854 Vorrede. 2000b Sprachnationalismus zwischen 1850 und 1945. Entwürfe von Böhme bis Leibniz. . 141–431. Gardt. Sämtliche Werke. Sprachgeschichte als Kulturgeschichte. 1999 Sprachpatriotismus und Sprachnationalismus. Jahrhundert. Bernd Schönemann and Karl F. Franz Gustav Kollmann and Uwe Pörksen (eds. Hermanns. Johann Gottfried 1768 Über die neuere Deutsche Literatur. Stuttgart (Mainzer Akademie der Wissenschaften und Literatur. In: Andreas Gardt. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter.). Suphan (ed. Andreas (forthcoming) Nation. Herder. In: Andreas Gardt (ed. Nationalismus. 89–113. Zu Begrifflichkeit und Theorie der lexikalischen ‚politischen Semantik‘. 7. vol. Friedhelm. Berlin. 1877. Die Diskussion ihres Verhältnisses in Geschichte und Gegenwart. 10). Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe. Ulrike Haß–Zumkehr and Thorsten Roelcke (eds. An international Handbook of Science of Language and Society. Nr. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. Nation. Werner Conze and Reinhart Koselleck (eds. 169–198. Fritz. Deutsches Wörterbuch. col. Die Diskussion ihres Verhältnisses in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. Reinhart Koselleck. 81). Vol. Klaus Mattheier and Peter Trudgill (eds. Impulse für eine neue Sprachpolitik. Stötzner (ed. Ratke. In: Freidrich Schiller: Werke. VIII. In: Wilhelm von Humboldt. 1668). Georg 1970 Der Neu-Sprossende Teutsche Palmbaum. Werke. from 1925 until 1939 under the title: Muttersprache. Ratichianische Schriften I. from 1922 until 1925 under the title: Zeitschrift des Deutschen Sprachvereins. y. Leipzig.. Oder Ausführlicher Bericht / Von der Hochlöblichen Fruchtbringenden Gesellschaft Anfang / Absehn / Satzungen / Eigenschaft / und deroselben Fortpflantzung [. – From 1886 until 1922 under the title: Zeitschrift des Allgemeinen Deutschen Sprachvereins. Muttersprache. Mannheim/Leipzig/Wien/Zürich: Dudenverlag (Thema Deutsch. Weimar n. 2/1. 27–30.). Friedrich 1914 Unser Deutsch..210 Andreas Gardt Hille. In: P. Frankfurt: Fischer. Zeitschrift des deutschen Sprachvereins. Carl Gustav von (1647) 1970 Der Teutsche Palmbaum: Das ist / Lobschrift Von der Hochlöblichen / Fruchtbringenden Gesellschaft Anfang / Satzungen / Vorhaben / Namen / Sprüchen / Gemählen / Schriften und unverwelklichem Tugendruhm. ed. since 1949 under the title: Muttersprache. Vol.. Weimar: Hermann Böhlaus Nachfolger. München.. Rudolf (ed. Kluge. Mann. Leipzig. Friedrich 1983 Deutsche Größe (1797). Thomas (1937) 1963 Briefe 1937–1947. Friedrich Ludwig 1833 Merke zum Deutschen Volkstum. Wilhelm von 1963 Ueber den Einfluss des verschiedenen Charakters der Sprachen auf Literatur und Geistesbildung (1821). 1886ff. Hoberg. 4th ed. Zeitschrift für deutsches Sprachleben mit Berichten aus der Arbeit des Deutschen Sprachvereins und des Deutschen Sprachpflegeamts. Zeitschrift zur Pflege und Erforschung der deutschen Sprache. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. from 1939 until 1943 under the title: Muttersprache. Jahn. Reprint.) 2002 Deutsch – Englisch – Europäisch. .1. (Dedication 23. vol. 3rd. Humboldt. Hildburghausen. Nationalausgabe. vol. Werke in fünf Bänden. 3). Schiller. Zeitschrift des deutschen Sprachvereins. Hof. 24–27. Reprint. München. III: Schriften zur Sprachphilosophie. In: Carl Euler. 1884 Deutsches Volkstum (1810). Neumark. Wolfgang 1892 Memorial (1612). Vol.]. 43 vls. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. 2 Parts. 525–562. Straßner. Reprint. Justus Georg 1967 Ausführliche Arbeit Von der Teutschen HaubtSprache [.. In: Andreas Gardt (ed. Tübingen.. Nation und Sprache. Peter 2000 Nation und Sprache in Österreich.]. ed.Language and National Identity 211 Schottelius. Von der Barbarensprache zur Weltsprache. Die Diskussion ihres Verhältnisses in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Braunschweig 1663. Wiesinger. . Tübingen: Niemeyer. by Wolfgang Hecht.). Erich 1995 Deutsche Sprachkultur. . Aber wie auch andere Varietäten. Seine berühmte säkulare Kultur. a lively debate is still going on as to the exact relationship between the two during the first five centuries of their association. da es durch feindlich gesinnte und sogar mörderische Völker immer weiter nach Osten gedrängt wurde. war das Jiddische Gegenstand sowohl geplanten als auch ungeplanten Ausbaus. Jahrhundert gerade dann aufblühte. nimmt es in der Alten wie in der Neuen Welt wieder zu. vor allem unter ultraorthodoxer Schirmherrschaft. Fishman Zusammenfassung Die romanischen und semitischen Sprachanteile des Jiddischen und seine Ursprünge aus einer außergewöhnlich belesenen und kulturell eigenständigen Sprachgemeinschaft bedeuten. Off-Again Relationship – and Some of the More Important Factors Determining the Future of Yiddish Joshua A. represented by Max Weinreich’s . Doch bleibt abzuwarten. da das Jiddische aus der tödlichen Umarmung durch das Deutsche befreit ist. 1. The older and still better established school of thought.Yiddish and German: An On-Again. als das deutsche Prestige zufälligerweise ebenfalls seinen Höhepunkt in Osteuropa erreichte. Jetzt. Deren Sprachnetzwerke sind sich des Kampfes gegen neuhochdeutsche Germanismen vor dem Zweiten Weltkrieg nicht mehr bewusst. die im frühen 19. Genesis scenarios Although no one doubts the early and intimate tie between Yiddish and German. Wie das Deutsche selbst ist die orthodoxe Sprache der Gefahr exzessiver Verwendung von Anglizismen ausgesetzt. In seiner über tausendjährigen Wanderung ist das Jiddische nie weniger deutschen Einflüssen ausgesetzt gewesen als in der Gegenwart. die die Verwendbarkeit für das gesamte Spektrum der modernen Funktionen einer Sprache anstreben. die kurzzeitig für eine Annäherung an das Standarddeutsche eintraten. ob es seine “Abschiedsgeschenke” von den Deutschen und ihrer Kultur lange wird überleben können. brachte sogar eine Gruppe von Autoren hervor. dass Jiddisch nie ein bloßer Dialekt des Deutschen war. Mainz and Speyer. As a result of the above Jewish components plus the non-standardized nature of all Germanic and Slavic varieties (at that early time when Jews were nevertheless already literate and direct quotations can be presented for the very earliest period of Yiddish). no separate column for German would have been necessary. including German. Of course. only since the 17th century and (with the passage of time. The only reason for mentioning this difference in scholarly opinion in this paper. “Not exactly like German” Seemingly. in the study of classic Jewish texts and their explication and translation via local Jewish vernaculars. on the one hand. is because both scenarios involve non-Germanic influences upon Yiddish at its very genesis (Judeo-French and Judeo-Italian [both referred to as Laaz in then-contemporary lay and rabbinic works] in the Weinreich version and Judeo-Sorbian and Judeo-Greek in the Wexler version).214 Joshua A. Fishman History of the Yiddish Language (1973. exclusively) Yiddish. on the other hand. that are likely to be of use to Jewish merchants and travelers. traces the origin and eastward spread of the “Jewish ways of using Germanic speech” from 11th century Alsace-Lorraine and the nearby cities of Worms. The early names for Yiddish reflect this ambiguity. A newer view. from age three to as late as family funds or personal perseverance permitted. or becoming even less like German. among them being Loshn-Ashkenaz (either the language of Germany or the Language of German Jewry [=Ashkenazim]). posits the early Germanic relexification of a Judeo-Sorbian variety and its subsequent spread both eastward and westward with marked Slavic characteristics. 2. Hebrew and Aramaic were present from the very outset too. due to the common male practice of spending considerable time every day. being not exactly like German was an unstable and ambiguous state which invited resolution in either of two directions: becoming more like German. This work includes equivalents of all Yiddish terms in several other languages. This is also reflected by the earliest extant multilingual Yiddish dictionary of 1549 (Fishman 1995). in both versions of the genesis of Yiddish. represented by Paul Wexler’s Yiddish: The Fifteenth Slavic Language (1991). Had Yiddish been exactly like German. Yidish-Daytsh (‘Jewish-German’). zhargon (‘jargon’) and. It does not correspond to any intracommunal . 1980). it can be demonstrated that Yiddish was never exactly like “non-Jewish German” from the very outset. The fact that some German specialists continued to consider Yiddish as a variety of German well into the 20th century is irrelevant for almost all Yiddish speakers. therefore. influence and lead. . and closer physical and psychological proximity to the co-territorial non-Jewish populations which both the growing cities and factories engendered. whether one liked it or not. new methods of production and distribution and. dietary and health practices. above all. small shopkeeping and artisanship. a substantial group of more “enlightened” rabbinic and lay leaders advocated many and fargoing changes. rather than how they spoke Yiddish. Russian nor Polish could “get through” to anywhere near the numbers that they hoped to reach. All but a handful of the new urban elites quickly realized that neither Hebrew. spare-time activities and. therefore. Of course there was also the possibility of using German.. new trades and occupations (as well as unemployment and poverty related to the lesser profitability of peddling. In contrast to an Ultra-traditionalization response (akin to what might now be termed “fundamentalism”). i.Yiddish and German 215 view or aspiration since the beginning of the 20th century and must be seen as counterbalanced by another outsider designation. speaking or writing Yiddish in a fashion “more like non-Jewish German” or “less like non-Jewish German”. which some lay and rabbinic spokesmen preferred in the face of unwelcome social change. became a marker. 3. particularly via the huge expansion of inexpensive print) between leaders and their constituencies. It had been successfully employed by the corresponding Jewish modernization movement among German and other Central European Jews (Hungarian. namely “Ashkenazi German”. Both the resistance to and the advocacy of modernization required and facilitated greater communication (and new media of communication. adherents or would be adherents. Such extensive changes were propelled by constantly rising urbanization. whether in religion. and raised the question of “what kind of Yiddish to use” in the variegated politico-educational efforts directed at the masses more generally. Increasingly. Yiddish was really the only option. education for adults and for children. Europeanization of clothing and facial-hair styles. not only interpreted as reflecting a “Jewish agenda” but one which was often consciously utilized accordingly. The latter is a scholarly term (Wexler 1981) coined to designate the manner in which many Yiddish-speakers spoke German. a stylistic feature of which all were conscious and that was. Czech. political participation.e. German for Jewish modernization: West and East Yiddish inevitably became the vehicle of Jewish modernization/secularization in East-Central and Eastern Europe after the middle of the 19th century. on the West. spoken like an obvious Jew]) became increasingly impoverished and virtually extinct by World War I. Reform Judaism accepted German as its liturgical language with few qualms. and a folksier variety appreciably impacted by Slavic phonology. in the north. on the one hand. so successful was the German Haskala in fosterng the acquisition of German among its constituency that their views of and use of Western Yiddish deteriorated rapidly. it was simpler to shift linguistically from Western Yiddish to German. Supra-linguistically. 4. and thousands upon thousands eagerly employed Moses Mendelsohn’s (1729–1786) German translation of the OldTestament. It was vastly more removed from Standard German by the mid-nineteenth century and had developed an intellectual variety heavily impacted by learned Hebraic lexicon and grammar. not having wandered far from its area of origin and not having been exposed to Slavic (and not even to as many learned Hebraic) influences as had Eastern Yiddish. and to accept a folk-linguistic view that the former was no more than an insular and non-prestigious dialect of the latter. Western Yiddish had remained appreciably closer to German. extended all the way from the German-Slavic border.. Western European Jews were more Westernized in 1800 than the bulk of Eastern European Jews were even in 1850 and.e. in the east. Accordingly. equally accessible and popular across its . Closing the German-Yiddish gap in Eastern Europe: Einbau Pro-German Eastern European “modernizers” also contended with linguistic and supra-linguistic factors.216 Joshua A. Fishman Slovak) half a century or so earlier. initially published in Hebrew characters (1783) so as to be usable even by Jews who knew no Christian letters (“galkhes”). i. to the furthermost Baltics. This success was predicated both on linguistic and supralinguistic grounds. on the other hand. to the point that this much maligned variety of Yiddish (dubbed “maushelen” [“Mosesy”. Indeed. It quickly became the text via which that language could be acquired by Jews in its “pure form”. German represented both modernity (technical superiority) and Germanness (the possibility of equal rights and privileges of citizenship) to Jews in the Western-”Germanosphere”. during the so called “Western Haskala” (enlightenment). therefore. Linguistically. Eastern Yiddish. lexicon and grammar. appreciably further along the road of interpreting themselves as no more than “Germans (Europeans) of Moses’ persuasion”. the Black Sea. It had not only attained a larger repertoire of informal to formal varieties but several of these had begun to appear in an increaingly extensive literature (secular and religious). and the outer reaches of the Ukraine. in the south. even given the prolonged positive reputation of all things and ideas that were considered German. u for the umlaut-u even though it had long-since changed to short i in all Yiddish dialects) and the monsterously long compound-substantives for which German is famous [albeit not unique]). pre-existing Yiddish terms that were unlike the newly borrowed New High German competitors) and even not a few awkward (for Yiddish) grammatical conventions like positioning the verb at the end of an utterance. Russians. with only some of the most change-resistant Ultra-Orthodox press still exhibiting them aplenty. on the other hand. Jews and non-Jews alike. the echos of which are still recognizable in Yiddish in speech and in print to this very day today. on the one hand. the archaic Western Yiddish classics had increasingly begun to be republished in Eastern Yiddish (Kerler 1999). Thus the attempt to make Yiddish more like German in Eastern Europe failed definitively when German was no longer an open-sesame to modernization in that part of the world. They succeeded in importing a non-functional German-influenced orthography (full of silent h’s. e’s. a huge vocabulary (much of it redundant with older. Eastern European Jews mostly opted to become modern and to remain Jewish in a variety of secular and/or religious political colorations.e. f’s instead of v’s. double consonants and vowels in the German manner. Eastern European Jews not only couldn’t aspire to become Germans but they couldn’t even aspire to become Poles. a part of the world in which transethnification and translinguafication more generally were both roundly rejected by all concerned. But the Germanizers in the East did not give up without a hefty struggle. and feedback from the noticeably stronger Slavic language and nationality convictions among all the indigenous non-Jewish populations upon Jewish Eastern Europe. While German Jews mostly opted to become modern “Germans of Moses’ persuasion”. well over a century later. the combined effect of a much lower German population density than that which existed in the Western Yiddish territory. the determining factor in the defeat of Germanization efforts was the military/political expulsion of German influence after World War I. so that even a reading knowledge of Western Yiddish (and its attendant utility as a bridge to German) had begun to atrophy. . (for which German would not have been functional anyway). However. ei combinations to signify long i. supra-linguistically. i. were ultimately much too strong for the pro-German modernizers to overcome. etc. On the other hand. Most of these Germanisms had been noticeably diminishing in frequency and acceptability. At the same time. combinations to signify long e.Yiddish and German 217 own three major dialect lines. and the defeat of the entire German-Jewish transethnization model of Jewish modernization. The apogee of anti-Germanism was reached in the early to mid-30’s when both the Yiddish Scientific Institute YIVO (in Vilne. . these proto-elites were much more united in their anti-Germanism than in most other ideological respects. neither for Jews nor for Yiddish. lexicographers. except in the Soviet Union and its sphere of influence. On the other hand. then in Poland) and the Central Yiddish School Organization (Warsaw) in the secular capitalist world and the Yiddish sections of the Scientific Academies of Soviet White Russia and the Ukraine. While his detractors attacked Lefin (in Hebrew) for using a vulgar and corrupt tongue. stated that it was his predilection to “distance Yiddish from German and to write it as it is spoken amongst us in our Eastern Podolye” (“in undzer mizrekh-padolye”). Fishman 5. the first translator of a free-standing Yiddish translation of a book of the Bible (Psalms). Whereas the first Yiddish newspaper in the Czarist Empire (Kol Mevaser 1862) and those that came after it. Indeed. at the very beginning of the 19th century. that could officially define and inforce it). to the point that by the end of the 19th century even Hebraists or Russifiers attempted to write “good Yiddish” when they wanted to reach and influence the Jewish masses that were functionally illiterate in any other tongue. his defenders defended him (also in Hebrew) on the ground that vernaculars all over the world were being developed by writers and intellectuals who championed them into independent and elegant literary and educational vehicles. The attempts to make Yiddish less like German: Ausbau There were also anti-Yiddish sentiments (and even movements) in Jewish Eastern Europe.218 Joshua A. relatively minor and did not lead in a Germanizing direction at any rate. revealing in this one brief expression both his proSlavic and pro-Hebrew sympathies for the stylistic development of Yiddish (Fishman 1985). The concept of “good Yiddish” required at least something of an unofficial standard for its cultivation (there being no official body. Germanizing. a consensus ultimately developed among Yiddish linguists. opposition to Germanisms started early and was fairly unrelenting. writers and polished spokespersons for all political and religious movements. even if unconsciously. but they were generally fleeting. between 1925 to 1990. Mendl Satenover. and the burgeoning Yiddish press in the United States (from 1880 and onward to this very day) were all frequently. of course. English was constantly mentioned and its insistance on being neither German nor French was emphasized to legitimate the non-German direction of Yiddish modernization in Eastern Europe. in the Communist world. His work was immediately met by both sharp criticism (even prior to publication) and by support informed by the historical and comparative linguistics of the time. As the prime example of one such formerly lowly dialect. of late. did not accept neither the YIVO’s nor the Soviet’s norms. journalists. By the time the Second World War began. This was crystal clear at all other linguistic levels in all of the YIVO publications and. The major centers of Yiddish are now in the United States and Israel. books and textbooks continue to carry on their efforts. periodicals. Roumania and (until the late 30’s) the Soviet Union boasted several hundred Jewish elementary. They required a “traditionalist norm” and the one which they adopted was simultaneously both antiGerman (anti-Maskilic) and anti-modern (“anti-atheistic”) more generally (Birnbaum 1977). even if they differed in several other respects. secondary and even tertiary schools in which Yiddish was the regular language of instruction. Accord- . further from direct German influences than ever before. only some of the most extreme ultra-Orthodox circles still reflected the re-Germanization of Yiddish that had taken hold more than a century earlier. The ultra-Orthodox. Yiddish and German since the Holocaust The major fact to keep in mind about the relationship between Yiddish and German after the Holocaust (even a more important fact than the understandable Jewish abhorence of all things German) is that within a decade after the war the bulk of the speakers of Yiddish were no longer in Europe and. particularly those from English and Israeli Hebrew. which served simultaneously as a guide for teachers. The fact that interwar Poland. In both of them ultra-Orthodox and secularist schools. Yet the impact of German continues to erode. 6. The Yivo’s “Unified Yiddish Orthography” (UYO) has slowly but surely gained adherents. pupils. it has broken through into ultra-Orthodox circles as well. It is the only orthography now followed in secularist circles and. Judging from these sources the avoidance of Germanisms is rarely a matter of interest or even of conscious awareness. writers and lay-adults more generally.Yiddish and German 219 adopted orthographic rules and guidelines that were clearly anti-German in nature. if only because there is no source from which any such influence could eminate and compete with other influences upon Yiddish useage. who also sponsored a large number of Yiddish schools of their own (Kazhdan 1947) and who had an understandable predilection for more traditional usage in language as in most other things. the Baltic states. in Max Weinreich’s popular pamphlet Daytshmerish toyg nit ‘Germanisms are no good’ (1938). above all. therefore. made it possible for these institutional language policies to effectively define required usage for many thousands of children in the 30’s. of German on Yiddish-in-print has been totally eliminated in secularist circles and is slowly weakening in ultra-Orthodox ones. 1967). This is a small but noteworthy triumph in the annals of non-governmental language planning. Yiddish will not be the only Germanic language to follow this approach to “autonomy motivated distancing”. A smaller but still noteworthy success is continuing to unfold at the lexical level. Fishman ingly. its founder and director Mordkhe Schaechter and Yiddish courses at the college level. 7. it can be expected that their lexical efforts along these lines will continue for roughly half a century and will then be taken up by their own students. Yiddish will still remain a Germanic language. Neologisms pertaining to the realms of science and technology. in some cases. These must be seen as two sides of the same coin. Several of the latter are now published in mixed or “interstitial” orthographies and the direction of any further change that they may experience is clearly toward the UYO. of course. unnecessary and nonsensical). conscious or merely habitual. The elimination of older German borrowings. however. If so.220 Joshua A. Theoretical review Following Kloss (1932. the former impact. have experienced a truly remarkable diffusion in a relatively brief period. as its few opponents maintain. are now clearly independent of that source. but the principle of ausbau from New High German may well continue to be as staunchly subscribed to as it is now. and most of its neologisms continue to be derived from the Germanic component of the language. where the need for neologisms pertaining to popular fads and technological innovations is most clearly felt. Only a small and shrinking proportion of Yiddish speakers now has any knowlege or consciousness of German and this. still meets up with some rejection on the grounds that opposition to them is akin to “still fighting the last war”. Lexical de-Germanization is currently associated largely with the publications of the League for Yiddish. even after that war ended more than half a century ago with the eradication of direct YiddishGerman contacts. of course. since there is no real corpus planning without . Since most of the individuals who constitute the small and largely academic coterie of active “de-Germanizers” and “neologism coiners” are only in their 30’s and 40’s. language planning is commonly separated into corpus planning and status planning. renders any continued de-Germanization efforts more difficult (or. once so massively dependent on obvious New High German borrowings. however. Some of these neologisms have been adopted by the periodical press and. have become highly and visibly different in print. it is in languages that are basically quite similar to each other that the interdependence of status and corpus comes clearly and urgently to the fore. Similarly. of Latinisms generally) in corpus planning. the traditional script difference between Yiddish and German would have lent itself to this approach. This relationship between status and corpus is clear enough in Abstand languages (languages that are too different in their basic makeup to permit the weaker of the two to be considered a “mere dialect” of the other). while Hindi remains solidly committed to the Sanscritic path of Hinduism. Indeed. but there the similarity between the two contrasted cases ends. just as the opponents of such new and higher statuses for the weaker language will oppose such distancing. The latter must also influence the former. Under such circumstances. Via mutually incomprehensible script selection. which bitterly opposed and ridiculed Western Yiddish. Such use was decidedly a nonstarter in the East. Islamic) sources for its corpus planning. Had Yiddish followed this path it would have cultivated corpus planning based upon its unique Hebraic religious tradition. The Eastern European protagonists of advancing or opposing autonomy motivated distancing between Yiddish and German rarely considered the rejection or adoption of Latin script or of Latinisms in corpus planning. This had been an ingredient of the earlier German Haskala. more broadly. The ultimate adoption by German Jews of German script for intra-communal and even religious purposes was viewed in Eastern Europe as having led to Reform Judaism and to apostacy. the Eastern Haskole took pains to differentiate modernization from Christianization and the use of Latin script (or. Under such circumstances the basic independence of the weaker from the stronger language can be questioned and certain newer statuses may be denied to it on the very basis of its assummed dialectal status. However. One route is to emphasize a classical (usually a classical religious) tradition with which the weaker language is associated but with which the stronger one is not. There are several different routes (“rationales”) which autonomy motivated corpus distancing may follow.Yiddish and German 221 functional status issues being uppermost in the minds of the planners. every bit as much as new functional statuses inevitably influence the direction of corpus planning. the adherants of distancing Yiddish from . the adherents of new and higher statuses for the weaker language will champion further “autonomy motivated distancing” in the corpus planning realm. Accordingly. Urdu corpus planning draws its inspiration from Perso-Arabic (and ultimately. language purification movements and disparate classic bases for the formulation of neologisms the two languages that are so similar in popular speech as to be indistinguishable. Accordingly. was considered more cultured and intellectual by most city-folk but was regarded as currupted by foreign influences that had robbed it of any real authenticity. In the Eastern European Yiddish-German case overriding the major script differences between the two languages played only a minor role because Latin letters for Yiddish had so very few adherents. because they regarded such useage as a profanation of the sacred. the Rusyn vs. Dutch. The result was still a ScandinavianGermanic language but one that left no doubt as to its independence from Danish. This is not the place in which to review the several other rationales and directions for attaining autonomy motivated distancing that remained unutilized in the modernization of Eastern European Jewry at a time when German represented the acme of modernization. Fishman German in Eastern Europe could not achieve their goals via maximal Hebraization in matters lexical (the scripts of the languages already being virtually identical). also known as Dano-Norwegian. Those who favored modernization via einbau with written New High German often . Distancing from Danish was the major consideration. Hebrew was insufficiently understood among the rank and file of both males and (particularly) females to depend upon it for communication with the Jewish masses. Belarussian vs. Also. The einbau vs. In Norway. and. The former.222 Joshua A. On the other hand. Gallego vs. Landsmal (renamed Nynorsk ‘New Norwegian’) was a fully artificial creation. since only one ethnoreligious identity is involved. There are still other examples of the ausbau principle in action (without the script issue of Urdu-Hindi): Frisian vs. the Croatian vs. there was no major difference between the westernizing penchants of the two opposed parties. even more difficult to attain than was the Yiddish one. and the Macedonian vs. in earlier centuries. German and Slovak vs. Hebrew for secular purposes was opposed by many of the minority that knew it well in Eastern Europe. also Dutch vs. the case of Norway is very much like the Yiddish one. and whenever dialectal Western Norwegian alternatives existed. also. On the other hand. Czech. no religious fault line fell between the adherants of Ryksmaal and Landsmaal (Haugen 1966). Indeed. ausbau distinction seems to apply best to the facts of the Yiddish case as well as to the facts of a few other cases round the world. but the rural and coastal Norwegian pursuite of authenticity via distancing from outside influences was. the one that was furthest from Danish was the one that was preferred. Ukrainian case. Serbian case. Bulgarian case are all more similar to the Urdu-Hindi one in that script differences ultimately tied back to different classicals are also involved. Portuguese. in many ways. Russian. assembled on the pattern of ancient Viking inscriptions out of a variety of dialectal sources whose major common feature was that they were judgd to be totally autochthonous. These reached back to Herder and stressed language purity (in the German case this meant the rejection of French loanwords) and the absolute necessity of an authentic and independent language in order for its speakers to successfully constitute an independent and creative nation. The modernization of Yiddish could not escape from this German-derived ideology even though it has been amazingly effective (certainly effective given its well nigh total lack of governmental enforcement connections that might assist to distancing it from German) in escaping from the shadow of German in its corpus planning per se. the speakers of Yiddish were subjected to conquest. Now that this escape has been substantially accomplished. while Yiddish would continue to be the omnipresent informal and intimate L (“low” power) vernacular. nevertheless. As was the case with the Amerindians and the Aborigines and their respective languages.Yiddish and German 223 even accepted a diglossic model in which German and Hebrew would share H (“high” power) functions (perhaps also with Polish or Russian). “back at the ranch”. Ironically enough. at least by a noteworthy segment of the Yiddish-speaking and Yiddish-writing community. 8. This irreparable loss goes far beyond the scope of any possible ameliorative attempt. Turning then to those millions of Yiddish speakers who had the good luck or the foresight to resettle outside of Eastern Europe. Der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland. The German Nazis had a much more devastating impact on Yiddish than did the Haskala at its very worst. still under the strong influence of German-derived language and ethnicity ideologies. finally (“the final solution”) to annihilation en masse (“Holocaust”). the ausbau advocates who favored the maximal de-Germanization of Yiddish were. it is probably time (if not “high time” as some would claim) to give attention to the inroads of English and Hebrew and to the lack of inter-generational mother-tongue transition within the Yiddish secular world. Paul Celan wrote. there is no chance that it will recover its former ubiquity among those Eastern European Jews and those of their offspring who miraculously survived the utter carnage and disruption of World War II. two millions of them children and infants. much more was happening to Yiddish than its struggle with the German language that has so fascinated many linguists. we encounter the negative impact of more ordinary varieties of dislocation: virtually simulta- . occupation and. or among those who were fortunate enough to migrate elsewhere before the War erupted. Having lost six million speakers. Finally: Noticing the elephant at the zoo Meanwhile. and certainly this applied to Yiddish as well. and the enthronement of Hebrew in the newly founded State of Israel were. political parties and the opportunities of civic nationalism and social mobility in democratic centers of mass-immigration. As a . although the Jewish rate of re-culturation and re-linguification was generally much higher than among others. the re-vernacularization of Hebrew. necessitating a lingua franca that inevitably turned out to be the local language of government. these processes also affected all non-Jewish immigrants as well and their respective languages also generally languished in the United States. In the Jewish case Yiddish and Hebrew underwent modernization and secularization at roughly the same time and although Hebrew retained its ritualized and textified classical functions it also attained modern. Urbanization already began in the old homelands prior to World War I and it was continued and accelerated in the countries of resettlement (including the Soviet sphere). South Africa. the classicals and the vernaculars generally avoided functional clashes. In most ways. Fishman neous urbanization. It brought Yiddish speakers into much closer residential and occupational proximity with non-Jews. seculartization. however. the Zionist rejection or downgrading of Yiddish as a language of detested diasporic subjugation. non-Jewish schools. The presence of a classical linguistic rival within the cultural fold proved to be a greater stumbling-block for Yiddish than it did for the varieties of vernacular Arabic (vis-à-vis Classical Arabic) or for the Hindu vernaculars (vis-à-vis Sanskrit). Two unique factors. The other classicals have remained unvernacularized and assigned to religious rituals or texts as well as to other functions requiring literacy and formality. due to the impossibility of homeland reinforcements. From this followed the loss of whatever Yiddish monolingualism there might have existed earlier as Jews increasingly undertook roles in urban occupations. Australia and even the Soviet Union. secular spoken ones as well. As a result. a problem nexus for Yiddish quite unlike that faced by most other languages. one negative and one positive If blood-letting and assimilative globalization are widespread debilitative factors for small languages. migration and globalization. 9. Canada. taken together.224 Joshua A. These processes too had begun prior to the mass-migrations out of Eastern Europe. in totally new and unfamiliar surroundings in which ethnoreligious nationalism was either lacking or much weaker than it had been in Eastern Europe and in which social mobility was much more widely available their potency vis-à-vis language shift was magnified. These processes quickly led to the deYiddishization of most immigrants derived from Eastern Europe. an extremely high birth rate and a self-separating ethos vis-à-vis the State of Israel or of the secular state anywhere. the future of Yiddish has begun to appear less bleak than was hitherto assumed to be the case (Fishman 2001). whether these segments reside in Israel or in the diaspora. while modern secular vernacular Hebrew is rejected as destabilizing the pre-Messianic status quo. theaters being refused permanent venues. when Yiddish could no longer count on any more youthful native speakers in secular circles. Large segments of Ashkenazi Ultra-Orthodoxy continue to be inter-generationally Yiddish speaking and conduct their schools (elementary. In Israel this clash also had behind it the force of law. Thereby hangs a tale that other minority and lesser-used languages might want to consider and try on for size. As a “separating tongue”. 10. UltraOrthodox Jewry slowly recovered from the horrors of the Holocaust and has re-emerged as a fully intact culture with a very dense population concentration. state-stipends for a meager number of Yiddish books. Yiddish is viewed as being “within the pale of sanctity” (Fishman 2002).Yiddish and German 225 result. Probably as many as 10%–20% of Israeli and of World Jewry can be described as Ultra-Orthodox and. Ultra-Orthodoxy’s express rejection of either the American or the Israeli mainstream ways of life should go far to assuring that Yiddish will survive the rising tide of globalization of the 21st century. The “one stateone people-one language” model of language policy remained unquestioned (at least vis-à-vis Jews) until fairly recently. All of which can now “do no harm to Hebrew” and diffuse criticism from abroad. speakers being booed off the stage and even those speaking it informally in the street being public ally admonished not to do so (Fishman and Fishman 1978). Yiddish the foremost among them. annual prizes have been instituted for noteworthy Yiddish authors. Yiddish books being specially taxed. the additional dislocation of Yiddish caused by an “enemy within the gates” has been somewhat ameliorated by the dawning recognition that Yiddish possesses a special “friend at court” as well. accordingly. secondary and tertiary) as well as all other communal institutions in Yiddish. Conclusions Yiddish has been exposed to both autonomy-motivated distancing from German (ausbau) and to dependency-motivated approximation to German . However. During the past few decades. broadcasts and theater. newspapers burned in their kiosks. it clashed functionally with all diasporic Jewish vernaculars. 1985 “Nothing new under the sun”: A case Study of alternatives in ethnocultural identity. but now rival and opponent. In: Richard D. The Rise and Fall of the Ethnic Revival. Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters. Dos yidishe vort: 31–32. Fishman. 1995 Dictionaries as culturally constructed and culture-constructing artifacts: The reciprocity view as seen from Yiddish sources. (b) the rather atypical presence of an erstwhile Classical partner. Language Policy and Pedagogy. 1999 Germany. Beys yakev. 77–103. 1931 Geule fun loshn [Redemption of language]. the inroads of English-oriented globalization) the world-over. Birnboym. Shlomo A.). . Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity. and (c) the unexpected resiliency of Ultra-Orthodoxy and its capacity to regroup and to resist the pressures of the modern world.). 286–299. In: Fishman. References Birnboym. Fishman. Nevertheless. The Hague: Mouton. 181–195.). Drastically weakened by the German-inspired Holocaust during World War II. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Shlomo A. 43–52. the major forces shaping its future lie elsewhere. Lodz. 1977 Der traditsyonalistisher oysleyg fun yidish in poyln [The tradionalist spelling of Yiddish in Poland]. 2000 The status agenda in corpus planning. New York: Oxford University Press. Lexicographia. Can Threatened Languages be Saved?. Series Maior 64: 29–34. Joshua A. Lambert and Elana Shohami (eds.226 Joshua A. Reprinted (1981) in Joshua A. Fishman (einbau) for nearly two centuries. 2001 A decade in the life of a two-in-one language: Yiddish in New York (secular and Ultra-orthodox). Fishman (ed. Never Say Die! A Thousand Years of Yiddish in Jewish Life and Letters. Fishman (ed. In: Joshua A. Berlin: Mouton. 74–100. its fate today and tomorrow will be determined both by (a) the usual predators that prey upon threatened languages (primarily. in the form of revernacularized and thoroughly secularized Hebrew and the latter’s current champion (the State of Israel). In: Joshua A. James R. Dow. The Hague. Takones fun yidishn oysleyg (zekster aroyskum). . Dov-Ber 1999 The Origins of Modern Literary Yiddish. Kerler. 1760–1895.) 1999 Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity. Reprinted: 1938. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 91 (entire issue). Anthropological Linguistics 9/7: 29–41. University of Chicago Press. Kloss. New York: YIVO and League for Yiddish. Yidish far ale X: 97–106. 1973.). Rules of Yiddish Spelling (6th edition)]. Max 1938 Daytshmerish toyg nit [Germanisms are no good]. Fishman). 1999 Der eynhaytlekher yidisher oysleyg: fun folkshprakh tsu kulturshprakh (An iberblik iber der historye funem eynhaytlekhn yidishn oysleyg). Never Say Die! A Thousand Years of Yiddish in Jewish Life and Letters. Mexico City: Kultur un hilf. The Field of Yiddish 3: 284–304. 671–696. Einar 1966 Language Conflict and Language Planning: The Case of Modern Norwegian. New York/Oxford: University Press. Haugen. the fifteenth Slavic language. Sh. Heinz 1932 Die Entwicklung neuer germanischer Kultursprachen [The development of new Germanic literary languages]. 1991 Yiddish. Fishman Joshua A. [The unified Yiddish spelling: From a vernacular to a literary language (An overview of the history of the Unified Yiddish Spelling). Kh. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 30: 119–132. Paul 1981 Askenazic German. 1967 “Abstand languages” and “Ausbau languages”. Oxford: Clarendon.. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Fishman (ed. Weinreich. (ed. Reprinted in: Joshua A. 4 vols. Schaechter. Wexler. Kazhdan. Yidishe sprakh 34: 23–33. Originally published in Yiddish. 1947 Di geshikhte fun yidishn shulvezn in umophengikn poyln [The history of Jewish school systems in independent Poland].Yiddish and German 2002 227 The holiness of Yiddish: Who says Yiddish is holy and why? Language Policy 1: 123–141. 1981. Mordkhe 1969 THE ‘hidden standard’: A study of competing influences in standardization. München: Pohl. Mouton. New York: YIVO. 1980 History of the Yiddish Language (Translated from Yiddish by Shlomo Noble and Joshua A. Chicago. . Language is so much a part of cultural and individual identity that this replacement in language suggests a corresponding replacement in culture and identity that many find troubling. Gründe für ihre Erhaltung über einen Zeitraum von 300 Jahren und die Beziehung zwischen der Sprache und einer ethnischen Identität sowie die anhaltenden Versuche. Viele ältere Menschen sprechen noch Deutsch. Englisch statt Pennsylvanien-Deutsch zu gebrauchen. die Sprache zu erhalten und zu unterrichten. But it would be overly simplistic to see this process as one that pits the English language against German. Ihre Sprache ist mit den Dialekten der Pfalz noch immer eng verwandt und wechselseitig verständlich.The Past and Future of the Pennsylvania German Language: Many Ways of Speaking German. economic and political processes that both contribute to and are enhanced by the globalization of the world economy. or more . Many Ways of Being American David L. and the prominent position of English-speaking nations in globalization. die sich im späten 17. Valuska William W. Donner Zusammenfassung Die Pennsylvania-Deutschen sind Nachkommen von Immigranten aus der Pfalz. und unter ihnen besteht ein beständiger Druck. aber viele der jüngeren nicht mehr. und 18. or American cultural hegemony against German cultural autonomy. Die Mitglieder der Reformierten und Lutherischen Protestantischen Kirchen bilden die große Mehrheit. The dominance of English is part of broad social. mostly as the result of the increased use of English. Dieser Druck hat sich in der letzten Zeit verstärkt. In unserem Beitrag untersuchen wir die Entwicklung der Sprache. Jahrhundert im südöstlichen Pennsylvanien ansiedelten. Die Mehrheit der Pennsylvanien-Deutschen ist heute in die amerikanische Gesellschaft integriert. The papers presented at this conference have examined the manner in which the use of the German language has changed and in many cases is being eroded. Sie haben jedoch einige spezifische kulturelle Praktiken beibehalten und ihre Sprache bewahrt. there are many ways of being American and many ways of speaking German. The dynamics of globalization are never static and are themselves constantly changing. It is at the intersection of this cultural and linguistic diversity that we find the Pennsylvania Germans. Valuska and William W.” This republicanism was based upon a fear of libertarianism and government from afar. was never static. The conference’s discourse about the future of the German language has the potential of becoming somewhat hegemonic itself in its assumptions about the primacy and invariability of one version of the German language. but regional dialects of German are under pressure from High or standard German and the relationships between languages in multi-lingual communities are often dynamic and changing. provides an excellent insight into the process of ethnicization-asAmericanization that the Pennsylvania Germans experienced. The Pennsylvania German language. as we shall argue in this paper. Over the course of that time.230 David L. This paper is concerned with one aspect of this variation and diversity. For. like the ethnic identity that it reflects. These ethnic communities shared a common set of evolved folkways and material culture. were central marks of identity and cultural cohesion as well as tools of communication (Nolt 2002: 14. The Pennsylvania Germans were easily discernible by dress and lifestyle and they reacted strongly to any that wished to change the accepted traditions. Pennsylvania Germans used a Germanic language to forge a distinctive American identity. The Lutheran and German Reformed churches acted as ethnic magnates pulling the people into a community of commonly held beliefs reflecting a shared ethnic heritage. Religion was a critical part of their cultural identity and acted as an agent to reinforce the long accepted values and folkways. Language. The German immigrants established strong ethnic communities that strengthened their traditional values. . both Pennsylvania German and High German. 16 and 29). This concept explains the Pennsylvania Germans’ unique cultural conformity and isolation in a world of excessive individualism (Nolt 2002: 30–34). The Germans wanted government to be local and autonomous. and was constantly reshaped and redefined as a cultural force over the past three hundred years. These traditional communities were strengthened after the American Revolution through a process Nolt refers to as “Peasant Republicanism. Donner generally as an American dominated globalization versus regional identities. Foreigners in their Own Land. There is considerable diversity both among the speakers of dominant languages such as English and among speakers of the German language. Stephen Nolt (2002) in his recent study. Dominance and regionalism are partly matters of perspective: German may be under pressure from English. The greatest concentration of immigrants came from the areas of the Rhine. Virginia. they clung tenaciously to their native tongue. Switzerland. This language is derived from the dialects of German found in the southwest region of Germany. But the Pennsylvania German language has lasted for several hundred years in the United States under immense pressure from a dominant language and culture. Belgium and Holland. The dialect of German spoken in this region of Germany is still mutually intelligible with Pennsylvania German.1 The Pennsylvania Germans are a composite ethnic group comprised of German speaking people that immigrated to the American colonies in the period from 1683 through the first decade of the 19th century. Over the next 100 years these German immigrants made cultural accommodations with the predominant English culture. Palatinate (Pfalz). it is more drastically eroding the use of Pennsylvania German in the United States. They came from a variety of areas: western and southern Germany. where the ancestors of most Pennsylvania Germans lived. but the minority sect groups (i. Hessen. There are some subtleties in Pennsylvania German culture that are often misunderstood by outsiders. and so too is “High” or standard German eroding the use of regional dialects inside Germany. Part of this diversity is grounded in fundamental religious differences that have resulted in profoundly different attitudes towards culture change and modernization. If English is eroding the use of standard German in Germany. But there are difficulties in communication between speakers of standard German and speakers of Pennsylvania German. Schwenkfelders. Hanau-Lichtenberg. Baden.) Mennonites. Nearly 90% of the German immigrants were German Reformed or Lutheran (Church people) and they came for new economic opportunities. but they are a very diverse group.2 Pennsylvania Germans share a language and basic cultural practices.e. as earlier stated. Tyrol and several cantons in Switzerland. Amish. Alsace-Lorraine. and its future is not necessarily one of a language headed for obsolescence. Most came for economic reasons. and to a certain degree assimilated. including those that are mutually intelligible with Pennsylvania German. Austria. Bretheren and Moravians sought religious freedom. The terms Pennsylvania German and Pennsylvania Dutch (Dutch is a corruption of Deitsch) refer to the same people. eastern France. although the Pennsylvania Germans or Pennsylvania Dutch argue bitterly among themselves over which is the preferred moniker. Württemberg. A common distinction is made between . but. and a few other sections in the American Midwest and Canada).The Past and Future of the Pennsylvania German Language 231 Pennsylvania German or Pennsylfaanisch Deitsch is still spoken in southeastern Pennsylvania (with areas of usage in Maryland. Darmstadt. But they are generally very accepting of modern technology and at present they are far more assimilated into mainstream American culture. and are conservative in adopting new technology and fashions. Troy Boyer and Richard Wolf.3 Three of the presenters at the conference. He is also a very popular speaker at Grundsow and Fersommling meetings. Among the Old Order Mennonites and Amish. Far less exotic and visible. Tourists flock to Lancaster County in Pennsylvania to see these people. Dr. He is president of the Pennsylvania German Society. and Hollywood scriptwriters. Donner Plain Pennsylvania Germans and the Church groups. Robert Kline. He is also active in the largest organization that preserves and continues to use the Pennsylvania German language. Reverend Richard Wolf is a Lutheran Minister. All are fluent . Founded in 1891. and their lifestyle even provided a backdrop for a Hollywood movie. the Church Pennsylvania Germans include Lutherans and German Reformed (now United Church of Christ) and are by far the largest numbers of Pennsylvania Germans. These Plain People include the Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonites who restrict the use of modern technology and adhere to traditional values. the Grundsow Lodges. The Plain people are Anabaptists (mainly Mennonite and Amish). He is active in teaching Pennsylvania German language classes. the Pennsylvania German Society is the foremost organization involved in the publication of scholarly materials about Pennsylvania Germans. artistic and craft practices that modern tourism has conflated with the Amish. Robert Klein is a retired physician from Lebanon County. social scientists who write textbooks. but generally are pacifists. who vary somewhat in religious beliefs and cultural values. These conservative Anabaptists also make their way into many sociology and anthropology textbooks. He is also Executive Director of the Pennsylvania German Society.232 David L. and there are still a large number of Pennsylvania German speakers among the Church people. The Church people are also responsible for many of the cultural. In contrast. Valuska and William W. represent some of the diversity in backgrounds found among the Pennsylvania German Church people. Pennsylvania German remains the primary language used at home and most people’s first language (a modified form of standard High German is used in religious meetings and English is learned in schools). Troy Boyer is a doctoral candidate in Folklore at the University of Indiana. Witness. But these Church Pennsylvania Germans retained many distinctive cultural practices and their Pennsylvania German language well into the 20th century. believe in adult Baptism. they are also far less noticed by tourists. The rest of this paper is mainly concerned with the use of the Pennsylvania German language among the Church people. although most are elderly. In their presentations. Kline and Wolf are also fluent in Pennsylvania German. were in English (although there were a few very popular Pennsylvania German radio shows). Two wars with Germany put some pressure on doing things German. These men were strong advocates of their Pennsylvania German culture and heritage and some were key members in the development of the Pennsylvania German Society. Among Church people it is rare for people born after 1950 to be able to speak the language. recordings. leading Pennsylvania German educators were advocating the exclusive use of English in schools. radio. But there were other factors. The Pennsylvania German language is still an important medium for communication. Kline emphasized the legitimacy of Pennsylvania German as a language. Dr. including Pennsylvania Germans ones. television and movies. and labor moved from farms to factories.The Past and Future of the Pennsylvania German Language 233 speakers of English. and teachers. Even by the end of the 19th century. But Boyer. Although Pennsylvania German was maintained as the primary language in some regions of Pennsylvania over the last 300 hundred years. The economy of the area shifted from agriculture towards industry. points out that most Church Pennsylvania Germans in his generation have minimal familiarity with the language. Both represent important facets of the language situation. who has less command of the language. language loss has been especially intensive over the last 100 years. emphasized the pressures on the Pennsylvania German language that make it hard for younger people. perhaps more important. such as himself. these three people also outlined the major themes in language use among Pennsylvania Germans that shape this paper. It must be added that the loss of Pennsylvania German was to a large extent the result of choices that Pennsylvania Germans themselves made about the importance of knowing English in order to be successful in American society. There are still many older speakers who are fluent in the language and enthusiastic about the history and cultural traditions that the language reflects. to learn it. The presentations of Boyer and Wolf were counterpoints to one another. on the other hand. but primarily for older Pennsylvania Germans. Wolf emphasized the resilience and strength of the Pennsylvania German language. Boyer. Media. affecting language use that resulted from economic changes. but they came to . and led to some reluctance to use a language that some might associate with Germany. Increased mobility and the transition to an industrial economy also brought in people from outside the region who did not speak the language. insisted on English as the language of instruction. The common or public school system became well established by the early 1900s. a Pennsylvania German identity developed that was both distinctly American and also something that was seen as somewhat different from mainstream American society. although almost invariably with the ultimate goal of learning and using English. A major leader in this group was Henry Harbaugh. 1988. In 1861. In the 20th century there were several important efforts to preserve the Pennsylvania German language. mostly with nostalgic or natural themes. is often considered to be inferior or “sub”-standard. so too they developed and redefined their use of language. Abraham Reeser Horne. but that speakers of foreign languages themselves often supported programs and activities that increased the use of English. Pennsylvania German is sometimes labeled a “dialect. Donner view mastery of English as essential for a successful life in American society.” but this is misleading.4 Language is intimately related to the cultural identity of its speakers and as cultural identity changes so does the use of the language (Sollors 1986. 1998). It is a language that. In the 19th century. they wrote increasingly in English. including in regular newspaper columns. and over the course of the 19th century. in the pages of The Guardian. Pennsylvania Germans were active participants in both the maintenance and development of their language. After his death. In a historical review of attitudes and policies towards bilingualism in the United States that included a large section on Pennsylvania Germans. Others began writing in Pennsylvania German for a larger public. Harbaugh started writing poems in Pennsylvania German. Starting in the second half of the 19th century there were several efforts to develop a literary tradition in Pennsylvania German. Heinz Kloss (1977) concluded that in many cases governmental policies were sympathetic towards speakers of languages other than English. The development of a Pennsylvania German literature paralleled that development. These efforts culminated in the development of a folk and oral tradition that has lasted into the 21st century. One factor affecting the status of Pennsylvania German is that for many years it lacked a distinctive or recognizable literary tradition. The Guardian. Harbaugh’s Harfe (1870). like many non-standard versions of a major language. As they defined and redefined their relationship with American society. In 1800. Valuska and William W. In the 1870s. In the late 1860s. an influential Reformed Minister who edited his own religious journal. some educators advocated using Pennsylvania German as a language of instruction in schools. Edward Rauch (1868) began another major literary theme in Pennsylvania German by writing letters to his own newspaper under the pseudonym of Pit Schweffelbrenner. many of his poems were published in a book.234 David L. a principal at Keystone State Normal School in . literate Pennsylvania Germans read and wrote in German. Pennsylvania Germans were also distancing themselves from German national culture and the German language. Despite these obstacles. With a longer history in the United States. Boonastiel is a regional example of a major national tradition of characters in American literature who combine backwoods humor and wisdom. Although a Germanized orthography (called the BuffingtonBarba system) has been developed and is preferred by most Pennsylvania German intellectuals. By 1900 there was a vibrant literary tradition in the Pennsylvania German language. a series of Pennsylvania German newspaper columns were written by Thomas Harter. and English was their primary literary language for most of their activities. And there are still some book-length productions in the language. Pennsylvania Germans had developed a distinctive ethnic identity. This book was an educational manual to help Pennsylvania German speakers pronounce English and also to aid in teaching Pennsylvania German students (Horne 1875). These columns were collected into a very popular book (Harter 1904). the Pennsylvania German Society. Nolt (2002) has argued that by the middle of the 19th century. Moreover. About this time. The development of Pennsylvania German as a literary language paralleled the diminished use of German and the increased use of English as the primary literary language for most Pennsylvania Germans. In the 1880s and 1890s. many writers do not follow it. they viewed themselves as quite different from more recent 19th century migrants from Germany to the United States. There are still many Pennsylvania German “dialect” columns in regional newspapers in southeastern Pennsylvania.5 But Pennsylvania German was used as a literary language in only a limited set of domains and contexts. the development of Pennsylvania German as a literary language can be viewed as an important aspect of the development of an American identity that was both self-consciously American and also self-consciously Pennsylvania German. there has never been the wide acceptance of any standardized orthography for spelling in Pennsylvania German.The Past and Future of the Pennsylvania German Language 235 Kutztown (which evolved into Kutztown University). limited membership to people who had ancestors that arrived before 1808 to restrict the membership of the descendants of more recent immigrants. For many Pennsylvania Germans the crux of the problem was the condescending attitude that many . most often based upon English. under the pseudonym of Boonastiel. In fact. People who read and wrote in Pennsylvania German also read and wrote in English. wrote the Pennsylvania German Manual in 1875. which continues in many newspaper columns in the present. the literary use of the Pennsylvania German language continues to the present. founded in 1891. In fact. The result is a variety of different spelling conventions. In addition. The most notable and successful of these organizations was the Grundsow (Groundhog) Lodges. By 1930. the use of Pennsylvania German in 20th century church services shows the innovative use of a language to reflect a distinctive American identity. It was in this historical context that Pennsylvania Germans started using their own language for church services. The newer immigrants were shocked at the cultural backwardness of the Pennsylvania Dutch. most of the newly arriving Germans to Pennsylvania settled in larger cities while the Pennsylvania Dutch were primarily rural. Donner of the 19th century German immigrants (1820. but one that often used American literary images and themes. the Pennsylvania German language was being developed into a literary language. In the early 1930s a movement emerged that represents a further development in the construction and maintenance of a Pennsylvania German identity that was both American and also something that emphasized a distinct Pennsylvania German heritage. Pennsylvania Germans also began developing other special events and organizations that emphasized the self-conscious use of Pennsylvania German. Many congregations began switching to English services towards the end of the 19th century. reflecting essential features of the ethnic identity that the Pennsylvania Germans were developing. 1830. For much of the 19th century. The first lodge held its first meeting in Allentown in 1934. The central theme was structured around the groundhog and his reputation . At present.7 As in the development of a Pennsylvania German literary tradition in the later part of the 19th century. One part of this movement included the use of Pennsylvania German during church services. and that the Pennsylvania Dutch were only interested in economic advancement and eschewed all culture. Pennsylvania Germans began organizing special events and occasions that emphasized the exclusive use of the Pennsylvania German language. During the early 1930s. As the German language was being replaced by English as the main literary language for most Pennsylvania Germans. standard German – not Pennsylvania German – was the main language of church services among the Lutheran and Reformed groups. English had replaced almost all German church services among these congregations. and 1850) assumed.236 David L. The newer immigrants felt that the language of the Pennsylvania Dutch was vulgar. and ridiculed their language. There developed a schism between the two Teutonic groups that remains in some small form even to this day. The annual meetings were developed as occasions for the exclusive use of the Pennsylvania German language. 1848. Valuska and William W.6 This evolving ethnic identity shaped language use. the use of Pennsylvania German has become a tradition for some churches on special occasions. Although these Fersommling do not include the imagery associated with the groundhog. however. but the organizers of the Grundsow Lodges were active in starting similar gatherings that included men and women. Grundsow meetings are for men only. are sung in Pennsylvania German. The annual meetings are usually held on or near Groundhog Day (February 2) and much of the lodges’ activities include references to the weather predictions of groundhogs. There are humorous skits that usually combine satire and nostalgia. The language is also taught by a variety of local community organizations and in some of the colleges in the region. but is now disbanded. and there are now at least 30 different groups that hold annual meetings with participation at about the same level as the Grundsow Lodges. It is worth noting that the founders of the first Grundsow Lodge in 1934 were concerned that the Pennsylvania German language was being lost. Songs. Many speakers and leaders are active in both organizations. settings or linguistic domains of the Church people where Pennsylvania German is spoken as the primary language.9 Working on a dissertation about the Pennsylvania German .) The most recent lodge was established in 1991. most meetings have between 250 –700 people in attendance. and at present there are 17 active lodges. derived from European practices at Candelmas and beliefs in the weather predications of badgers or bears coming out of hibernation. if any. lodges were established in different towns and regions. called Fersommling. Although leaders complain that attendance has dropped in recent years. But its use is under pressure.The Past and Future of the Pennsylvania German Language 237 for weather prediction.8 Pennsylvania German is still found in some regional newspaper columns. There are some efforts to continue the use of the language in several public schools. The first ones were organized in the 1930s. locations. This. The Grundsow Lodges sponsor classes where the language is taught. Even among its speakers. (A lodge in Philadelphia at Temple University operated from 1938 until the late 1960s. Over the next 50 years. There are also speeches that usually combine earthy humor with some moral theme (many of the speakers are pastors). skits and speeches in the Pennsylvania German language. they include the other features of Grundsow meetings such as songs. most conversations are in English. usually translations of wellknown American ones. These meetings are rare examples of a continuing folk tradition that was created in the 20 th century and continues into the 21st century. Over 70 years later the movement remains lively and energetic. There are very few. occasional radio and cable television shows and on ceremonial occasions. There are fewer radio shows and newspaper columns than fifty years ago. does not mean there are no efforts to maintain and even revive the language. A non-standard German was developed into a part of a non-standard American ethnic identity. this growing relationship might represent a new and international phase. as a rare example of the development of a non-English American literary tradition. This introduction of Pennsylvania German into new linguistic contexts and the replacement of standard German by English reflect the development of an American Pennsylvania German identity. as an expression of a culturally unique American identity. things are more complicated. Whatever its future. In 20th century.238 David L. In the continuing evolution of the Pennsylvania German language. Almost certainly. One of the most exciting prospects for the maintenance of the Pennsylvania German language is the growing contacts between scholars and laypeople from Pennsylvania and those regions of Germany where a similar dialect of German is still spoken. There is no way to predict the future of the Pennsylvania German language. For the Church people. a native of Germany. he started a journal. and maintains a website that publishes the work of these writers. was surprised at the number of people still writing in Pennsylvania German. The development of this literary language was also part of the replacement of standard German by English as the literary language of most Pennsylvania Germans. As a result. it seems to us that there should be some consideration of what is happening to the various dialects or versions of the German languages. Werner found that many were writing in relative isolation without knowledge of how many others were also writing in Pennsylvania German.10 In any consideration of the future of the German language. Michael Werner. The development of Grundsow and Fersommling are also clearly American ceremonies for the maintenance of a Germanic language. the language has a remarkable past as a long-lasting minority language. a German language was transported to America where it was developed and became an integral part of an ethnic identity that was clearly American. the development of church services in Pennsylvania German also reflected the replacement of standard German by English as the main language in churches. For the foreseeable future. In the case of Pennsylvania German. Old Order Amish and Mennonites will continue to preserve a pool of speakers who use it as their primary language. This journal and an associated internet site are leading sources for information about the Pennsylvania German language. although at the same time distinctive. Hiwwe wie Driwwe. But it also seems . there will be more restricted areas of usage with fewer speakers. Donner language in the mid 1990s. and as the medium for folk traditions that lasted into the 21st century. Valuska and William W. The development of a Pennsylvania German literature reflected the development of this American identity. For discussions of the Amish. 6. one future will include some widespread appreciation among Germans and Americans of the past accomplishments of Pennsylvania Germans in preserving and developing a Germanic language to express a distinctive American identity. L. See Yoder (1978). Donald Kraybill (1989). see Don Yoder (1980:107–108. Appel (1962). Scott T. A recent and excellent discussion of the history of Church Pennsylvania Germans is found in Steven M. The interests of natives of Germany in the Pennsylvania German language suggest that another possible future is a transatlantic one that unites regional speakers from the Palatinate with Pennsylvania German speakers. the Grundsow Lodges and Fersommling have been successful and even grown over the past 70 years.The Past and Future of the Pennsylvania German Language 239 very likely that the language will continue to evolve in new ways that reflect the concerns and interests of its users. An excellent and recent overview of the Pennsylvania German language is found in Mark. 1999). Perhaps. For discussions about the ambivalence towards Germans and more recent German immigrants. Swank (1983). it makes more sense to suggest that there are several alternative futures. see Ralph Wood (1942). As discussed above. Glatfelter (1980: 3. 5. Many marginal languages in other parts of the world have experienced surprising revivals. 1985). See also Donner (2000. see John Hostetler (1980). 2. William Parsons (1976). Nolt (2002). Donner (2002). 9). Henceforth. 7. despite predictions about their demise. Don Yoder (1990). The authors represent one of the organizations that have developed in the past ten years to help educate about Pennsylvania Germans and preserve the language. Overviews of the language and literature are found in Harry Hess Reichard (1918) and Earl Robacker (1943). John J. Louden (2001). Homer Tope Rosenberger (1966). 9. For discussions of Church Pennsylvania Germans. we can only hope that. See Russell Wieder Gilbert (1956). at the very least. 4. Notes 1. 8. 3. we will use the term Pennsylvania German to refer to the people and their language. rather than speculating about a single future for Pennsylvania German. But whatever else happens. A partnership between several community organizations and Kutztown . H. . which sponsors programs that educate about the Pennsylvania German culture and try to preserve the language. Kloss. 1980 The Pennsylvania Germans: A Brief Account of their influence on Pennsylvania. Harter. Werner’s website is http://www. MA: Newbury House. Der Reggeboge (Journal of the Pennsylvania German Society) 33: 1 and 2: 3–17. Valuska and William W. Gilbert. Reformed Church Publication Board. Frank Kessler is active in collecting information about the programs that encourage the use of Pennsylvania German in the United States. 1904 Boonastiel. 521–546. References Appel. Another German. Horne. Donner University has developed the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center. Kutztown. John 1980 Amish Society. A Chair for Pennsylvania German Studies has been endowed and there are plans to begin teaching classes in Pennsylvania German. 1962 Marion Dexter Learned and the German American Historical Society. Donner. Pennsylvania German Review.de. 2000 “We Are What We Make of Ourselves”: Abraham Reeser Horne and the Education of Pennsylvania Germans. Harter.hiwwe-wie-driwwe. Bellefonte/PA: T. PA: Urick and Gehring. 2002 “Loss uns Deitcha wos m’r sin: Leave us Dutch the way we are”: The Grundsow Lodges. John J.240 David L. 10. Hostetler. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Charles H. The Pennsylvania Speech Annual: 3–20. University Park: The Pennsylvania Historical Association. 1999 Abraham Reeser Horne: To the Manor Born. Pennsylvania Magazine of Biography and History CXXIV/4. Russell Wider 1956 Pennsylvania German Versammling Speeches. 39–52. Abraham Reeser 1875 A Pennsylvania German Manual. William W. Harbaugh. Rowley. Philadelphia: B. H. Heinz 1977 The American Bilingual Tradition. Henry 1870 Harbaugh’s Harfe. Bausman. Glatfelter. T. 86: 287–318. Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Mark 2001 The Development of Pennsylvania German Linguistics within the Context of General Dialectology and Linguistic Theory. (Pennsylvania German Society 63).The Past and Future of the Pennsylvania German Language 241 Kraybill. 1980 Palatine. New York: Norton. Robacker. Pennsylvania Folklife XXVII / 4: 2–13. 1868 De Campain Breefa fum Pit Schweffelbrenner un de Bevy. J. Lancaster: New Era Press. Sollors. Breiningsville: The Pennsylvania German Society.) 1986 Beyond Ethnicity: Consent and Dissent in American Culture. 7–52. Steven M. Dutchman: Three Images of the German in America. Homer Tope 1966 The Pennsylvania Germans. H. Nolt.) 1983 The Arts of the Pennsylvania Germans. In: Ebbes fer Alles-Ebber Ebbes fer Dich: Something for Everyone Something for You. . Parsons. Ralph (ed. Donald 1989 The Riddle of Amish Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1998 Multilingual America: Transnationalism. Hessian. E. Rauch. 107–29. Scott T. Don 1978 The Dialect Service in the Pennsylvania German Culture. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Sollors. William 1976 The Pennsylvania Germans: A Persistent Minority. Yoder. Si Alty. 1891–1965. Wood. Volume 26). Ethnicity. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Werner 1988 The Invention of Ethnicity.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rosenberger. New York: New York University Press. Reichard. Lancaster: The Pennsylvania German Society. A World Atlas of Pennsylvania German. 2002 Foreigners in the Their Own Land: Pennsylvania Germans in the Early Republic. Werner (ed. Boston: Twayne.) 1942 The Pennsylvania Germans. Seifert (ed. Louden. (ed. State College: Penn State University Press. Earl Francis 1943 Pennsylvania German Literature: Changing Trends from 1683 to 1942. In: Lester W. and the Languages of American Literature. Lancaster: Rauch and Cochran. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Pennsylvania German Society. Harry Hess 1918 Pennsylvania German Dialect Writings and their Writers (Proceedings of the Pennsylvania German Society. Swank. Donner The Pennsylvania Germans: Three Centuries of Identity Crisis. Ethnicity. In: Frank Trommler and Joseph McVeigh (eds. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.242 David L. Religious.). Language. Valuska and William W. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Volume I: Immigration. Discovering American Folklife: Studies in Ethnic. 41–65.and Regional Culture. America and the Germans. 1985 1990 . German in the USA . . Nachhaltigkeit. prioritäre Förderung des Aufbaus von Strukturen zur Deutschförderung. Medienarbeit. Lehrmaterialerstellung. Die “politische” Zielrichtung der Arbeit des Goethe-Instituts zielt also auf die Werbung für den Erwerb von Fremdsprachen. flexible Bedarfsund Nachfrageorientierung und eine systematische Projektevaluierung bilden die Basis und das Resultat jeder Aktivität. Eine gezielte Förderung der deutschen Sprache im Rahmen einer differenzierenden Sprachenpolitik muss auf der Grundlage eines Sprachenangebotes erfolgen. Sie zielt auf die Verankerung dieses Prinzips in den Curricula und in den Köpfen der Entscheidungsträger im Bildungssystem unserer Gastländer. professionelle Vermittlung. dass die Kenntnis fremder Sprachen nicht nur eine Frage von Kommunikationstechniken ist. das nicht von einer Konkurrenzsituation der Sprachen. In den USA ist das Interesse an Deutsch begrenzt. multiplikatorische Wirksamkeit. Schüleraustausch. Die Spracharbeit des Goethe-Instituts ist das Synonym für die Förderung von Deutsch als Fremdsprache im Ausland. die dem Goethe-Institut als größtem Sprachmittler im offiziellen Auftrag der Bundesregierung dabei zukommen. und zwar mehrerer. Das Goethe-Institut verfolgt eine Strategie der Mehrsprachigkeit. Der Erwerb einer Fremdsprache wird – von Bildungseliten abgesehen – mehrheitlich nicht als notwendig und erforderlich betrachtet.Language Policies of the Goethe-Institut Nikky Keilholz-Rühle Stephan Nobbe Uwe Rau Zusammenfassung Jede Debatte über die Zukunft der deutschen Sprache führt mitten in die Beziehungen der deutschen Sprache zu anderen Sprachen. Stipendienprogramme und Werbung für das Deutschlernen bilden ein komplexes Geflecht. Sie setzt in breitem Rahmen überall dort an. weil es davon überzeugt ist. Entwicklung von Curricula. Die Arbeitsfelder Sprachenpolitik. zur Sprachensituation in Europa und zu den Aufgaben. sondern dass Sprachen Köpfe und Herzen öffnen und einen unverzichtbaren Beitrag zum internationalen kulturellen Dialog leisten. Sprachunterricht.und Fortbildung. Aus. Deutschunterrichtende können auf eine exzellente Berufs- . Zahlreiche standardisierte Instrumentarien und klar definierte Arbeitsprinzipien wie Zielgruppenorientierung. wo eine Förderung notwendig und Erfolg versprechend ist. Sprachprüfungen. sondern von den Bedürfnissen im jeweiligen Land ausgeht und auf den konkreten Bezug der Sprachen aufeinander abgestimmt ist. Studenten und Lehrer sowie Lehrerfort. with its 80 different languages spoken? It is not only in Europe where linguistic and cultural diversity is tightly interconnected and interdependent.246 Nikky Keilholz-Rühle. thought processes and cultural identity cannot be considered to be individual and independent. Language policy and promotion of the Goethe-Institut – Focus Europe “Languages open doors” is the European Council’s slogan used to publicize multi-lingualism and language diversity.und -ausbildung. language. It must project a new vitality into the drive for the “usefulness” of a language in many different contexts. hoch. new directions are necessary. on behalf of the German government. into the situation of languages in general in Europe and to the responsibilities that the GoetheInstitut has as the most important organization. Im Mittelpunkt der Spracharbeit in den USA stehen Aktivitäten mit Partnern und Multiplikatoren. These new directions in a united Europe need to take into consideration the cultural characteristics of individual national elements in Europe and their cultural diversity. universally.1. Kulturprogramme für Schüler. . Dennoch sind die Erwartungen an das Goethe Institute. Thus every assessment of the future of the German language will lead into the core of the relation between German and other languages. The Goethe-Institut today is represented in 77 countries with 125 cultural institutions and has 16 language centers in Germany. Stephan Nobbe and Uwe Rau organisation zählen. Is this catchphrase appealing in the United States or is it a typically European issue? Is multilingualism not a necessity for everyday communication in Europe. Information und Service. teaches German as a foreign language. entstanden durch die offensive und wohlmeinende Sprachförderungspolitik Deutschlands der vergangenen Jahrzehnte. The future of European languages “other than English” in the era of globalization 1. Die wesentlichen Handlungsfelder sind Bildungskooperation. die American Association of Teachers of German (AATG). which means that by far the largest number are located in Europe. Werbung für das Deutschlernen. 31 of these cultural institutions are in European Union countries and 48 in European countries outside the EU. that. What does that mean for the thematic orientation and focus of the language programs of a national cultural institution in a multilingual Europe? As German loses its importance as a national language in “postnational constellations” (Habermas) and language educational policies become more internationally oriented. 1. Language is also a very important tool and medium when it comes to defining not only new geopolitical priorities. since the fall of the Iron Curtain. German is the second foreign language after English. between East and West. Languages are not really tools with which to describe known truths. but also new intellectual horizons. which recognize the importance of the German language. It created many new ways of life and different interests. fifteen years after the opening of the borders. In the early days of modern linguistic philosophy. Wilhelm von Humboldt stated: Because of its characteristic of separating peoples. She is the largest European business partner and central to the largest number of business transactions. but on understanding and communication. Today. In Central and Eastern Europe. Dialogue is not necessarily based on similarities. Germany shares borders with many countries. and is one of the official languages in seven countries. This is a particularly important task for the Goethe-Institut. One of the reasons to learn German is Germany’s economic strength.’ as Humboldt stated. Furthermore. which makes it even more important to examine the depths of the interaction between ‘us’ and ‘them. and is in first place at professional schools and technical colleges. however. Under close examination. where about two thirds of the 18 million people who study German worldwide reside. these changes are anything but natural. making new learning processes necessary. language bridges the individual differences through the interrelation and understanding of foreign speech. and the aspect of neighborhood relation- . With 14 linguistic neighbors. and is studied by 18% of all students in the EU. Germany is the country of international trade and exchanges between North and South and. The elimination of formerly insurmountable borders between Eastern and Western Europe and between the two Germanies has freed us from rigid thought. This would indicate that German is the most frequently spoken mother tongue in Europe. which has been committed since its founding to further international dialogue. there are a great many regional relationships.Language Policies of the Goethe-Institut 247 What is the situation of the German language and its role in Europe? German is the mother tongue of almost 100 million people in Europe. we look at the recent changes on the global map as something already quite familiar. but rather to discover previously unknown truths. A European language concept therefore has to be varied and multilayered. developing structures and methods for German language promotion. but. language training for tradesmen and artistic activities that go beyond the pragmatic aspects of language studies guarantee the significance and understanding of the “smaller” language. the Goethe-Institut has been the official representative of Germany in the cooperation with the Office of . 2001. Stephan Nobbe and Uwe Rau ships. In carrying out these activities. This approach is based on the universal belief that mutual understanding leads to accepting different cultures. The activities include language policy. As a visible result of this new area of activity. scholarship programs and advertising for the learning of German. and examinations.248 Nikky Keilholz-Rühle. closely connected with the idea of a “Europe of Regions. media work. The language programs of the Goethe-Institut promote the teaching of German as a foreign language. standardized tools are used and clearly defined work principles are employed. on the contrary. Annually. without global cultural cooperation that knows no borders. which does not confront individual and local needs in abstract ways. student exchanges.000 50. Border communities have lived the idea of ‘unity’ – not based on a competitive order but on diversity with reciprocal language programs for a long time. however. sustainability. respects and constantly reinvents them. Establishing relationships with a neighbor on the other side of a border through language learning is quite common in Europe.000 freelance German teachers German teachers in public school systems German teachers in our institutes in 270 other partnership institutions. the basic condition for peaceful coexistence.” is extremely significant and useful. flexible supply and demand orientation and a systematic project evaluation. The basic approach to communicate with one’s neighbors in their own language and to gain an understanding of different ways of living and thinking is.000 165. Bilingual study courses and exchange programs. multiplied efficacy. Such coexistence is unfathomable. classes. instruction material. professional training and further education. and not only since September 11.000 430. development of curricula. such as group targeting. thanks to a constantly updated communication resulting from the necessity of shared activities of border-crossing neighbors. This has significantly increased since the opening of the eastern borders. professional placement. Undeniably we see a new dimension of European unity. atypical of Europeans. the Goethe-Institut reaches on a global scale: 110. These programs are carried out wherever it is necessary or promising to teach the German language. arises from these needs. The “political” goal of the Goethe-Institut is to promote the learning of foreign languages – several foreign languages. becoming even clearer following September 11. excluding academic elitists. There is no competition with other languages or desire to oust them. while considering the specific characteristics of a transatlantic relationship with a view of the current challenges to our community’s fundamental social and cultural convictions. but it has become common for the positions not to be refilled. the number of high school German teachers is not only slowly declining. which 28 of the 48 member states of the Council have so far joined. in coordination with the German Embassy.Language Policies of the Goethe-Institut 249 the Conference of Cultural Ministers in the European Center for Foreign Languages in Graz. carries out joint projects for the advancement of foreign languages in Europe. but that languages open heads and hearts. exchange of intellectual and aesthetic experiences. Canada is an associate member. In higher education. The principles of this work concur with the goals of foreign cultural and educational policy of cultural dialogue. Based on retirement figures. It wants this idea to be deeply anchored not only in the curricula but also in the heads of the decision-makers of educational systems in the host countries. Incidentally. colleges and universities face similar situations. and undeniably contribute to an international cultural dialogue. Interest in the German language in the US is limited and. the Goethe-Institut in the US has defined its goals and future measures. Language policy and promotion of the Goethe-Institut – Focus USA The US have always had a special significance for Germany. and this transatlantic relationship continued after the Cold War and German reunification. learning a foreign language is not really considered a necessity. and meetings and interfacing through dialogue and exchange programs. remaining rather stable between two and three percent from 1960 to 2000. the Consulates General and the Federal Foreign Office. the Goethe-Institut subscribes to a multilingual strategy because it is convinced that foreign languages are not merely a tool for improved communication. visits and cultural cooperation. German study is also declining. Austria since early 2000.2. To implement the fundamental tasks of cultural and educational policy (Konzeption 2000). The number of secondary students is on a slight decline. 1. This institution of the European Council. This situation has led to the general goals of the language departments of the Goethe-Institut in the USA: . this translates into a stronger commitment to international.250 Nikky Keilholz-Rühle. and their development. . coupled with over-proportional job reductions and the closing of institutes. the Goethe-Institut is regarded as the German partner in terms of subject expertise and the presentation of information and materials in support of German cultural studies. as a result of Germany’s financially powerful and well-meaning language learning support during the past few decades. cultural institutions and educational committees in Germany and abroad. there is the bebeficial factor that it is easier to learn additional foreign languages by using the experience of having studied another foreign language. For the Goethe-Institut. as well as pedagogy for German as a foreign language (Pädagogische Verbindungsarbeit or ‘educational services’). The primary purposes of promoting the study of the German language abroad consist of the professional development of teachers of German and the support of professional organizations. German educators in the US can count on an excellent professional organization. but on the full understanding of the cultural and economic reasons why the German language is of importance for the relationship between the two countries.’ In other words. One colleague of a European cultural institute described our work quite simply as “high importance. especially European organizations. In order to offer German as a foreign language in schools. In addition to the educational advantage of learning German as a second foreign language. or ‘teacher trainers. Still.” A goal-oriented promotion of the German language within the framework of differential language policies must be based on a language promotion that is not dictated by competition between languages. Stephan Nobbe and Uwe Rau – promotion of Germany and German language educational interests – presenting a current and balanced picture of Germany in a European context – creating awareness of German culture and society. Even with positive thinking we cannot deny the fact that there is an asymmetrical perception of Germany and Europe in the US. It would be highly desirable that the American educational system established a national policy of two foreign languages. and limited financial resources on the other. it is essential to reach out by means of Multiplikatoren. In scholastic areas. the host countries will have to incorporate a second foreign language into their school curricula. low impact. Because of the high number of German students on one hand. the big change developed from the need to save money. the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG). the expectations of the GoetheInstitut are high. and making them available to educators. as well as teacher training and continuing education. Washington is responsible for the vast field of media in German education in the US. In addition. the basis for German programs in the US. in other words. special cultural programs for school children. The institutes in the US focus on central activities and perceive certain areas of work. Chicago is the center for business German. GAPP devotes itself to fostering exchange between schools in Germany and the US in the form of long-term school partnerships with group exchanges. The Goethe-Institut at present also co-sponsors seven summer schools across the US. college students and teachers. The Goethe-Institut Atlanta approaches language teaching as a vehicle for creating an image of Germany. The courses are also open to remedy a lack of language proficiency within the scope of German language teachers and professional development. Our interests to promote the study of the German language in the US are focused on activities featuring partners. which are decentralized for the entire region. As a bearer of information. the Goethe-Institut is taking the initiative to develop current historical and cultural materials. The funding of these programs finances special professional . professional organizations and teacher trainers. The institute in Boston was responsible for the pedagogical area Kinder lernen Deutsch or ‘Children Learn German’.Language Policies of the Goethe-Institut 251 which no longer permits traditional supervision and care of the individual German teacher. the largest scholastic exchange program in the country and the most important area in the rubric of educational exchanges. facilitators and institutions such as networks. information and services. The Goethe-Institut has carried out a number of projects to express and promote the concept that mutual understanding leads to the acceptance of different cultures. San Francisco carries out the advertising project ‘Soccer’ for the west coast. as a required subject. New York oversees the national organizations and coordinates the regional language activities as well as advertising. which simultaneously play an important role in stabilizing and promoting German language programs. and this image by school children who do not study German is primarily shaped by social studies. In presenting a well-balanced image of Germany. the promotion of learning German. Essential steps taken are educational cooperation. offering classes primarily to those future leaders in their fields who would otherwise have no opportunity to study German. Goethe-Institut language courses are determined by certain locations’ needs. the new media’s role in the area of language work is very visible and will be of primary importance in the future. New York is the headquarters of the German American Partnership Program (GAPP). The programs offer stipends for thematic seminars.e.” . Another important contribution in promoting German is our stipend program for teachers. methodology.252 Nikky Keilholz-Rühle. Through its collaboration with the Embassy and the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service). The joint efforts of the Goethe-Institut to promote the learning of German in the US compare. which are part of the structure of the German summer schools. production of pedagogical materials. i. and for people who have a specific cultural and academic interest in Germany. the Goethe-Institut maintains its dedication and determination to strengthening its ties to teachers of German and their professional development. collaboration with the CDS International includes work in combining intensive language courses with individual internship programs in companies in Baden-Württemberg to promote German language studies at community colleges and adult education study exchanges. special programs are designed and funded through the Ständige Arbeitsgruppe für Deutsch als Fremdsprache (StADaF) or ‘Permanent Task Force. collaboration with the AATG (American Association of Teachers of German) include promotion of German as a foreign language. it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place. and the Goethe-Institut can illustrate its close relationships with numerous organizations through successful projects and programs.’ Collaboration with the German Consulate General and the German Information Center includes organization of mutual meetings. and participation at important regional and national conferences. didactics. TA’s (teaching assistants). at times to the dilemma of the “Queen of Heart” in Alice in Wonderland: “in this place. exchange and stipend programs. Stephan Nobbe and Uwe Rau development seminars. education and continuing education for teachers of German. Collaboration and cooperation is another important aspect of our language work. German as a Foreign Language. In working with regional conferences and trainer networks. German cultural studies as well as intensive language courses at one of the 16 institutes in Germany. as a German diplomat once said. warum Deutsch als Fremdsprache gefördert werden sollte (besonders in den USA) und nach der Rolle von Deutschlehrern als Betreibern der Sprach. viz.: “Should German institutions (such as the DAAD or the Goethe Institute) adopt a more aggressive role in furthering the teaching of German? Or should this be left to local authorities and institutions of education?” As a teacher of German in the US for nearly thirty years. This paper focuses exclusively on two of the questions posed by the conference organizers.. frage nach Gründen. um bestimmte linguistische und weitere kulturelle Ziele zu erreichen. one of apathy. Why could one not envision a scenario in which both German/Austrian/Swiss institutions and American institutions worked together to promote the teaching (& learning) of DaF 1? It seems to me that one-sided efforts to promote the study of German – be they from the American or European side – are doomed to failure or mediocre results from the start.und Kulturvermittlung. it seemed to me that these questions demanded a response lest decision makers on the other side of the Atlantic receive the wrong message. i. I was surprised that the questions had been posed in an “either-or” format. To begin. auf denen offizielle Institutionen ihre Bemühungen.e.The Kulturpolitik of German-Speaking Countries in the USA John Lalande II Zusammenfassung Mein Aufsatz behandelt Fragen der Förderung des Unterrichts von Deutsch als Fremdsprache durch offizielle Institutionen mit Regierungsgeldern. bestimmte Felder zu bestimmen. konzentrieren könnten. American teachers of German need the resources of the German-speaking countries. Ich versuche. Ich stelle die Frage. DaF zu fördern. but they need our collective sensibilities and . My initial reactions to the two questions were immediate and pronounced. mit wem offizielle Institutionen effektiv zusammenarbeiten können. it must be said that the recent. erfolgsorientierten Kulturpolitik übergegangen ist. and Asia seem to have occurred consistently at the direct expense of efforts to promote the study of German on the North American Continent. few American teachers of German would be willing to make regarding the overall Sprach. Just what is meant by such a term? That German institutions should assume a more aggressive role in promoting German language study than they currently do or have in the past? That they should be “more aggressive” than perhaps other countries promoting their respective languages (other than English)? The use of the incomplete comparative “more aggressive” is problematic. it seems to me that the problematic phrase “more aggressive” demands attention.254 John Lalande experiences to know when and how to best apply those resources. the West. they have occurred despite even spirited assurances to the contrary given by FRG officials in 1989 to a delegation of AATG (American Association of Teachers of German) representatives touring Germany that any growth in the East or South would never occur at the expense of growth in. daß Deutschland zu einer agressiveren. It posits. that Germans can already be described as “aggressive” and should perhaps be more so. I daresay. Granted. in some parts of the world. My 2nd immediate reaction to the couplet of questions was an unequivocal “Yes!” to the query whether or not German.3 Since then. und zweitens ist sie eine psychologische Notwendigkeit. one can indeed find evidence of a “more aggressive” German Sprachpolitik. In reference to Africa.” I see no developments since 1985 which would render his assessment any less relevant or valid today than it was then. quite erroneously. however. As Gerhard Weiss (1985: 220) stated in reference to the then generous support of the FRG: “Diese Art der Betreuung ist erstens fachlich eine sine qua non. Norbert Ndong stated at the 1993 IDV (Internationaler Deutschlehrerverband) Conference in Leipzig: “Die immer weiter steigenden Zahlen der Deutschlernenden und Germanistikstudenten zeugen davon.or Kulturpolitik of any German-speaking country. This is a concession which.” 2 Unfortunately. Austrian or Swiss institutions should at all assume a role in furthering the teaching of German. and commitment to. the USA has witnessed the closings of numerous Goethe Institutes and steadily shrinking subsidies to the USA’s only nationwide professional association . This would certainly seem to be the case in Eastern Europe. I shall identify four specific suggestions. Africa. vigorous attempts to promote German language study in Eastern Europe. Indeed. Later. Before any discussion why German institutions should be involved in efforts to support the study of German in the USA or elsewhere. overly timid. I would assert that increased financial support of the AATG and its initiatives is an area where German institutions do need to be “more aggressive” and engaged. points perhaps to what can only be described as part of the problem. As a native speaker of English. the omission of the AATG as a partner worthy of collaborative efforts. and business. It seems appropriate at this juncture to call attention to another significant conceptual oversight in the questions’ formulation: in posing its either-or question about whether German institutions or “local authorities and institutions of education” should assume a more aggressive role in furthering the teaching of German. as a teacher of German. the option of engaging professional associations – most notably the AATG. the growth or reasonable maintenance of German as a foreign language in the USA will not likely be realized. the very fact that governmental support of Germanlanguage study in the USA and elsewhere is being (re)examined and (re)assessed is indeed a most welcome development. viz. who in response to my request for information . particularly in view of the widespread use of English as a lingua franca in such diverse & prestigious fields as law. Instead. though. Yet when it comes to sharing its language and culture. Its lofty world ranking is no small feat for a country which counts a mere 80 million inhabitants among its population. creative and engaged superpower. In a way. I again feel compelled to respond. whether deliberate or not. German aggressiveness.. creativity and effective marketing seem to all but disappear. Until and unless governmental sources such as DAAD. but also as one who views himself as a world citizen. To begin. The question has been raised whether Germans should at all continue to promote the study of German abroad.4 It is a well-known fact that in terms of business exports. is conspicuously left out. StaDaF and others who hold the purse strings through which change(s) can be effected – until they begin to view the 6000+ teachers of the AATG not as an afterthought but as the primary ally & vehicle through which positive growth in the study of German might be effected. its behavior in this regard might lamentably be described as too often indecisive. Germany enjoys a well-deserved reputation for being an aggressive. On the other hand. science. It seems a good time now for signaling a new era or turning point in the attitude of government associations toward collaboration with one another and with American Germanists and language instructors. the AATG. I embrace wholeheartedly the view expressed by Gertrude Zhao-Heissenberger.The Kulturpolitik of German-Speaking Countries in the USA 255 which could have a positive impact on the study of the German language. feckless and lacking a consistently clear focus. um die Hegemonie einer Sprache zu verhindern. This interest should be used to form the basis of creative and effective strategies designed to promote the study and learning of DaF. the arts and in the sciences. supported by StaDaF funds. I submit that the study of German. Germany and the USA have enjoyed a relationship that has been mutually beneficial in such areas as politics. da diese politisch und kulturell bedenkliche Abhängigkeiten schafft”. who remarked in 1993 at the IDV Conference in Leipzig: “Nationale Sprachverbreitungspolitik muss Vielsprachigkeit fördern. in 1853. and establishment of solid foundations for cultural and economic communication/ understanding can not be fulfilled solely through the use of English! 5 I agree with the position of Hans-W. Even if English continues its phenomenal growth as . A recent AATG study (Andress et al. it is not uncommon to hear technological and ideological arguments cited as reasons for the study of languages. education. its Sprachpolitik wrote in February 2002 that the goals of global collaboration. – Thirdly. study and work experiences. does it not make sense for us to view the study of German also as a link which holds together our cultures on both sides of the Atlantic? In spite of recent frictions. military matters.7 Apart from the cautionary tone which marked Blaasch’s warning. it cannot be denied that for the past 50 years. Blaasch. intercultural understanding. While Rufus referred to German as a vehicle for maintaining family relationships on both sides of the Atlantic. and the political sounding IDV statement.256 John Lalande on the Austrian government’s position re. described the study of German as a link (Verbindungsglied) between Germans and their descendants (see Frank 1985: 175). the IDV called for government support of language policies which promote multilingual world citizens: “Für das friedliche Zusammenleben und für die Entwicklung demokratischer Gesellschaften sind Erhalt und Förderung der Mehrsprachigkeit eine entscheidende Grundlage”. coupled with positive travel. 2002). superintendent of the Cincinnati Public Schools. – Secondly.6 In a resolution passed at its 2001 meeting in Lucerne. must be viewed as the cornerstone of a successful Verbindungsglied concept for the future. points out that interest in the linguistic and cultural heritage of one’s ancestors plays a significant role in a high school student’s decision about which foreign language to study. there are a number of other reasons which speak for the study of DaF in the USA: – Firstly. Rufus King. trade. I submit there is a more compelling reason. it should not be forgotten that one out of five Americans is of German descent. as Wolfgang Schäuble (2001) recently wrote. know. occurs best. The primary message to be sent in this regard to German. I would argue that a stable balance and respect across cultures will not be achieved unless members of different cultures respect and learn each other’s languages.The Kulturpolitik of German-Speaking Countries in the USA 257 the lingua franca. Even worse.8 . and appreciate what riches lie within a person or a culture. I maintain furthermore that communication outside of one’s NL tends toward superficiality. Just as he argued: “[…] Wir suchen ein stabiles Gleichgewicht zwischen Nation und Europa”. particularly when such exchanges occur on the territory of the target language (TL) or host country. through communicative exchanges which at some point involve use of each interlocutor’s native language (NL). Put another way. Without profound knowledge of the other’s language and culture. However. as an American. It is precisely because. familiarity and understanding are not likely to be achieved.e. interlocutors may think these goals are achieved. that one begins to speak to the heart. and without the study of other foreign languages in general. the reemergence of Vaterlandsliebe und Patriotismus can be viewed in a healthy. therefore. Without the study of DaF. (Schäuble 2001) “Nähe und Vertrautheit wichtiger werden” that German government institutions should support the study of German abroad. political or technological nature – the use of English as a lingua franca will always be experienced as somehow deficient. thus. i. for those who aim to establish a bond beyond the exchange of bartered goods – be they of an economic. when eventual realities may ultimately reveal otherwise. – Fourthly. which lies at the psychological core of every individual and a language community. lest it be viewed with suspicion and mistrust that a new nationalistic threat was imminent. The fact that it has even become a topic of serious conversation must be viewed as troubling indeed. Austrian and Swiss decision makers is that economic globalization and the concomitant spread of English throughout economic. positive light. I maintain that genuine communication. one will not likely come to really discover. I cannot help but observe the difficulty with which Germans have historically summoned up enthusiasm for the support of their language being studied on foreign soil. political and even scientific circles should not be accepted as sufficient reasons to withdraw support for more important exchanges on the personal and spiritual levels. it is only through the use of one’s own NL.. communication that affects the whole person. to promote the study of German: – First. not only information garnered from governmental and newspaper websites but also emails from friends and family. The letter was from a Univ.258 John Lalande The following reasons are offered why the governments of German-speaking countries should work more intensely with American educators. – Second. of Osnabrück exchange student who had attended various functions within our German program the preceding year. for she writes: “Eine Sprache zu unterrichten oder zu erlernen. and that citizens of the German-speaking world are. würde nicht den Effekt des . for the most part. especially the AATG. that we have a responsibility to consider the global consequences of various decisions. for example. Gerhard Weiss made a similar observation in 1985. As Kulturvermittler. primarily because they seem to have a tendency to prefer elite and elitist institutions of higher education.9 I would be leery about the prospects of German institutions working primarily or exclusively with institutions of education. Her unsolicited letter was written in English and entitled “Germany is praying for you”. that we live in a global community. It occurred in my own teaching of 1st-year German language instruction during the fall 2001 semester in connection with the events of September 11th. An example from my own instruction illustrates the point well. I used. Despite the attack on the World Trade Center. ohne den dazugehörigen kulturellen Hintergrund zu verstehen. but because they teach language and culture. They give a face to the culture of German-speaking countries. and which helped underscore key instructional points I am consistently trying to make. There was one letter in particular which moved students deeply. Weiss (1985: 220) also correctly notes: “Der Einfluß der Lehrer auf das Deutschlandbild in Amerika ist nicht zu unterschätzen”. many teachers of German consistently wove a discussion thereof into our classes. viz. German teachers are Kulturvermittler. Like myself. they help lay the foundation for improved cross-cultural understanding. Again. Zhao-Heissenberger and I are of the same mind in this regard. Little or no mention was likewise made about the sympathetic and generous reaction of those in the German-speaking world to those same events in the days and weeks following the event. not only do teachers of German give a face to the culture of German-speaking countries. little or no mention was made in the press about the loss of non-American lives. the AATG is an august but non-elitist professional body. to be viewed as “relatives” and friends of ours.. not among intellectuals. It is teachers (and their students) of the German language who are the multiplying agents. can hardly compete with the multiplication role German language teachers play in shaping the American view of. it must put its money where its mouth is. Earlier. teachers of German can do more good than whatever emerges from multimillion dollar investments made into prestigious cultural institutes. rather than on that which has greater impact in numerical terms. more important than ambassadors in Washington. Austrian or Swiss governments are applied. Austrian and Swiss organizations which made decisions about how money is to be spent in the USA. 1. the profession may find itself issuing comments similar to those of H. CD’s and other materials for German language instruction. study trips targeted to specific groups. and inter-agency collaboration. Rattermann. that they are.The Kulturpolitik of German-Speaking Countries in the USA 259 gegenseitigen Verstehens erzeugen.12 A key word in this statement was appropriate books. as he put it. I am acutely aware of the steadily declining market for German-language textbooks and the concomitant rise in publishers’ refusals to publish high quality books. As a textbook author and consultant for various publishing houses. Those cultural centers and institutes. If the current trend continues. sondern interkulturelle Mißverständnisse eher fördern. And yet when one looks at where monies of the German. the German-speaking world. Teachers of DaF in the . viz..” 10 These things are mentioned to underscore the point that when it comes to formation of a popular image of Germany. Let me address first the issue of text materials. noble and necessary as they are. The point is to shed light on the agents of change at the local level. This preference seems to be ignored by German. who in 1881 in an address delivered at the DeutschAmerikanischer Lehrertag in Cincinnati warned: “Ohne geeignete Bücher für den Deutschunterricht könne es keine Zukunft für die (deutsche) Sprache in Amerika geben. daß die Amerikaner die Deutschen und ihre Weltanschauung nicht verstehen könnten”.11 I would like now to suggest four areas in which the political institutions of German-speaking countries might direct or concentrate their efforts to further the teaching of German: specific text materials and visual materials. Gerhard Weiss (1985: 221) noted that German language teachers in the USA play such an important role as transmitters of communicative and cultural ideas. one sees that most funds are allocated more with an eye toward that which is prestigious and elite. und das Resultat sei. and attitude toward. in the spoken language taught in classrooms throughout the USA. If a German-speaking government is serious about promoting German language study. 260 John Lalande USA need books which are written primarily for the American student.13 And yet we in the USA may soon find ourselves needing subsidies from the German-speaking word in order to guarantee the production and availability of texts and materials created for the American market. The need has already manifested itself at the advanced levels of DaF. The ancillary materials currently being produced and disseminated by such institutions as the Goethe Institute and the Austrian and the Swiss ministries of education have been of the highest quality. The day may soon be upon us, however, when monies will not only be required to produce ancillary materials for the intermediate and advanced levels of instruction, but primary texts for the elementary level as well. At the very least, I recommend continued, support of the AATG’s Curriculum & Materials Center. 2. The 2nd area that I would like to identify as an area in dire need of significant support from the institutions of German-speaking countries is travel/ study trips for students in what I shall term the “critical commitment times.” The critical commitment times are hereby defined as those times in a student’s education when important decisions are made about which foreign language to study or commit oneself to on a protracted basis. These critical commitment times are posited here as those occurring in the 2nd half of 8th grade, and from the 3rd year of high school through the 3rd semester of college/university study.14 My recommendation, based upon 28 years of teaching, and upon my own experiences as an American student, is to lobby intensively and creatively to induce a student to travel to German-speaking countries during one of these critical commitment times. If this can be achieved, I maintain that most young people who get a taste of German, Austrian or Swiss culture will invariably seize the opportunity to study the language and culture as soon as they can. During the 20+ years I served as a TA Supervisor and Director of Elementary and Intermediate-Level German Instruction at major research universities, I could not help but note time and time again how so many of our TAs emerged from the ranks of students who had absorbed precisely such an experience during their critical commitment times.15 How might such an approach work with 8th-grade graduates? These young graduates might be awarded a coupon entitling them and a parent to travel to Germany for free or for a significantly reduced rate. For high school students, one might consider an expansion of the currently successful AATG summer study programs, or better yet, one might look to initiate new travel The Kulturpolitik of German-Speaking Countries in the USA 261 groups during spring breaks. At the college level, one might also consider the establishment of newly-created student hostel programs.16 In the past few years the AATG has begun a new endowment fund designed expressly for the purpose of promoting student travel abroad. In the first phase of the endowment solicitation, German teachers contributed $100,000 of their own money to subsidize student travel abroad. In short, teachers of German know, recognize and are willing to personally support, even with their own monies, the importance of such an endeavor. I do not just speak for myself, therefore, in advancing such a proposal; I speak for thousands of American teachers of DaF. Student travel abroad may also represent one effective means of motivating more people to consider teaching as a career, and thus possibly helping to alleviate the problem of teacher shortages that plagues many schools at this time. No doubt, the suggestion I have raised is a costly one and might too readily be dismissed by governmental officials as unaffordable, particularly in these troubled economic times. On the other hand, if the political will for such an action is lacking, then no time will be viewed as favorable. I suggest that my proposal be viewed like an investment. In that light, whatever monies are associated with it must be seen as guaranteed to yield handsome dividends over the short- and long-term. As I indicated earlier, if the political will is present, then the goals of this proposal can be realized. 3. The third area concerns visual materials. There is no doubt that this is an age where young people prefer to have their lives impacted through music, video, fashion trends, etc. German associations, such as the Goethe Institute have done a magnificent job of producing such modern materials for our students. Yet here is one area in which far more could be done, namely posters. Posters of art, cityscapes, landscapes etc. Whenever i receive posters from German-speaking countries, they quickly get snapped up by students. Students like them. I am not overly concerned about the disappearance of such posters from class, because whether they advocate for German language and culture in- or outside the classroom is of little concern to me. Either way, the goal of advocacy for German is being fulfilled. My view is that we need thousands more good posters! Indeed we need a veritable avalanche of such posters which will shout for us the natural beauty of the German-speaking world, and which beckon the beholder to come experience those same wonders. We need more visual materials which depict everyday people having fun just enjoying life and engaged in merriment, pictures that not only make one want to be somewhere, but with someone. 262 John Lalande 4. There is a fourth and final area i would like to identify where German institutions might direct their efforts to promote the study of German: collaboration amongst themselves and among the Big 3 government institutions. German, Austrian and Swiss institutions are encouraged to work more closely with one another. Collaboration on working toward achievement of the common goal of promoting German language study might reduce the incidences of duplication of effort. Conclusion German language instruction began in this country 300 years ago.17 As Weiss (1985: 221) has pointed out, it can look back upon a long and honorable tradition, despite experiencing many ups and downs. There is no reason why, in spite of the rapid growth of English as a lingua franca, and despite the rapid growth of Spanish as the USA’s preferred choice for second language study, that German cannot and should not continue to maintain its solid position as the third most popular foreign language in the USA – nor is there any reason why German cannot continue to enrich the educational experience of Americans through its related linguistic and cultural contributions. To continue as such, i have advocated in no uncertain terms, that institutions of German-speaking countries should indeed continue to work with German educators,18 particularly with the AATG, that they must eschew all tendencies toward elitism, that they must become more confident, less timid and more engaged in the promotion of German language study, and that they would be well-advised to explore more meaningful and productive working relationships with their official counterparts in other German-speaking countries. Perhaps in this way, the future of teaching German as a foreign language in the USA can be secured, if not for another 300 years, then at least for the next generation. That would seem to be a realistic, attainable goal, and one which would benefit native speakers of both English and German. The Kulturpolitik of German-Speaking Countries in the USA 263 Notes 1. DaF, which represents Deutsch als Fremdsprache or German as a Foreign Language is an internationally used acronym; hence, i shall use it throughout my paper, even though the inclusion of a German acronym into an English paper might be found odd by some. 2. See Hirschfeld/Fechner 1993: 19 (“Deutsch aus afrikanischer Sicht”). 3. These oral assurances were personally delivered to me and other AATG representatives invited to attend the FRG’s 40th Anniversary Celebration in Bonn. They were given by members of Inter Nationes, the Auswärtiges Amt and various representatives serving in the Bundestag . 4. This is not to say, of course, that American teachers of German do not value the past contributions which have been made. The argument here is simply that more can, should and must be done. 5. Email from Gertrude Zhao-Heissenberger of Austria’s Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur, dated 4 February 2002. Her German statement reads as follows: “Die Antwort auf die Frage, wie ein Land in Zeiten finanzieller Einsparungen seine diesbezüglichen Aktivitäten gestaltet und diese begründet ergibt sich somit aus dem Willen zu globaler Zusammenarbeit, Förderung des interkulturellen Verständnisses, der Notwendigkeit, sich als potenzieller Partner für kulturelle und auch nicht zuletzt für wirtschaftliche Kontakte zu präsentieren, die dafür notwendigen gegenseitigen Verständnisgrundlagen (die nicht allein mit der englischsprachigen Kommunikation erfüllt sein können!) zu schaffen. “ 6. Excerpts from his presentation “Die Verbreitung von Nationalsprachen als Fremdsprachen: nationale Aufgabe und universelle Verpflichtung – Beispiel Deutsch als Fremdsprache”, may be found in Hirschfeld/Fechner 1993: 87. 7. See Section I. The resolution is available at http://www.wlu.ca/~wwwidv/info2001.htm 8. Learning the language of the other is, therefore, a matter of both cultural understanding and cultural respect, i.e., respect for the other individual and for the language community to which s/he belongs. 9. See page 215. 10. Email from Gerttude Zhao-Heissenberger of the Austrian Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur, dated 4 February 2002. 11. Since this talk was delivered in spring 2002, German-American relations have cooled in the context of the Iraq war. Here too, however, teachers of German have been able to impress upon students that in spite of such cooling, there remains a solid basis for mutual trust and collaboration (such as with peacekeeping efforts in Afghanistan). At no time are similar voices heard in the media. 12. See Ted E. Frank 1985: 171. 13. Yes, the profession needs authentic reading materials, but it also needs texts whose manner of linguistic and cultural presentation is clear and accessible to the average American student. (It is certainly no coincidence that not a single 264 John Lalande European-produced textbook or textbook package has failed to gain a significant share of the (post)-secondary market in the USA.) I salute Chancellor Schröder, who in welcoming 25 juniors from New York City high schools connected with the tragedies of 9-11, said he wanted to give them “a lasting gift”. Syracuse Post Standard, 20 February 2002. His choice of juniors demonstrates an appreciation for targeting students in one of the two proposed critical commitment times. I know this was true in my own life as well. The experience i had visiting Germany the summer following the 8th grade was so positive, that even though the opportunity to study German at the high school level never presented itself, i embraced the opportunity to study German at the college level. Note that my suggestions are intended to complement, not replace, successful exchange programs already in existence, e.g., GAPP. Frank writes on p. 172: “Der allgemeine Deutschunterricht in Amerika begann 1702 in Germantown, PA.” In a resolution passed at the IDV Conference of 2001 in Lucerne, the necessity of both sides working together is given emphasis in Section 2 of that same resolution (“Beide Seiten müssen zusammenwirken und Instrumentarien und Szenarien entwickeln, die Mehrsprachigkeit aufwerten und möglich halten.”) 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. References Andress, Reinhard, Charles J. James, Barbara Jurasek, John F. Lalande II, Thomas A. Lovik, Deborah Lund, Daniel P. Stoyak, Lynne Tatlock and Joseph A. Wipf 2002 Maintaining the Momentum from High School to College: Report and Recommendations. Die Unterrichtspraxis: Teaching German 35: 1–14. Frank, Ted E. 1985 Die Anfänge des Deutschunterrichts an den öffentlichen Schulen Amerikas: Eine Studie über das Buch “Der amerikanische Leser” von 1854. Zeitschrift für Kulturaustausch 35: 171–179. Hirschfeld, U. and J. Fechner (eds.) 1993 X. Internationale Deutschlehrertagung. Universität Leipzig. 2.-7. August 1993. Deutsch als Fremdsprache in einer sich wandelnden Welt. Thesen. Leipzig: Interdruck. Schäuble, Wolfgang 2002 Es muss nicht gleich Stolz sein. Ein Pläydoer für Vaterlandsliebe und Patriotismus. Was eine Gesellschaft zusammenhält – auch die Globalisierung hat die Bedeutung der Nation nicht verringert. Süddeutsche Zeitung, 1./2. Dezember 2001: 9. Weiss, Gerhard 1985 Bemerkungen zur gegenwärtigen Lage des Deutschunterrichts in den Vereinigten Staaten. Zeitschrift für Kulturaustausch 35: 214–227. Self-inflicted Wounds? Why German Enrollments are Dropping Robert C. Reimer Zusammenfassung Im Lauf des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts ist das Studium des Deutschen an amerikanischen Schulen und Hochschulen drastisch zurückgegangen. Von der Position der am häufigsten gelernten Sprache zu Beginn des Jahrhunderts ist Deutsch nun auf Platz drei hinter Spanisch und Französisch gefallen und nähert sich den bescheidenen Zahlen für Japanisch, das nun auf Platz vier liegt. Ursachen für den Rückgang des Interesses an der deutschen Sprache sind das veränderte demographische Profil der USA sowie das ‘image’ und die Reputation des Deutschen. Weitere Gründe sind die vermutete sinkende Bedeutung des Deutschen insgesamt, aber insbesondere als Sprache von Wissenschaft und Handel, sowie die deutsche Vorliebe für Englisch als zweiter Sprache. In einem Zeitalter, in dem Englisch die Sprache der Kommunikation zwischen Sprechern, deren Muttersprache nicht Englisch ist, geworden ist, wäre es fruchtlos, wollten Sprachlehrer einfach das Deutsche propagieren. Diese Lage sollte aber nicht daran hindern, Lehrbücher zu suchen, die ein anderes Deutschland als das Land konservativer Extremisten oder Lederhosen-tragender Jodler zeigen. Noch sollte sie uns davon abhalten, Strategien zu entwickeln, die Deutsch als eine lebendige und dynamische Sprache vorführen, in der sich Hoch- ebenso wie PopulärKulturen ausdrücken. Wir hoffen, dass die Kollegen des Goethe-Instituts uns bei dieser Aufgabe weiterhin unterstützen. In a key scene from Sally Potter’s The Tango Lesson (1997) the two principle characters are walking and dancing along the Seine conversing in French. Shortly thereafter, they are in a café continuing to speak French until the conversation turns to the question of identity whereupon Sally, the British native, and Pablo, the Argentine native, switch over to English. In telling Pablo that she is an atheist and a Jew, Sally reverts back to her native language, English, even though she is fluent in French. Pablo reveals that he is a dancer and a Jew, choosing also to express himself in English, perhaps out of deference to Sally, even though his native language is neither English 266 Robert C. Reimer nor the French he had been speaking earlier. On the one hand this moment suggests the preponderance of English in European film productions and reveals the hegemony of the English native speaker in conversations even when both speakers are fluent in another language they have in common. On the other hand the scene also suggests that for some, Sally for instance, language and identity are closely related and for others, Pablo for example, language and identity are separate. For Pablo, identifying as a dancer and as a Jew is more important than identifying as a Spanish speaker from Argentina. I cite this scene from The Tango Lesson because I believe the dialogue demonstrates the difficulty of the issues facing the language profession in an age of globalization: First, English is hegemonic, that is, it controls the discourse. Second, English is ubiquitous, that is, everyone seems to speak it more or less fluently; and finally, in the minds and ears of film directors, English has become the language of the private sphere, perceived as capable of expressing emotional content as well or better than other languages. In the scene being discussed, Sally and Pablo identify with English as they reveal their artistry and Jewish ethnicity, tears rolling down their faces as they finish the conversation. When contemplating the fate of German as a language spoken in the public sphere and private sphere, we need to ask ourselves, If French loses out to English in this very intimate moment in this very French film,1 what chance does German have of prevailing against the new lingua franca? What chance indeed, and in this essay I will address the status of the German language in the American public arena. I will look at the level of awareness of German as a living language with over one hundred million native speakers. More specifically I will examine the presence of German as a subject in the curricula of American education. In examining German enrollments in schools and universities, I will address the absence or negative presence of the German language and contemporary German culture in American awareness. To a much lesser extent I will also touch upon the disappearing presence of the German language in Europe’s public sphere. I want to first establish a possible relationship between Germany’s crises of identity (there has been more than one such crisis over time) and the absence of the German language in America’s collective awareness. I want then to show the relationship between this loss of identity and lack of public awareness and the decline in interest in learning the language at all levels of the school system. The high enrollments in the German language (Shea) early in the twentieth century suggest the importance of language and identity and the presence of the German language and culture in public awareness for the popu- if given the opportunity to say so publicly. born in Milwaukee in 1899. The late sixties and early seventies witnessed a widespread dropping of second language requirements that affected all language disciplines. The high number of students of German at the time suggests that awareness of language and culture. not just German.Self-inflicted Wounds? Why German Enrollments are Dropping 267 larity of German as a course of study. parks and schools. the German language all but disappeared from American schools. German was the most studied language in the schools and at the university. identified with German culture. the two wars that formed the backdrop to my father’s anti-German sentiments were clearly still influencing him to deny his heritage. At a time when hundreds of thousands of German-Americans were entering their second generation of being in America and their numbers were being reinforced with hundreds of thousands more immigrants. would claim that modern foreign languages are on . for example. It was not until I was an adult studying for my doctorate in German that I learned my father grew up speaking German. the second-generation children who spoke German at home. reinforced by that culture’s ubiquity and propinquity. Some of the students were surely heritage learners. influenced the choice of second language. Although this conversation took place in 1969. To a question of why he never spoke German with me since he knew I was studying the language. This situation prevailed until the outbreak of the First World War. at least in the Midwest. Even the heritage learners and new immigrants distanced themselves from the language. when for reasons of emotionally-induced patriotism and government edicts (according to some reports the teaching of German was banned in twenty two states [Shea]). My father. A friend was visiting me from Germany and he and my father conversed in their native language. my father replied that he did not want to encourage me to study a language of a culture with which he did not identify. and now wanted to become more proficient in the language. who. “There are a good many language teachers. The decline in the numbers of students taking German however cannot be blamed entirely on the world wars and the loss of cultural identification. But others were undoubtedly non-speakers of German who wanted to learn and be enriched by a culture that seemed to be dominating American culture. Yet after the outbreak of the First World War by his account he stopped speaking German. and was lending the names of its greatest citizens to streets. spoke no English for the first twelve years of his life. Indeed an article in an ADFL Bulletin from 1972 indicates that all modern languages other than English faced a bleak future in American education. having attended only German speaking schools in this most German of American cities. He was an American. 313 to a fifty-year low of 199. if they are not already.723 and further to 43.717 reached in 1990. the bulk of which enrolled in Spanish. one need only consider the plight of language programs at Drake University. or Bennington College. Reimer the brink of disaster and are about to descend into the bottomless pit. High school students could begin questioning.141 by 1998. French saw a decrease from a high of 359.0 for Russian (Brod and Welles 2000: 22–29).268 Robert C.2 To realize that the future is not bright.6 for Japanese and 2. Between 1970 and 1998. The cycle of fewer begets fewer will eventually threaten graduate programs. with even the increases in Japanese tapering off. German instructors in the high schools and also in undergraduate programs have always been and continue to be resourceful at recruitment.064.5 for German. at the bottom of which are presumably Latin and Greek. a language that now has 55% of all second language students against 16.020 and Russian from 44.000 students. The high for Japanese of 45.569 to 89. outsourced to study abroad institutes. Likewise. the trend for French. I would like now to give an overview of teachers’ past initiatives to encourage students to learn German. Besides demonstrating that not all languages are losing interest among American students. often recruited from those students who started German in high school. Thus. . the figures indicate that German is approaching a level that could threaten the language as a viable discipline at all levels (Peters 1994: 5–11). Yet during this time overall second language enrollment increased by over 80. which reportedly eliminated and then brought back language study at a reduced level. why they should start German if the college of their choice might not have a German program where they will be able to continue and build on their high school experience.7 for French. and Russian has been downward. just as the high number of students taking German mirrored the high visibility of German American culture early in the twentieth century. German. although there have been periodic rises in language enrollments over the last thirty years.626 (reached in 1990) to 23. undergraduate programs (or courses at advanced levels) may lose enrollment and thus be eliminated if minimal levels of students.” (Schaefer 1972: 5–8) Moreover. Accordingly. 3. although university enrollments dramatically increased during the same period. are not retained. 7. whose pool of PhD candidates will shrink as potential students realize there are few university positions open to them. The increase in the number of students who choose to study Spanish mirrors the increase of visibility of Latino and Hispanic cultures in American life. Between these years German fell from 202.791. due to the efforts of German teachers at all levels of the curriculum the glass is only half drained. had fallen slightly by 1995 to 44. For example. offering students evidence of German’s relevance in the world. speak to the absence or negative presence of German in American awareness. illustrating the old Avis car rental claim “we try harder” or Esso’s “put a tiger in your tank. In some way or other they all work to raise the visibility of German language and culture among American students and to adjust or correct perceptions about the language and the culture that supports it. making German a formidable obstacle for American students. is that students just don’t understand grammar. professional and quaisi-professional certificates. The bandwagons. courses in translation. For the most part. which include among others. Over the years foreign language educators have adopted numerous language fashions to boost enrollments in language courses (Reimer 1998: 32–40). replaced by the Frau– oder Herr in–jeans rapping lyrics to grammatical patterns. For example. immersion and foreign languages in elementary schools. pertain to all languages. Without a doubt. in the seventies. languages for career enhancement. “wir geben uns mehr Mühe” and “pack den Tiger in den Tank” appeared on German-class blackboards in America. communicative approach. For the most part. or other venues where German teachers congregate. German teachers have been particularly adept at adopting and adapting the latest fad. but I will return to that point below. schools began to introduce programs of literature in translation (Caputo-Mayr 1974: 47–50). In the sixties their German translations. some more than others. audio-lingual method. German teachers have used methodological innovations to make the language easier to learn in an attempt to persuade students that the language has an undeserved reputation for being difficult. cognitive self-improvement.” These two ads ironically illustrate the problem however. Yet the number one complaint at Advanced Placement readings. direct method. if those slogans were to appear for the first time today. they have all failed. but also to address the issues I mentioned above.Self-inflicted Wounds? Why German Enrollments are Dropping 269 This brief overview is given both to place the study of German in perspective. All of the language fashions. these courses tapped into a latent awareness of German culture by focusing on Thomas . Yet. Gone is the Frau im Dirndl using an antiquated book filled with unmemorizable paradigms. Pragmatic movements have likewise failed to help German’s cause. namely the absence and/or negative presence of German and Germany in the public awareness of Americans and American institutions. we still insist on structural perfection. suggesting even while we promise that German is easy to learn. the German advertising industry would leave them in the original. Indeed they may have actually hurt. as enrollments first started to fall. and Günter Grass. and concentration camps on the other.” Yet Peters questions whether attempts to revise the image by . were introduced in the eighties as a way to stop the loss of majors by offering an alternative to the literature based track. Germany is still a distant country for most Americans. Bertolt Brecht. and cuckoo clocks on the one hand and swastikas. as to them both courses appear to have identical content. and Switzerland. who may indeed have no notions at all about people who speak German. these programs too have lost enrollment. lederhosen. Hitler. This leads to another problem however as those vague to well-formed impressions include innocuous cultural stereotypes as well as dangerous cultural prejudices. consisting of Bavarians in native costume playing quaint music or in stereotypes that play and replay a negative past. they threaten to discredit any of the reasons the profession advances for the study of a second language. More importantly. I want to address the profound impact this has on perception of German culture and perhaps on the study of German as a second language. I would like to turn now to a feature all of the major bandwagons possess. they do little for enrollment in language courses. I have used the term absence of awareness to characterize American’s knowledge of German culture. namely a focus on the contemporary culture of the country of the target language. especially Germany. neo-Nazism. and the 1972 Munich Olympics tragedy. for example (training students to translate from German into English). Rather they are present either in stereotypes that are not genuine. As George Peters (1994) writes in an essay on recruiting minorities to the study of German: “Despite the efforts of many well-meaning teachers. Austria. certificate programs in translation. and thinking about Germany tends still to be dominated by two conflicting stereotypical images: beer. authors who have until recently been part of the liberally educated American. the Holocaust. German and Germany are not absent from the consciousness of American students. Likewise. it is not long before administrators question the course with only ten. Reimer Mann.270 Robert C. That is. It would be more accurate and ultimately more fair to limit America’s unawareness to the contemporary culture of over one hundred million native German speakers in Germany. Hermann Hesse. For except among the post Berlin Wall generation of Americans. Berlin Wall. Franz Kafka. In the case of German and Germany. Moreover if a course in translation draws thirty students and one in language draws ten. the Nazis. While courses in translation bring in students to general education courses. most Americans will have more or less vague to well-formed impressions about German speaking countries. SS troops. cold war. As the promise of employment implicit in the term certificate has failed to materialize. Self-inflicted Wounds? Why German Enrollments are Dropping 271 presenting a Germany in which minorities are seen in everyday situations and are “generally happy. and familiar but nonetheless enticing cuisine. the tour de France. and architectural icons such as the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre Museum. warm climates. German textbooks in contrast present the country’s troubled past and its sometimes equally troubled present either directly or in the subtext. gondolas. art. and few that suggest the German culture has a lot to offer Americans. music. German in contrast seems to be the language of cuckoo clocks. and the adult learner taking a language for personal enrichment and perhaps to travel need some kind of incentive to pick German. and well-integrated into German society” will work and whether this is “an honest strategy. art. When authentic texts are offered at this level. and skinheads. it cannot and should not be willed away by German teachers. Judging by many textbooks one would not know that Berlin is exciting and youth oriented. Hitler. In the public’s mind. Given the tragedies emanating from Germany’s legacy of war. Certainly we should.” (Peters 1994) Peters identifies a problem that we must solve if we are to increase student interest in German. exciting cuisine. whether these negative images are independent of or reinforced by the textbook. the beginning and intermediate language texts of all the languages present either culturally neutral or culturally innocuous content as they introduce students to a new language through dialogs and readings. gourmet cuisine. French is the language of love. goodfellows. Germany’s legacy is real. precision engineering. high fashion. Spanish is the language of their neighbors. in most languages these tend to focus on positive aspects of the culture. adventure. Mexico City is presented without air pollution and Rome without corruption. There are few to no images in American textbooks that entice us to “learn this language”. For the most part. rendering moot a discussion of whether to include historical information in our textbooks. Nevertheless. and missing from most of the textbooks for beginning and intermediate German is sufficient positive content to balance the negative images. finding a balance between our presentation of Germany past and Germany present. Italian is the language of romance. genocide. and youth. carnival in Cologne and along the . and national division they probably have no choice. both because Germany’s past explains much of its present and also because the past is part of present day discourse. Thus. successful in school. including Germany’s past does not require eliminating its present. and tourist attractions. the college freshman. French books stress fashion and Paris. How else can we persuade students to study German? The fifteen year old high school student. Indeed. The turn to American culture became particularly visible in popular culture. German culture.272 Robert C. where the Western Allies. Since 1945 American culture. and second. the American way of life. whether willingly or not is not the issue here. textbooks exist. and Germans. embraced. that present a brighter side to German culture. Mueller. often difficult to build into the typical three-hour class. resumed more strongly than ever. where the influence of American jazz and swing. films whose stories are set in immediate postwar Germany have only to play a few measures of Glenn Miller’s In the Mood to conjure up not only Germany 1945–48 but also to suggest Germany’s forced seduction by American politics and culture. Unfortunately such ancillary materials are first. whether youth-oriented pop culture or adult-oriented classical culture is popular and relevant to Germans’ everyday lives. play professional basketball. the hegemony of the English language and American culture throughout the world. These topics are for the most part absent from our presentation of the culture as we teach the language. has held power over German imaginations (Flippo 1997). particularly pop culture. At war’s end members of the vanquished nation that became the Federal Republic. often intended for more advanced learners. In addition. Perhaps nowhere is this forced seduction more clear than in the film industry. including American expatriates in Germany. I want to now turn to another issue that affects enrollment. already begun in the Twenties and interrupted by the Third Reich. Vorsprung by Thomas Lovik or Deutsch Heute by Jack R. Accordingly for the next portion of my essay I want to shift direction and speculate on the effect that the dominance of the English language and of the American culture in Germany has had on the decline of German as a second language in America. Yet. Why then do textbooks that include song lyrics usually present the works of the old Liedermacher or political folksingers that complain about outdated forms of rebellion or the coldness of German society? To be fair. the Goethe Institute and the American Association of Teachers of German offer printed and internet materials that focus on contemporary German culture. they are often not fully integrated into the teaching material and thus lend themselves to being cut if time is short. soccer is a popular sport. If they are part of the book. . but they do not make up the majority of available texts. but especially the United States because of Hollywood’s domination of the world film market. Reimer Rhine is fun. dumped movies on a country hungry for entertainment but without the immediate infrastructure to meet the demand or achieve the production values of the American product. even if other duties allowed instructors the luxury of didacticizing them. Self-inflicted Wounds? Why German Enrollments are Dropping 273 Moreover. Yet. in spite of the American iconography. But Backus. Since those early postwar years. as they negotiate a postwar identity crisis caused by wanting to reject the past and having no present model to copy other than America as seen in films. and heroes in tight pants. included sweetshops. rock music. In the fifties. when American pop culture was first embraced. 1957) plays like an imitation Hollywood musical comedy. For some this crisis played out into embracing American culture uncritically. 1947). one of two characters traversing Germany. turned to well known American genres. as motorcycles drive down a quiet. 1956). Helmut Käutner. coca cola bottles. In Wim Wenders’s film (Kings of the Road. as evidenced by the genre of teenage musical films starring Gus Backus in the early sixties. the German films that were made. middleclass German street at the end of Die Halbstarken. the reference to Germany’s troubled youth becomes an homage to Hollywood and America. Moreover. were also sung in German. for its first fifteen minutes uses the point of view of the camera as it follows its hero around. and television. television has become cluttered with commercials. sung in German. and the top forty hits on the radio. incorporated the best and worst of American originals. 1957) and Georg Tressler’s Die Halbstarken (Teenage Wolfpack. often covers of American hits. the films offered Horst Buchholst and Christian Doermer. music. in film. German pop culture stayed German at its core. whose films during the Nazi period were already displaying a Hollywood look. but this time American pop culture can claim complete victory. finding himself humming a popular American tune. copying a claustrophobic technique used in Lady of the Lake (Robert Montgomery. Joseph von Báky’s Die Frühreifen [Mature for Their Years. In place of Marlon Brando and James Dean from The Wild One (László Benedek. stops humming and remarks that the “Americans have colonized our subconscious. Indeed. 1976) Robert Zischler. 1954) and Rebel without a Cause (Nicholas Ray. Even more strongly influenced by Hollywood were the teenage rebel films. with plots and music just as forgettable. replicas of Hollywood’s beach blanket movies. expressing the new content in the German . for instance. His Epilog (1950) for example. In the last two decades. 1955). America’s influence on German popular culture has continued unabated.” Cultural historian Hyde Flippo estimates that 85 % of all films in Germany are Hollywood produced and German television plays American hit series dubbed into German or produces Germanized versions of them. German popular culture it seems has undergone a second identity crisis as it confronts influences from America. even though an American. Käutner’s Die Zürcher Verlobung (The Affairs of Julie. as in the United States. with a few notable exceptions. these films in the end remain German. Volker Schlöndorff’s Palmetto (1998). one also cannot dispute that most important works are available in excellent English translations. history. Likewise. theology. Moreover. Indeed. for example. reflecting the desire for the music to reach an international audience. the formerly universal dubbing of Hollywood movies into German has given way to screenings in the original language. especially in the workplace and especially when Americans are present. the most notable being rap and hip hop singers. but the incident nonetheless calls into question advice to students that they learn German because it is the language of business. American language educators are fond of proclaiming the usefulness of German in the worlds of business and academe. it has probably been decades since German was the language of science.” (Ratwick) Yet. the German language has conceded victory to English. if the number of PhD programs that no longer require proficiency specifically in German is evidence. And while one cannot dispute the importance of philosophic and theological tracts written in German. For example. Albeit. One of many brochures used to persuade students to take German asks “why learn German?” The supplied answer reads: “German is a leading language of science. The University of North Carolina Charlotte) is home to almost 100 German firms. English is also present on German television thanks to MTV. Charlotte. NC (site of my home institution. German is giving way to the English language. philosophy. Records are no longer covered by German singing artists but released by the original artist. On a visit to one of the larger firms. Wim Wenders’s End of Violence (1997) and Million Dollar Hotel (2000). capitalizing on the fact that so many Germans speak English and want to practice the language at the movies. CNN and other cable networks. and Tom Tykwer’s Heaven (2002) among many others.274 Robert C. hoping not merely to sound like the original but also to achieve breakthrough success. In the latest wave of American influence. or by German vocalists singing in English. Reimer language. mostly small affiliate operations but some larger firms as well. placing claims of utility in doubt. and art. There are of course exceptions to this.3 Similarly in the film industry. New Wave and post New Wave directors have turned to making films in English in order to gain wider release. the ubiquity of the English language in the German public sphere as described in the preceding paragraph has affected commerce and university alike. the proliferation of programs that offer certificates in translation attests as much to the importance of English as a means for com- . literature. music. but here too English dominates the charts. business. possible only in English. such anecdotal evidence has to be taken with a grain of salt. the manager told our students German was not necessary for employment there since their German employees speak English. the ensuing courses in art history. On an exploratory visit to initiate exchanges with schools in BadenWürttemberg and in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. architecture. a recent essay in Deutschland. for example. Remedial courses during the year of study or pre registration immersion courses were offered to get students prepared for courses in the German language. Mannheim’s plan is similar but the focus there is on social studies. science. Most recently.” the article explains that “foreigners wishing to study in Germany are given the opportunity of doing so without having to speak German fluently from the start. against the advice of the German faculty at my university. More than 100 degree courses offer seminars and lectures in English as well as German (p. . A number of the Engineering faculty visited the school and returned announcing that the faculty and students in Aachen did indeed speak English fluently and thereafter Charlotte’s students would not be required to study German before going on the program. with beginning language instruction in German as ancillary. two German states very different from each other. In Stuttgart. German universities themselves are administering the coup de grace to German as a language necessary for non-Germans to function in the public sphere in Germany. At one time. Using slogans in English such as “Hi. and academics as it does to the relative lack of readers with proficiency in German. announced an initiative to increase the number of international students at German universities. 24). That they will have to learn German if they plan to continue studying in Germany is fact.” and “Qualified in Germany. requiring translations. the University of Stuttgart and the University of Mannheim have announced programs for non German-speaking students that will be conducted entirely in English. two years of university study in German was considered to be a minimum to reach the lowest level of proficiency required to study abroad. Shortly thereafter. the Department of Engineering established a program in Aachen (in yet another German state) that required no German for participation. Finally. although students will be offered intensive instruction in German before classes begin. And finally. This has started to change the last few years. economics. university officials used the high degree of English fluency of their instructors as a recruitment incentive. a publication of the German Press and Information Office. even probable. and literature will be conducted in English. two of the German members of the North Carolina/Baden-Würrtemberg Exchange Consortium. But the suggested meta-text to students and non-German faculty in these new initiatives is that English is often the language of the public sphere at the university.” That the students on these programs may one day learn German is possible.Self-inflicted Wounds? Why German Enrollments are Dropping 275 municating in business. Potentials! International careers made in Germany. In 2000/2001. has never been made available in the United States on VHS or DVD. in cities with a Goethe Institute. The subsequent distribution of the films introduced at the festival is also different than is the case with German films. In this way the industry achieves distribution for less commercial films. and thus the potential for a profitable booking has been diminished. That is. in spite of film offices throughout . Also important is the fact that the films also still have a potential audience in major cities. How different the case is with French film. as if no other German films of interest to students existed. for example. as distributors are more likely to pick up films that because of the subsidies are more likely to be booked. Once a year. German films. of which the French film industry is justifiably proud. The German film industry in the last two years has produced over 80 films each year in the German language (the number is closer to 100 but some of the films are in languages other than German.4 No wonder German teachers pounce on a film like Tom Tykwer’s Lola rennt (Run Lola Run. French films reach an audience while German films languish. the films are offered outside the commercial marketplace. and therefore not necessary. the French cultural agency offers subsidies to university and French language societies so they can book the films for theatrical and campus play. critics.276 Robert C. which was popular with art cinema houses. usually English). 1994). As a consequence. The French film industry has an annual festival in Sarasota touting the year’s new releases. In contrast. Only one of these films received theatrical release in America in 1999/2000 and another was also released on video and DVD with subtitles. Reimer with German being relegated to private conversations. Film distributors that might pick up German language films are reluctant to do so as these films may have already played the largest or most profitable venues. or an advantaged university. even if they do not receive commercial distribution. 1998). French films are more widely distributed because the French have a film distribution policy. two were released for theatrical showing and as yet no additional ones for video or DVD. the French film industry prepares a catalog of the new titles and includes some of the more popular titles from previous years. exhibiting it ad infinitum. the catalogue from earlier years reveals that a film such as Doris Dörrie’s Keiner liebt mich (Nobody Loves Me. The Germans. may play in America. being seen by viewers fortunate enough to live in a city with a Goethe Institute. distributors and educators can preview the new product. Rather than offering these films free of charge outside the normal distribution apparatus. Moreover. I would like to turn briefly to German film distribution in America for an example of how the German language is disappearing from the public stage. whenever we offer courses that were traditionally taught in German in English.000. musical groups. nor is any absence of concern on the part of those institutions trusted with the furthering of German language and culture in America the cause. that is the use of English in music. and international symposia. German film policy is of course not the cause for falling enrollments in German at American schools and universities. declining from over 200. whenever we recruit students to study in Germany with English language slogans. Yet as mentioned earlier.Self-inflicted Wounds? Why German Enrollments are Dropping 277 the world. commerce. we suggest that German is irrelevant because the world prefers English. the field will die out. do offerings in translation and in discipline specific vocabulary. and certainly whenever we offer coursework at German schools in the English language. film. and discourse emphasizing the problematic issues in contemporary Germany have an adverse effect on enrollments? Have our proactive efforts to increase enrollment combined with linguistic and pop culture trends in Germany. the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst. Have strategies to increase the popularity of German backfired? That is. Nonetheless let me propose that whenever we translate our publications into English. they have undertaken numerous initiatives to increase enrollment in German at all levels of schooling.000 in spite of the efforts to combat the trend of decline. For over the years the Goethe Institute. even as the numbers entering college has increased.00 in 2002. emphasis on historical realities. the year 2002 has come and gone and the number of students studying German has fallen below 100. lectures. .” (Peters 1994) Well. do not have an apparent film policy. Quite the contrary is true. the numbers of students taking German at the college level continues to fall. There has been a similar decline at the high school level. particularly Japanese and Spanish. In the early nineties one study predicted that “German enrollments are so anemic compared with enrollments in other languages. together with the American Association of Teachers of German and individual universities. that unless the level is restored to – as they put it – 200.00 to 89. and Inter Nationes (now under the auspices of the Goethe Institute) have sponsored films. doomed German to the status of a private rather than a public language? The questions have no definitive answers. at least not one that favors wide distribution of the films. and theater productions for enhancement of German culture in America. Moreover. 12241. http://education. ADFL Bulletin. Heard on television shows with titles that conjure up sentiments of Heimat or a lost presence. “Every year universities produce fewer language graduates. endlessly reproducing the melodies of hits from the 1950’s are also mostly in German. 22–29. 2002). 2002: 82). References Beckett. A recent article in Time Out. but…from a low base. 47–50. Welles 2000 Foreign language enrollments in United States institutions of higher education. and demand for A-level languages is steadily decreasing. 3.” Paul Cooke (27. Cooke.” Francis Beckett (5. 00. attitudes. Although Sally Potter is a British director and much of the film is in English. 2002). Caputo-Mayr.2002). # 1684 (November. … Worst hit are French and German.uk/higher/artsandhumanities/story/0. (November. Flippo. The Guardian. 06:2 (November 1974). .co. 5th. 82.11. Fall 1998. and customs in the German-speaking world. Hyde 1997 The German way : aspects of behavior. Spanish increased by 22. So-called German folksongs.5%. 2002].11.html [November. ADFL Bulletin. bemoaned the lack of German titles in the video catalogs.guardian.278 Robert C. an entertainment weekly. Since 1992. Brod. Francis 2002 Dumbing down. Maria Louise 1974 German literature and culture courses in English: Trends in Pennsylvania. The seeming reluctance of the German film industry to make German language videos with subtitles available on VHS or DVD is apparently similar in the United Kingdom. those taking French A-level have declined by a third. “British viewers looking for subtitled DVD’s might be forgiven for thinking that the whole scene stopped with the death of Fassbinder in 1982. 31:2 (Winter 2000). 6th. Financing as with many independent European films was multi-national. and those taking German by 16%. These songs are hardly aimed at German youth and play only a minor role in German pop music and are therefore left out of my discussion. … It is not easy to take a language degree unless you did it at A-level.829901. the tone is decidedly French. Paul 2002 Time Out. 4. A similar phenomenon is occurring in the United Kingdom where lack of opportunities to study language beyond high school may be driving down numbers in the schools also. Passport Books. Richard and Elizabeth B. Reimer Notes 1. 2. 27th. Deutschland. #6 (December/ January 2001). Robert 1998 Language immersion: Learning from past mistakes. 32–40. Fremdsprachunterricht in der Grundschule. 1994 Dilemmas of diversity: Observations on efforts to increase minority participation in German. Ratwik.). 25:2 (Winter 1994). Schneider Verlag. 5–8. Rainer 2001 International careers made in Germany. ADFL Bulletin. 03:3 (March 1972).com/shea/chenpapr.stthomas. Anita Why Choose German? www. http://www. In: Hartmut Melenk and Hans-Peter Dörfel (eds. Schaefer. 1972 The plight and future of foreign language learning in America. Robert 2000 The influence of background knowledge on foreign language choice. . 5–11.htm [March.Self-inflicted Wounds? Why German Enrollments are Dropping 279 Hoffmann. George F.serve. Peters. 2000].webcampus3. Shea.edu/paschons/language Reimer. 22–27. William D. ADFL Bulletin. 25th. . created solutions. Literatur und Kulturen der Deutsch sprechenden Länder unterrichten. the past decade has brought the realization that our discipline has attracted many fewer students and therefore fewer candidates or Nachwuchs for our present positions than we had anticipated. Some colleagues have found the causes. The major premise of this article is that through the cooperative. Durch geplante Zusammenarbeit und koordinierte Initiativen aller. one that we are endeavoring to meet in order to attract people like ourselves who for varying reasons find the study of things German in all their forms. we are still facing a challenge. culture. and literature of the German-speaking world in the United States. literatures. We were perhaps lulled into complacency coming out of a period of stability at the post secondary level in the 70’s and 80’s and even growth on the precollegiate sector. an enhancement not only to our professional but also to our lives outside our chosen careers. and are now attracting more students to their programs. and cultures of the German-speaking world. we can meet the pres- . Despite these successes. ließe sich dieser Herausforderung begegnen. die Sprache.Meeting the Challenge: The Future of German Study in the United States Helene Zimmer-Loew Zusammenfassung Wir stehen gegenwärtig der Herausforderung von drastisch sinkenden Zahlen von Deutsch-Schülern und Studenten in den USA gegenüber. Der Aufsatz behandelt die Geschichte und Gründungsprinzipien der American Association of Teachers of German und beschreibt deren gegenwärtige Förderung der Lehrenden auf allen Ebenen des Unterrichts. Many have searched for reasons for this decline. collaborative efforts and combined forces of all those who teach the language. Introduction For many of us involved in the teaching and learning of the language. 385 or 0.000 students of German enrolled. and at present still holds. Reasons for optimism Despite these recent enrollment figures. and educators of German about the study of German in several recent surveys.6%. .1 % (2002: 6).000 or 24. Since 1970.282 Helene Zimmer-Loew ent challenge.000 students or 2.4% but by 1948 that number had again declined to 43. This article first presents the statistical status of the study of German in the United States at present and the perceptions of the public. and services that aim to foster communication among and between all those engaged in meeting this challenge.000 or 3. publications. according to the latest statistics by Draper and Hicks (2002) of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) and from Brod and Welles of the Modern Language Association (MLA). German enrollments at colleges and universities have declined from a high of 203. third place among the most studied languages in the USA. By 1922 the numbers had plummeted to 13. Enrollment numbers and percentages of students in secondary schools since the late 1950’s have vacillated between a low of 123.000 or 7. respectively.000 students or 19 % of the college enrollments to a low 89. A history of enrollments For many years. there was again substantial growth to 135. according to the most recent MLA survey (2002: 24).3% (1968). a country where at any given time less than 44% of public high school students (9–12 grades) and 8% of college/university students are learning any language. or 2.5% (1959) and a high of 423. down by 43. Twelve years later. The article concludes with the history and present role of the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) in supporting the teaching and teachers of German at all levels of instruction through its programs. German enrollments reached their peak in 1915 with 324. there are reasons for us to be optimistic or at least to take advantage of several opportunities to reverse the present trends.4% of all public school students.000 since 1994.8 % (2002: 6). students. Deutsch als Fremdsprache has held.500 or 1. there are 283.195 or 0.5% in 1998. Most recently (2000). two recent surveys that collected the perceptions of the general public about the study of German demonstrate that there is in fact a modest interest in our discipline. The first. It first explored participants’ perceptions on the importance of studying foreign languages in general.025 U. explored Americans’ interest in foreign languages and specifically the German language. . their answers focus on personal reasons. Only 25% of Americans say that it is very or somewhat important to them to study German (2002: 4). 2002. and using German in everyday life play only a minor role (2002: 8). Magid Associates for the Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes (2002). with a considerable group of respondents saying that speaking German would allow them to communicate across Europe. The survey is nationally representative and has a margin of error of +/–3. few respondents perceive that learning German is too difficult. Fortunately. having German friends. Interestingly.2% (2002: 1). nor do they have negative perceptions of Germany or the Germans (2002: 9). Nearly four in ten Americans (38%) think that it is very important to learn a foreign language. Americans who think that it is not important at all or not very important to study German focus on functional and practical aspects when justifying their opinion. A second set of reasons relates to the geographic reach and general importance of the German language. practical reasons such as visits to Germany. saying that they simply have no need to speak German. Also mentioned is an interest in German culture and history. the question about personally studying German as a foreign language resulted in lower importance ratings than the question about learning a foreign language in general. Chinese and French (2002:7). for a total of 75% who believe that studying a foreign language is important (2002: 1). Some respondents believe that the language is not spoken by many people and prefer other languages more important than German. When respondents are asked to explain the rationale behind their German language importance ratings. The data are based on a total of 1. German was listed as the fourth most important foreign languages after Spanish. an Omnibus survey administered by Frank N. respondents age 18+ who were interviewed via telephone between June 5 and June 9. Americans who think that it is very important or somewhat important to study German as a foreign language cite their German heritage or the existing German language skills of friends and family members as reasons for their positive opinion.Meeting the Challenge: The Future of German Study in the United States 283 First. In a second survey conducted by Magid Associates on the image of Germany for the German Information Center. As might be expected. and 37% of Americans think that it is somewhat important to learn a foreign language.S. the AATG surveyed nearly 5000 of these high school students.’ and ‘love for German’.” She notes that these affective factors also greatly influenced the students’ choice of German in their initial decision to study a language. A second important finding is that those who continue with German in college do so because they loved their experience in high school and that they want to continue using the language as much as possible. The project entitled Maintaining the Momentum: The Transition between High School and College German Study asked them what motivated their decision to choose German over other languages offered in their school. These students born in 1990 are presently candidates for high school German programs over the next 3–4 years and college-bound in fall 2007.g. author of the preliminary article on the survey in a recent issue of the AATG Newsletter. the Maintaining the Momentum Task Force reports and analyzes in detail the results of this survey and concludes with twelve recommendations to teachers of German at all levels of instruction. an increase of 7% since 1995.3 million by 2007. the study of German will be an option for some of them. e. and why they will or will not continue their study at the post secondary level. Surely. up 16% from 1995.284 Helene Zimmer-Loew Third. In addition. motivating factors described by such survey items as ‘clear sign of progress in German. Fourth. writes: “The single most significant result of this survey is the affirmation of the importance of affective motivators for students of high school age who are continuing German. fluency. “seemed like fun” or “seemed interesting”. in an effort to determine why a majority of secondary school students who have committed themselves to the study of German for three or more years chooses not to continue their study in college. statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics project that K-12 enrollments will increase to 54. 16. for example. Lynne Tatlock (2002: 8). In the full length report on the project in Die Unterrichtspraxis (2002: 10–11)..1 million of these students will enter institutions of higher education in 2007. why they continued after their first year. They include: – be enthusiastic – remind students frequently of their progress (not their shortcomings) – encourage speaking as much as possible – focus on practical communication via reading and writing – emphasize vocabulary building – keep grammar in perspective – integrate German into students’ daily lives – use German to present other topics . disseminating information about models of excellence. and the “down-playing” of the usefulness of German. supporting curricular reform. another AATG initiative. This series of forums around the country over a two-year period demonstrated that there was general agreement about the concerns facing the profession and the variety of solutions that might effectively address them: demographic changes not favoring German. and several are contained in its most recent strategic plan entitled Critical Issues. and planning for the strategic use of technologies to advance information gathering and sharing of issues. led by Heidi Byrnes (1996). sequence and delivery – Active recruitment for students at all levels – New approaches to accountability based on student global performance such as student portfolios – New approaches to teacher education and faculty development including the integration of content and pedagogy – Improvement of departmental leadership including strategic planning. priority setting.Meeting the Challenge: The Future of German Study in the United States 285 – show the connection of German to other academic subjects – show how German relates to a broad range of career goals – develop students’ information gathering skills in German – keep up your own professional development None of these recommendations are beyond the ability of those present and future teachers of German to incorporate into their teaching and professional lives! Fifth. change in the make-up of the profession (fewer immigrant teachers). developing pilot projects and models for articulation. the increasing emphasis on career preparation only. and identification of resources. A summary action plan included developing leadership seminars. language coordinators and undergraduate/graduate coordinators of postsecondary institutions. additional demands on teachers by communicatively oriented language instruction and the need for professional development to meet those demands. The association is in the process of implementing these. They were designed to give par- . program heads. Recommendations that came from many forum participants included (1996: 256–261): – Reform of the curriculum in terms of content. For example. the closing of programs at all levels of instruction. culminated in the July 1996 report entitled The Future of German in American Education that appeared in Die Unterrichtspraxis. we have already held two leadership seminars for department chairs. At the present juncture the necessity for them has become imperative. In the very first issue of The German Quarterly. We teachers in colleges and universities can learn from the men and women in the schools whose problems are more essentially pedagogic. He states the reasons why scientists. He goes on to reason: Under these circumstances. if not dangerous” (1928: 3). though always of prime importance. were never sufficiently achieved. He laments how World War I “shattered this picture” and rendered the language “worthless. The role of the AATG The AATG continues to play a major role in coordinating efforts to maintain the role of German in American education. Again. College of the City of New York. (1928: 3–4) The aim of the new association was to “spread the knowledge of German in this country by increasing the efficiency of the teaching of German. colleges. Such contacts. describes the rationale behind the founding of the association in 1926. “literary men” and businessmen could not imagine not knowing the German language for their professional pursuits and the evidence of the great interest in German at the time: the high secondary school enrollments in German in 1915 (see above). Former participants are in the process of establishing a regional network of consultants who would be available to help postsecondary-level departments of German with strategic planning initiatives. The first step to be taken is the formation of an organization embracing all teachers of German in every part of the country. It is our association’s tradition and the basis of its founding. They in turn can profit by contact with those whose main business it is to keep abreast of new currents in the higher life of Germany. and universities.” The method suggested to accomplish this aim was to draw “into the organization . Camillo von Klenze (1928). it becomes imperative for us teachers of German to use every legitimate means of improving the position of German in our schools. these recommendations are feasible and appropriate for consideration by every department of German or modern languages.286 Helene Zimmer-Loew ticipants an opportunity to discuss present and future concerns of the profession and to develop specific action plans to be implemented at their institutions within a multi-year strategic plan. Only by enthusiastic cooperation can we hope to accomplish anything tangible. . geography and teaching level.”(1928: 5) He ends his rationale with a resounding affirmation about the value of the study of German: Knowledge of German. presently at 6000. The team of eighty professional development consultants available to chapters for professional development is almost evenly divided between K-12 and 13-post-graduate colleagues. consists of 49% representing pre-collegiate. energy.Meeting the Challenge: The Future of German Study in the United States 287 as many teachers of German as possible from all over the country. of course. must once more become a vital factor in our national life. the leadership of the Executive Council and our officers has helped the AATG keep alert to articulation concerns from the membership. they feel self-confidence. Being in contact with so many members on all levels in our many projects and. 34% the post secondary and 17% undetermined or not teaching (please note that the pool of college university personnel is much smaller than that of the K-12). The bylaws of most of AATG’s 61 chapters also reflect this balance. In this fashion.”(1928: 4) Von Klenze cites the new theories in the pedagogy of language and the new conditions in Germany as reasons to review the current textbooks. The equity between teachers at various levels of instruction in a variety of institutions is evident in the AATG Constitution and Bylaws where it is clearly stated that the Vice President and the President are chosen alternately from the primary or secondary school level and the college or university level and that members of the Executive Council shall alternate between pre-collegiate and post-secondary levels. and the consciousness of power can best be stimulated among us. as every intelligent person admits. A large body of excellent teachers of German working shoulder to shoulder with teachers of other languages will be in a position to do its share towards fulfilling that ideal deal to the heart of every one of us: to make American culture richer and more manysided than any in history. dedicated colleagues. The most efficient way to accomplish these changes is “through papers read at meetings and discussions to help teachers”…”become energetically alive to the new problems and possibilities. (1928: 6) We can look back at von Klenze’s enthusiastic admonition to all teachers of German to join together as the continuing rationale for the existence of the present day AATG. and most are balanced in gender. The membership of AATG. We continue to seek ways to keep the conversation between and among levels alive and to maintain a balance in the public image of the AATG. Its 17 national or external committees and task forces are filled with knowledgeable. and a series of Infoblätter features issues and programs of special interest. – Publications: The German Quarterly contains articles on literature of the German-speaking countries. events in the profession. Since languages are not generally considered part of the core studies in most educational institutions. In order to serve the needs of a varied membership. modern or classical. Standards for FL Learning in the 21st Century (1999). college-bound student. Die Unterrichtspraxis. the quarterly Newsletter. pedagogy and methodology along with book reviews. published in the spring and fall. In an effort to influence all aspects of education. a collaborative of eight language-specific associations and ACTFL was formed to join in the well-established movement for standards among all other disciplines. German philology and German studies as well as book reviews. and services to teachers of German at all levels of instruction as well as to individuals interested in the German language and cultures. The United States must educate students who are equipped linguistically and culturally to communicate in a pluralistic American society and abroad. programs. an emphasis on learning content while learning language. and for entry level teachers through the Council of Chief State School Officers.288 Helene Zimmer-Loew Von Klenze’s admonition for teachers of German to work “shoulder to shoulder” with teachers of other languages has also been realized in recent years. and performance-based assessments. carries articles on research. the Collaborative has also supported standards for accomplished teachers through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. the AATG provides publications. This imperative envisions a future in which ALL (emphasis in original) students develop and maintain proficiency in English and at least one other language.These standards represent a major departure from the prevalent view that foreign languages are only for the elite. (1928: 7) Other departures include a description of what students should know and be able to do. provides members with an association update. The statement of philosophy clearly directs its focus on foreign languages for all students: Language and communication are at the heart of the human experience. The Foreign Language Standards Collaborative (see note) has created standards for the learners K16. for schools of education through the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education. . and opportunities of interest. the Checkpoint Charlie Stiftung. – Website and Listserves: AATG maintains an active website and two listserves. cultural. – Materials Center: The Center offers a large variety of print and audio-visual materials such as reference works. – Annual Meeting: A variety of conference sessions and workshops on pedagogical. Awards Program. providing the often isolated teacher of German the opportunity to communicate with others easily and without charge. business German. In cooperation with a university and the Goethe Institut. and the Max Kade Foundation we honor members of the association for their outstanding work as educators and scholars. such as a video. posters. we offer a series of online courses (German Online Distance Education Network or GOLDEN) that can lead to a Master’s degree with an emphasis on the teaching of German. – Summer Seminars: We offer inexpensive summer seminars on a variety of topics and in several locations here and in Germany and Austria on topics such as early language learning. German Summer Study . and a Werbemappe. – Awards: In cooperation with the Goethe Institut. in-depth workshops and seminars on the latest topics of pedagogical. one a discussion group. For the past three years we have provided training to selected younger members of the profession. and teacher-created units targeted to students and faculty at all levels of instruction. short publications. – Werbung: In cooperation with the Goethe Institute. Each chapter supports a variety of local and regional projects designed to support teachers at all levels of instruction. open forums and the business meeting of the association are offered annually. – Student Programs: AATG sponsors several programs for students including the National German Testing Program. and literary themes. Lufthansa.Meeting the Challenge: The Future of German Study in the United States 289 – Chapters: Membership in the national AATG automatically includes membership in one of its sixty-one chapters. literary and cultural interest are available to all members. and assistance in establishing such programs. brochures. – Kinder lernen Deutsch: This program supports the teaching of German to K-8 children by providing teacher training. literature. our future leaders. Landeskunde. and the other to advertise job openings at all levels of instruction. – Professional Development: Through the chapter structure. and current events and also work with the Goethe Institut to disseminate information about its summer study programs. materials. we disseminate various materials to support the study of German. a constituent member of the Joint National Committee for Language/National Council for Languages and International Studies (our Washington DC-based advocacy coalition). – Outreach: AATG is an allied organization of the Modern Language Association. Perhaps we can dedicate more of our energy and efforts to meeting these challenges together. and the Delta Epsilon Phi– National German Honor Society for secondary students. Appendix The Foreign Language Standards Collaborative consists of AATF: AATG: AATI: AATSP: ACL: ACTFL: ACTR: ATJ: NCJLT : CLASS: CLTA: American Association of Teachers of French American Association of Teachers of German American Association of Teachers of Italian American Association of Teachers of Spanish & Portuguese American Classical League American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language American Council of Teachers of Russian Association of Teachers of Japanese National Council of Japanese Language Teachers Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools Chinese Language Teachers Association . The value placed by the public on the language. and Internationaler Deutschlehrerverband. Seventy-seven years have passed since the founding of AATG.290 Helene Zimmer-Loew programs. the Foreign Language Standards Collaborative. and cultures of the German-speaking countries has vacillated throughout that period as reflected in student enrollments. the National Federation of Modern Language Teachers (publishers of the Modern Language Journal) and an organizational member of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. The concerns of AATG’s founders and the problems the association faces today appear to be quite similar. literatures. since the need for cooperation at all levels and with all those who support the study of German and other languages has never been greater. 2002 Maintaining the Momentum from High school to College: Report and Recommendations. 2002 Cherry Hill/New Jersey: American Association of Teachers of German. Klenze. Die Unterrichtspraxis 29/2: 253–261. Magid Associates 2001 Das Bild Deutschlands in der amerikanischen Öffentlichkeit. Die Unterrichtspraxis 35/1: 1–14. Magid Associates. Richard and Elizabeth Welles 2000 Foreign Language Enrollments in United States Institutions for Higher Education. Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century.Meeting the Challenge: The Future of German Study in the United States 291 References Frank N. Yonkers/New York: American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language.gov/NCES/pubs/pj/p97003. 1999 Lawrence/KS: Allen. New York: Frank N.al.ed.pdf. Frank N. . Byrnes. http://nces. Andress. Magid Associates. New York: Frank N. — National Standards in Foreign Language Project. Critical Issues: The Strategic Plan for the American Association of Teachers of German. Draper. American Association of Teachers of German Newsletter 37/2: 7–12. Lynne 2002 Special Report – Maintaining the Momentum: The Transition from High School to College. Magid Associates 2002 The Importance of Learning German as a Foreign Language: An Executive Summary.html. Projections of Education Statistics to 2007 1997 Washington DC: NCES. Heidi 1996 The Future of German in American Education: A Summary Report. ADFL Bulletin 31/2: 22–29. Reinhard et. Camillo 1928 The American Association of Teachers of German. Brod. The German Quarterly 1/1: 3–6. Tatlock. http://www.org/member_services/critical_issues.aatg. Jamie and June Hicks 2002 Foreign Language Enrollments in Public Secondary Schools. Fall 1998. Fall 2000. . Haas 1999). For a long time. To William Labov we owe the helpful method of distinguishing between apparent-time and real-time analysis of language change (see Labov 1994. 1. Diese Fallstudien – von denen hier zwei etwas näher beleuchtet werden – lassen ganz unterschiedliche Entwicklungen in der Lebenszeit eines Sprechers erkennbar werden. Der Beibehaltung und behutsamen Wandlung im Sprachgebrauch einer schweizerdeutschen Sprecherin steht der beinahe komplette Verlust der deutschen Sprachkompetenz einer Niederdeutsch-Sprecherin gegenüber. Für die Rekonstruktion dieser Wandlungsprozesse in realer Zeit wird die Methode des Re-Recordings präsentiert – der erneuten Aufnahme von Sprechern. Only in the last few decades has the actual process of change in spoken every-day language come into focus. Problems in observing and describing language change The determination of the means and results of language change is one of the foremost pursuits of linguistic research. questions surrounding this issue have only been examined by means of written material. . auf empirischen Wege: Es werden Sprachbiographien von deutschstämmigen Amerikaner(inne)n aus Wisconsin nachgezeichnet. cf. the re-recording of speakers enframed in lifetime-studies will be described. wie Sprachwandel beobachtet und beschrieben werden kann. As a fundamental means of eliciting this useful material. Erste Ergebnisse der zu Grunde liegenden linguistischen Analysen werden in Tabellen dargestellt. With the following two examples.German in Wisconsin: Language Change and Loss Peter Wagener Zusammenfassung Der Aufsatz nähert sich der Frage. Bailey et al. I will show how the language biographies of individual speakers can be used for systematic observation of language changes. die in früheren Tonaufnahme-Aktionen in Wisconsin bereits einmal erfasst wurden (hier: 1968 und 2001). 1991. observed over long periods of time. Dane County. as examples of the comparative linguistic material. The couple’s language was Swiss German. student in Madison..) The following excerpts of recordings taken in 1968 and 2001 present. two Wenker sentences and a narrative on the slaughtering of pigs.. female. (The daughter confided that they. she married there in the late 1920s and taught her husband – a Swiss – his first bits of English. G. then grad. Example 1: Wenker sentences 4 and 5 1968 L = Interview: Brian Lewis.1.294 Peter Wagener 2. Immigrating from Switzerland to Wisconsin as a toddler. She lives in “America’s Little Switzerland” in southern Wisconsin. Dane County. G. Two case studies: Language biographies 2. female. WI L: (…) der gute alte Mann ist mit dem Pferde durchs Eis gebrochen G: de alte L: und in das kalte G: Mann isch mit dem äh Rosse durs Iesch durchebroche L: Wasser gefallen er ist vor vier oder G: un in das chalt Wasser kchfalle L: sechs Wochen gestorben G: er isch äh vier oder sechs Woche zrück gschtoorwe 2001 W = Interview: Peter Wagener G = Speaker VG. WI G = Speaker VG. but with their children they spoke only English. experienced their parents’ Swiss German as a kind of secret language in which they were not supposed to take part. as children. WI W: (…) the good old man has broken through the ice with his horse G: de alt W: and has fallen into the cold G: Ma * isch durche Ies durchebroche mit m Roß W: water mhm * he died four or six G: and isch in des chalte Wasser rinnekiet W: weeks ago G: oh er isch drieä * drie oddr vier Woche zrück gschtoorba . Language maintenance and dialectal change First I would like to introduce Vreni. Dane County. G.* e Choa dät se schiässe G: un des Sau well * e Sau channt die au schiässe un danach dät se steche G: se chann gue blüete * W: G: und was hat man dann gemacht? mit dem Fleisch? W: ja G: ja * mit hei da * Metzger ka eine wo mer do e Lüüt des goe ushelfe (…) W: und was für Würscht? G: was für ne Gwürscht? Jaa * äh * just * ich chant * W: mhm nicht G: eifach a Wurscht * me hett nett verschiedene Würscht kho * nn W: von dem Blut eine? na? G: na-a-a Blotwürscht? Nä-ä-ä * no-o T: Blotwürscht .(LAUGHING) das isch gruusig * by me * for mi isch es G: gruusig * 3 * jaha * mir hett im Wintr immer * hett mir kmetzgert * un G: hett e Choa kmetzgert un des * e Sau * ähm mau. female. G.sterilisiert 2001 W = Interview: Peter Wagener G = Speaker VG.German in Wisconsin: Language Change and Loss 295 Example 2: Slaughtering of pigs 1968 G = Speaker VG.. female. WI G: (…) äh * wann ma hett weller ne Schwien metzker *2* hoi. Dane County..* heit sies G: mittr er Nacht so vor (??)schlache * heits kstoche mitm Messer * und G: danach hett ma dann müesse * Wassr * kchoche bis s kchochend isch un G: hetts Messer (…) G: un da * Würscht * hett ma au a mache loe * hett ma upr cha in Huus un G: hett me mache lo * und hett sa * ähm * zimmerröcht hett ma au sauzi G: kmacht * und die andere hett ma in Steihawwe tuen und hett Schmutz heiß G: kmacht un drüberglaat oddr de Gläseren steri. WI T = Daughter von VG G: (…) oh Schwei. were both deaf. It is a re-recording of a speaker Jürgen Eichhoff had previously interviewed in 1968. Although she understands German well.). For that reason. except for the renewed questioning and translation of comparative texts (Wenker sentences etc. told me that in her childhood the change from Low German to English took place when the children started school. where she maintains everyday communication with a number of Swiss German speakers.296 Peter Wagener W: ja? G: ( LAUGHING ) nä-ä * ja * det äh * I thi.miene mei Muätter * but * n i deach * nä-ä * tätn T: Oma mit Dad G: Sies esse? The code-switching in the end is effected by the interference of the daughter. they had learned to lip-read German – but not English. This situation can often be observed. and usually leads to a complete abandonment of German by the children. BUT IN ENGLISH ) W: mhm mhm mhm mhm G: I think my * mi husb. who has by now lost . We generally find a vast variety of motives to either keep speaking German or to give it up. it becomes very clear how few changes are indicated in Vreni’s language. Switching between German and English is still as normal for her as it has been from childhood on. It was a necessary means of comunication within the family as long as the aunts lived.now ( STUTTERING ) but äh * I think T: ( INCOMPREHENSIBLE. Manitowoc County. was an exception: while two aunts of the speaker. Today she resides in a nursing home.2. Comparing the two recordings. who is present as well. The following excerpt of a transcript of this conversation displays an interesting switch from Low German to Standard German. 2. Language loss My second example will illustrate the scope encompassed by the reality of language change: Anna from Manitowoc County at Lake Michigan.. This case. Her conditions of communication have stayed relatively stable. however.* mi Moa glaub i hetts noch * gesse * I think so W: mhm mhm mhm ähm G: mei Ma. the speaker kept her German – Low German in this case – along with English. This woman from R. who were living with the family. This interview has been conducted primarily in English. the old communicative rule here upheld. German in Wisconsin: Language Change and Loss 297 most of her abilities in Low German. then Professor of German at UW at Madison H = Speaker AH. the text about pig-slaughter has been cut after the sentences. (Here. female. WI E: (…) der gute alte Mann ist mit dem Pferd durchs Eis gebrochen H: de ool E: und in das kalte Wasser gefallen H: Keerl is mit de Peerd inne Ies rinnefallen E: er ist vor vier oder sechs Wochen H: un is inne koole Woter rinnefallen E: gestorben H: nach veier odder ses Wochen is hei dood bleben 2001 W = Interview: Peter Wagener H = Speaker AH.Feerd that would be the same thing ja I think W: would you say Feerd or Peerd? is mit dem Pferd *2* er ist H: so that’s what I’d say Feerd ja W: durchs Eis gebrochen mhm mhm und H: is in de Ies falle is dörch de Ies falle W: ins kalte Wasser gefallen und ins kalte Wasser gefallen * and H: is what? W: fallen into the cold water mhm H: un is äh un is * in de äh kool woter falln . female. WI W: (…) der gute alte Mann ist mit dem Pferd durchs Eis gebrochen H: de * de W: mhm mit H: ool Keerl is * in *2* de lake fallen durch dat Ei. Manitowoc County.. R.durch dat Ies W: dem Pferd H: oh mit * mit de * Feerd * horses *2* mit de *5* I don’t know W: H: what that will be in High German and Ge. R.and Plattdütsch either * mit de W: mh Feerd or Peerd? H: f.* f.) Example 1: Wenker sentences 4 and 5 1968 E = Interview: Jürgen Eichhoff.. Manitowoc County. WI W: Du bist noch nicht groß genug. WI H: (…) se se * bri bringe de Schwien * rute * un denn äh stäke sei s inne H: * in de neck *2* in dat throat * un denn *3* mutt dat Blaut rutekomme * H: un denn hänge de Schwien up * un denn cut * äh cut de * cut de Schwien H: open in de front * and and and * see I get myself mixed up * un denn H: nehme se alle de insides rute * un denn nehme se de insides * odder * se H: sei cleane de all * inside out * und denn * äh * schaffe se dat meat all H: ab * und denn make dei * Wust out of dat . female. female.298 Peter Wagener W: er ist vor vier oder sechs Wochen gestorben H: he died about * die I * hei W: mhmmhm H: is dood bleewe onjefähr veier odder sechs Wochen vorher Example 2: Wenker sentence 16 1968 E = Interview: Jürgen Eichhoff H = Speaker AH. female.. R.. Manitowoc County. Manitowoc County. R. WI E: Du bist noch nicht groß genug. WI H: (…) denn wenn de Dach kome dee * denn müsste sei de Schwien rutegriepe H: * un * un un * denn müsste er mit de Äxt vör de Kopp schloan * denn H: hewwest de Butchermetze nohme un hewwet se inne Genick rinnestoke * dat H: Blaut rutelope kill * un dat Blaut hewwet se bruukt tom Blautwust maken 2001 H = Speaker AH. (…) H: du bist no nich groot * enough *3* W: H: du * du bist no nicht groß enough * ja du bist no nicht groß enough Example 3: Slaughtering of pigs 1968 H = Speaker AH.. Manitowoc County. (…) H: du bist no nich groot nouch (…) 2001 W = Interview: Peter Wagener H = Speaker AH. R.. female. R. Manitowoc County. of course. within a time frame of up to 53 years. we are pursuing the aim of examining selected phenomena of language change in different varieties of spoken German in real time. these renewed recordings? What do they forecast for research in language change? It is helpful to examine dialectal and regional spoken varieties of Germanspeaking migrants – their language biographies. Subject to this research are changes in the speech of the individual. in the form of a partial loss of language competence. The presented excerpt displays the lexical gaps. 2002). Analyzing real time change: The method of re-recording Still there remains a question: What is the motivation for. sound recordings of the main German basic dialects. With these methods. such as phonetics/phonology. For comparison. and less among the phonological characters or even the suprasegmental characters of regional language. as to what happened in the meantime: how did the change. Wagener 1997. Thus. The basis of the data collection are sound recordings of German-speaking immigrants in Wisconsin from the 1940s and the 1960s. and relevance of. are used. 1999.German in Wisconsin: Language Change and Loss 299 To explicate the above situation more exactly: the behavior of the speaker in 2001 is determined by a great insecurity. come to pass? Researchers in the field of language change think they know how the reduction of language competence is effected. The material for this analysis is founded on a very effective methodical access of comparative analysis of historical and contemporary sound recordings. 3. The question now begged by the linguist is. The loss is believed to be stronger in the more open levels of language analysis (such as the lexic) and much weaker in the more closed ones. as well as phenomena of social language change within the language communities. That means that the data the analysis is based on has been gathered by revisiting speakers interviewed in earlier sound recording-campaigns (cf. as well as sound recordings of dialect speakers from formerly German areas in Eastern Europe (“Flüchtlinge”). at first sight it can be confirmed that there are more changes in these areas. the changes in language use. and substance and system in an English-speaking environment. part of the Institute for German Language in Mannheim/Germany (see Knetschke and Sperlbaum . and therefore contains several hesitations and interruptions in the translation of the sentences. These recordings are archived in the Archives of Spoken German. ids-mannheim. when applicable. but otherwise communicates primarily in English. but on the comparison of indices representing the dialect level and the nonstandard level of different speech samples of single speakers. while the daughter is exclusively monolingual. American citizenship. first generation – Frequently both languages and citizenships. in turn. and disorderly variation before their disappearance. We know far less about the change and. second generation – English. . and at best. German passport. the loss of a language during the lifetime of one individual speaker.de/DSAv). online www. Their children. This model has consistently been used over the years and observes that the first generation was still completely German-speaking. however. 1999. Language competency is usually coupled with a corresponding change of citizenship over generations: – German and English. only isolated features are measured. Hans is bilingual: he speaks German with his wife. The most common pattern of loss of German in north America is the conversion or shift from generation to generation.300 Peter Wagener 1983. conversion. Examples from the present like this one are commonplace. In the forefront of the analysis is the verification of recent hypotheses of research in language change. who came to Wisconsin in the early 1970s. Tests with data of interview sequences confirm this. There seems. Thus my survey on individual language change is based not on the analysis of developments of isolated features. For all features included in the survey. I can determine a coefficient (of measure) which is modified only very slightly by the variation of single features. The dilemma in tracking this change is that there is no universal procedure for doing so. through the combination of single values. Of his children. are monolingual even in competence. a brewer. Indicative of this trend is the example of Hans from Ansbach/Bavaria. and loss. For example. while bilinguality usually marked the second generation. a simplified grammatical structure. 2002). third generation. and rendering them commensurate (for more detailed information on the measuring procedure and more examples see Wagener 1997. a solution at hand. Very little is actually known about the concrete processes of language change. and the actual switch of languages occured in the third generation. it is postulated that disappearing varieties of German show a loss of lexical options. particularly amongst imigrants of the 1960s and ’70s placed in university and corporate environments. This can be verified especially in the present. the son is bilingual as well. Haas and Wagener 1992. The data here graphically presented may give an indication of what kind of results may be drawn from real time analyses like these. Vreni 1968 and 2001 Dialect level: Percentage of all features – Place: G. Results in figures Applied to comparisons of various time periods.German in Wisconsin: Language Change and Loss 301 4. Niebaum 1977. (WS = Wenker Sentences. who largely lost her competence after three decades. Streiff 1915 and Lewis 1968) are marked as the most salient features for Schwyzertütsch by these authors. 1978b. Seymour 1970. and in which way the tendencies recorded on the tapes (and in small excerpts given in the transcripts) can be verified. They are compared in figure 2. Wisc. represented by tape recordings in 1968 and 2001. indices which have been determined for all nonstandard features can be related to each other. NAR = narrative parts of the interview) 2001 . The indices of all features (here taken from Winteler 1876. Summarizing the results. 100 95 WS 90 NAR 85 80 75 70 65 60 55 1968 50 Fig. in this example between the speaker of Schwyzertütsch. Stellmacher 1981) are salient features as well. who maintains her dialectal competence over her lifetime. we can clearly identify discrepancies in language loss. 1978a. Dane County.. The indices of all features of the Low German speaker of Manitowoc (here taken from Lauf 1988. and the speaker of Low German. They are compared in figure 1. 1. to concentrate on explicitly observable processes of change regarding individual speakers. 2. The more reconstrucions of individual cases can be related to each other – based on identical theoretical and methodical prerequisites of observation – the more clearly will regularities show. Conclusion As long as research in language change has limited itself to. These possibilities result from an effort towards further findings . and thus mechanisms be reconstructed. Wisc..302 Peter Wagener 100 90 WS 80 NAR 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 1968 0 Fig. Thus. Manitowoc County. exemplified by case studies. the potentiality of a cohesive description and explanation of the process of language change in detail was limited and often did not reach very far. In this way. testing its models of interpretation for the process of change on isolated phenomena or on small amounts of material. Anna 1968 and 2001 Dialect level: Percentage of all features – Place: R. within the scope of extendible “speaker’s linguistics” (cf. NAR = narrative parts of the interview) 2001 5. Possibilities to empirically reconsider and support theoretical assumptions will then result. language variations – at first applied to individual cases – can be described in statu nascendi. it seems promising. (WS = Wenker Sentences. Macha 1991). respectively. Another supportive technique often used in recent linguistic studies is the simulation of time periods.). nolens volens written sources have been used. in order to compare it to the current state of development. mechanisms and results of language change. there have arisen different ways to register the language as manifested in the past. Guy. Language Variation and Language Change 3: 241–264. Knetschke. 125–144. vol. but the process itself has often been neglected. 2. . Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. Kamm und Eulenspiegel. been directed primarily toward longer periods of time. Tübingen: Niemeyer. Tom Wikle. References Bailey. often without regard to their reliability. Such relativist systems are recruited from descriptions of medieval realisations of languages (such as Old Saxon or MHG). Georg Wenker‘s early elicitations to the “Deutscher Sprachatlas” for an allotment of time in the late 19th century. In accordance with the premise. Jan Tillery and Lori Sand 1991 The apparent Time Construct. In: Wolfgang Schindler and Jürgen Untermann (eds.e. This is predicated on the assumption that language variation can serve as a model for different phases of a process of language change. Edeltraud and Margret Sperlbaum 1983 Das Deutsche Spracharchiv im Institut für deutsche Sprache. Mannheim. that the development of a language is made accessible through the help of several synchronic cuts. Also. as a rule. and here linguists’ attention has. Using these sources. a more comprehensive and accurate picture of language change and loss may emerge. For that reason. Haas. If we systematically pursue the method of re-recording to obtain material from real situations as a basis of linguistic research of language change in real time. This effort is one of the central concerns of linguistics. Walter and Peter Wagener (eds. I believe that we need no longer depend on such methods.) 1992 Gesamtkatalog der Tonaufnahmen des deutschen Spracharchivs. Walter 1999 Sprachwandel in apparent time und in real time. Within German dialectology. the tertium comparationis has also been taken from i. linguists could describe the results of language change. Grippe. Haas. research is increasingly trying to access spoken material for reference.German in Wisconsin: Language Change and Loss 303 on the conditions. 1978a Linguistic Change: Examples from the Verb System of the Westfalian Dialect of Nienberge (near Münster). 1978b Linguistic Change in the Westfalian Dialect of Nienberge: Preliminary Investigation Based on Comparison of Two Versions of a Text. Festschrift für A. Lisse. Lewis. Raphaela 1988 Veränderungen im Langvokalsystem nordniedersächsischer Ortsdialekte zwischen 1879 und 1986. Varietäten des Deutsch: Regionalund Umgangssprachen. In: Gerhard Stickel (ed.304 Peter Wagener Labov. Düsseldorf: Schwann. Jürgen 1991 Der flexible Sprecher. Winteler. Oxford: Blackwell. A. University of Wisconsin at Madison. (eds. Lauf. Tazayery et al. Wagener. Frauenfeld. Kaplowitt (ed. Catharina 1915 Die Laute der Glarner Mundarten. Peter 1997 Nach 40 Jahren: Zu individuellen Veränderungen der gesprochenen Sprache.). 1968 The Phonology of the Glarus Dialect in Green County. 1970 Linguistic Change: Examples from the Westfalian Dialect of Nienberge. Pittsburgh. 305–328. Köln: Böhlau. William 1994 Principles of Linguistic Change. Richard K. In: M. Macha. A. dissertation. Germanic Studies in Honor of Springer. Jahrbuch des Vereins für niederdeutsche Sprachforschung 111: 103–114.). Eine Panelstudie zum Wandel des gesprochenen Deutsch in realer Zeit. Berlin. WORD 26/1: 32–46. Untersuchungen zu Sprache und Sprachbewußtsein rheinischer Handwerksmeister. In: Stephen J. 291–307. 2002 German Dialects in Real–Time Change.D. Seymour. Leipzig/Heidelberg. Düsseldorf: Schwann. . Journal of Germanic Linguistics 14/3: 271–285. Jost 1876 Die Kerenzer Mundart des Kantons Glarus in ihren Grundzügen dargestellt. Ph. Niebaum. 237–248. Streiff. 1999 Niederdeutsch im Wandel. Dieter 1981 Niedersächsisch. Hill. Stellmacher. Hermann 1977 Westfälisch. Brian A. Jahrbuch des Vereins für niederdeutsche Sprachforschung 122: 45–66.). Language and the Creative Mind . . Language and the semiotics of culture What activates the linguist’s mind. 1. als wichtigsten Effekt dieser globalen Ästhetik betrachtet die Autorin nicht etwa die sprachlichen Auswirkungen der Anglizismen an sich. any social practice. die durch englische Berufsbezeichnungen signalisiert wird. and the fact that it is articulated like a language (cf. die sich von den Beengungen ihrer Umwelt tatsächlich befreien können. deren kulturelle Entfremdung und die dadurch entstehende soziale Polarisierung. . Es wird gezeigt. Irmengard Rauch calls this the “languageinlay in semiotic modalities” (1999: 82). Kristeva 1975: 47). Im Mittelpunkt der Analyse steht der Aspekt der Verführung. or the constraint affecting. this reflects both the inherent alliance of linguistics and semiotics and the postulate that language underlies all semiosis (ibid. dadurch entsteht ein neues System von Überzeugungen und sozialen Verhaltensmustern. Auch durch die Flexibilität. dass englische Produktnamen und Werbestrategien eine globale Ästhetik repräsentieren. die durch Anglizismen der Alltagssprache bejaht wird. werden alte Hierarchien verwischt. jedoch profitieren nur die.The Seductive Aesthetics of Globalization: Semiotic Implications of Anglicisms in German Prisca Augustyn Zusammenfassung Diese semiotische Analyse verbindet einige Anglizismen im deutschen Kontext mit grundlegenden Aspekten der Globalisierung. sondern die Entstehung einer sich an der globalen Ästhetik orientierenden Elite. 86). what activates the semiotist’s mind is the law governing. are the observable regularities of language. according to the philosopher Jaques Bouveresse (cf. Rauch 1999: 32). 1. Reality manifests itself in those worlds – described by Uexküll as Umwelten (subjective-self worlds) with which sense perception surrounds all living beings like a bubble – clearly delineated but invisible to outside observers. cf.). are signs. which in turn has its existence through the particular self. man is to be understood as a process of communication (Sebeok 1977: 181). is not to be found “outside. and thought. he speaks of functional circles (Funktionskreise) of individual experience. Uexküll describes the self as psychophysically suited to its autoambience. Lange-Seidl 1977. […] Of particular interest to Uexküll was the fact that signs are of prime importance in all aspects of life processes” (Uexküll. indeed man himself is a sign or. The self as a process of communication In the theoretical vacuum of non-verbal semiosis (cf. 1. which has neither beginning nor end. action. all phenomena. signs and sign processes are the only true reality “and the laws under which the signs and sign processes communicate themselves to our mind […] are the only true laws of nature” (ibid.2. the non-self.” in infinite space. (Uexküll. Thure 1987: 148) For Jakob von Uexküll. as the late Thomas Sebeok said. It was Sebeok (1979) who first recognized Uexküll’s contribution to general semiotics. Thure von Uexküll explains the model of functional circles as elements of the subjective self-world which form an ultimate reality: Reality. and which is filled with a nebulous cloud of elementary particles. including language. Uexküll’s work “was devoted to the problem of how living beings perceive their environment and how this perception determines their behavior.308 Prisca Augustyn 1. distorted images of the external world created by our mind. A similar conjecture can be found in Jacob von Uexküll’s theory of autoambience. . or Umwelt in the original German (1940). Rauch 1999). Thure 1987: 147). nor is it to be found “inside. to which all is subjected and from which everything is deduced.” within ourselves and the indistinct. Uexküll’s functional circles Jakob von Uexküll’s theory of autoambience (Umwelt ) reverses the understanding of reality in the traditional philosophy of science. but the bifurcation and polarization of human experience.3. because “it is the teleology of language change […]. has created nature” (Uexküll. . and man who not only in his art and science. And conversely. whose most important cultural consequences are not the corruption of the language or the erosion of national identity. which is most effectively expressed in the dictum that the self and the universe are reciprocals (cf. of why ‘symbols grow’ (2: §332).4. This primitive sign relationship lies at the basis of the mechanism of forming belief through continuous semiosis. the purpose of this chapter is to analyze the ascendancy of Anglicisms from a semiotic perspective by describing some scenarios associated with the upsurge of Anglicisms that link the linguistic evidence with the effects of globalization. the continuous sign-interpreting process perpetuates the community and identity is established by sharing in this continuous process. Language change. the challenge is in finding appropriate descriptive techniques that characterize the connections. the functional circles and the sign relationship self and non-self as well as the notion of community. Rather than giving more examples for the rise of Anglicisms in German. 1. so that the language itself functions as a source of experience. identity. which has created man. and language-change A semiotic perspective suggests that signs are constantly translated into other signs as a continuous process of the sign-interpreting community. This most primitive of sign relationships “results in a strangely reciprocal relationship between nature. laws. Thure 1987: 149). The fundamental notions of Uexküll’s theory of autoambience. In particular. therefore. Shands and Meltzer 1977: 89). play an important role in describing the modes of seduction (section 2). must always be placed in the context of this continuum. but also in his experiential universe. and constraints relating the verbal to the non-verbal. Through this analysis Anglicisms can be interpreted as cultural signs that invert the process of signification as means of expression for that which is experienced to something that is experienced as it is expressed. Self and non-self One of the fundamental notions in Uexküll’s theory of autoambience is the sign relationship self and non-self in which each is indicative of the other. Community. which semiotic method imparts to linguistics as a haunting legacy and challenge” (Rauch 1999: 59).The Seductive Aesthetics of Globalization 309 1. Similar images of uninhabited landscapes crop up in the context of planning our financial future by investing in all but boundless desires: The boat on which we sail across the ocean. with varied impact on the predicaments of different types of people. the horse on which we ride into the sunset far away from the confining reality of congested suburbs and cluttered apartments. “far away”. signifying endless possibilities of movement. It is not just that the condition of “staying put”. not to embark on voyages of discovery but primarily to escape the daily grind of the locality. Zygmunt Baumann describes the socio-psychological consequences of this change in the perception of time and space and the associated pattern and scale of social organization as follows: If the new exterritoriality of the elite feels like intoxicating freedom. While the English in phone bills and at train stations expresses where we could go. Our desires are no longer located at home. the German only reminds us of where we are. implying the sheer limitlessness of our desires. others are still separated by physical obstacles and temporal distances. drive into these endless horizons of nowhere in particular? In fact we might fall prey to the one or other illusion of a computer-generated image. It is in the hope of participating in an imaginary community outside of our limited territory that we wish to make global connections instead of Auslandsgespräche. Modes of seduction 2. but something that looks more like the Salt flats of Utah or the deserts of Arizona? Yes. limitless desires Why is the BMW in a commercial not typically driving through the Bayerischer Wald or the Alps. and ever more like prison – all the more humiliating for the obtrusive sight of the others’ freedom to move. though. While some can actually realize their desires “out there”. and yet that space becomes part of the non-self and is incorporated in our functional circles. but more and more in a space one only enters virtually. Endless horizons. the house on a deserted beach. but the German fascination with Italy is easily explained as the yearning for things Mediterranean. exudes the acrid odour of defeat. Why. being unable to move at one’s heart’s desire and being barred access to greener pastures. signals incomplete humanity and implies being .310 Prisca Augustyn 2. the occasional scenario takes the driver into the quaint scenery of an Italian village. the territoriality of the rest feels less like home ground. or buy tickets at the ticket counter rather than a Fahrkartenschalter.1. Jetzt. What was known as the local community used to be defined by the opposition “here” and “there”. concord “artificially produced” is the sole form of unity available. The “locality” in the new world of high speed is not what the locality used to be at a time when information moved only together with the bodies of its carriers. neither the locality. whether the same globalization manifests itself in different cultures. and a Now that transcends any locality and suggests the existence of a community of those who have the power to invest. (Bauman 2001: 14) This telegraphic phrase The Future. in the German context signifies this would-be community of interests outside of any locality but . the English slogan is impossible to translate in any other language. What is signified by the slogan of a large insurance company on German TV.? To be sure. the slogan is not to be translated as Die Zukunft.The Seductive Aesthetics of Globalization 311 cheated in the division of splendors life has to offer. Now.2. which no longer corresponds to the functional circles of all individuals inhabiting the same locality. Homogeneity now must be “hand-picked” from a tangled mess of variety through selection. must be seen as a form of symbolic unity that stems from the same estrangement with the local community. in the United States. If Anglicisms in German are interpreted as signs of a desire for a community outside the traditional infrastructures we inhabit. Now. (Bauman 1998: 23–24) The question arises. or more pleasurable) assortment of life tasks and solutions for life problems. what are the parallels in other cultures? For instance. a Together. more effective. separation and exclusion. Now. because it is not referring to the Future. nor the localized population has much in common with the “local community”. rather. or the Now of any language or any community in particular. Together. Common understanding can be only an achievement […] in strenuous competition with an indefinite number of other potentialities – all vying for attention and each promising a better (more correct. Together. 2. . The Future. Deprivation reaches deeper. the emergence of the planned community may be interpreted as an expression of the wish for new forms of unity. the Together. the gated community. Zusammen. all unity needs to be made. but instead it suggests the existence of a Future. The Future. and whether it manifests itself in similar ways. therefore. Together. eigenartig. die zwischen 1995 und 1999 am Samstag ab 16 Uhr bügelten oder ihre Wohnung putzten und dazu Melrose Place oder Beverly Hills 90210 schauten.” [‘Between 1995 and 1999. there were probably around 3. It is this subjective self-world. tut mir leid…”? While this may qualify as the same speech act. whose functional circles form what Uexküll explained as the ultimate reality. For some. The infusion of such adjectives and interjections in one’s personal language is indicative of functional circles that incorporate localities other than the immediate locality of the speaker. And he adds a few pages later “Mit dem Rund-um-die-Uhr-Programm von MTV und Viva ist eine neue Form von Weltzusammenhang entstanden. As Florian Illies remarks in his book Generation Golf describing the predicaments of now thirty-something year old Germans. it is what the speaker signifies about himself that is different. be they virtual or real. the place they inhabit becomes meaningless as they cut themselves free from the locality by creating systems of meaning whose emphasis is on an aesthetic disassociated from the reality of the locality. “Es gab wahrscheinlich rund 3. or Sebeok’s “man as a process of communication” (1977: 181). kurios signifying a different quality of strangeness than all the German near-equivalents? Again. die Orientierung bietet. weil man jederzeit einsteigen und auch jederzeit wieder aussteigen kann. unfortunately. the difference is in what the speaker signifies about him. Is he who prefers to say “schon ’n bisschen strange” rather than komisch.3.5 Millionen weiblicher Singles.5 million single females who were watching Melrose Place or Beverly Hills 90210 on Saturday afternoons while cleaning their appartments or ironing their clothes.’] (Illies 2001: 128). tut mir leid…” Is a person who steps on someone’s toes on a bus really saying the same thing as Entschuldigung ‘I am sorry’ or Verzeihung ‘I am sorry’ when he says “Sorry. which is. 2. or any other elements of this superimposed space of information that are devoid of spatial dimensions. It expresses our desire for a community.or herself and his or her particular non-self or autoambience to which the self is psychophysically suited.” [‘The 24 hour programs on MTV and Viva have . “Sorry. recall Peirce’s definition of man himself as a sign. a cultural continuum as our experience in our local context becomes ever more fragmented. not available to us – but which we would whish to participate in. seltsam.312 Prisca Augustyn part of our non-self. trim and “reengineer” itself to suit. Sales Manager. discontinuous reinvention of institutions. . “cheap comunication floods and smothers memory rather than stabilizing it” (Bauman 1998: 16). While the new would-be community is encoded in the singular temporality of the endless loop. the new flexibility is deceptive.4. then steam forward to realize the new design” (Sennett 1998: 49). the title Team Assistant in German companies implies flexibility and responsibilities of equal importance as those of all other members of the respective team. as Baumann says. The list is endless. becomes more and more meaningless. while some gain power and flexibility with a new title for a more indistinct job profile. English job titles in the German context signify power.’] (ibid. because it is possible to enter and exit any time. others lose influence and find themselves ever more locked up in the same old tasks. While English titles signify power. 133). precisely because most power is exercised by the units who manage to remain the sources of other units’ uncertainty. flexible specialization of production. Account Manager to name a few. and because “the manipulation of uncertainty is the essence and the primary stake in the struggle for power and influence inside every structured totality” (Bauman 1998: 34). 2. In analogy with the previous observations. The same polarization of experience manifests itself in the professional world. The opacity of hierarchies has led to new methods of control. “Wir sind jetzt alle Product Managers ” The German professional world increasingly prefers job titles in English as job categories are becoming more amorphous. the professional world behind steel and glass becomes another culture-free zone that follows a global aesthetic representative of another would-be community as many different types of jobs fall into categories like Product Manager. and concentration without centralization of power” (Sennett 1998: 47). because it “became clear to many business leaders […] that only in the highly paid fantasy life of consultants can a large organization define a new business plan. Richard Sennett tells us in The Corrosion of Character that “the system of power which lurks in modern forms of flexibility consists of 3 elements.The Seductive Aesthetics of Globalization 313 brought about a new form of global cohesion which offers continuity. the locality. again. While Sekretärin ‘secretary’ has definite connotations of subordination. job announcements in any German newspaper attest to this. Its “objectivity” is woven entirely from the friable threads of subjective judgements. Jil Sander’s supportive audience is precisely the exterritorial aesthetic community. formerly known as Heidemarie Siline. search t nicht bei Jil Sander” Here is a well-known quote: “Mein Leben ist eine giving-story. Für den Erfolg entscheidend war mein coordinated concept.” [My life is a giving-story. we find a characterization of what he calls “die Generation der Lebensästheten. Zygmunt Baumann links this would-be community with Kant’s notion of Aesthetic Community. “Wer Lady isches will. Die audience hat das alles supported. another would-be community with no other foundation to rest on but some shared agreement expressed in their aesthetic judgment. the community in question is brought forth and consumed in the “warm circle” of experience. Her “giving story” begins by giving herself a name that cuts her free from the cultural baggage of her origin. is one of the most ambitious creators and promoters of an international fashion aesthetic. (Bauman 2001: 65) Correspondingly. Her intended audience is.5. a new elite that is independent of any locality.314 Prisca Augustyn 2. . whose 1996 interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Magazin is the source of this illustrious quote. the audience who supports her. though the fact that they are woven together colours those judgements with a veneer of objectivity.] It is no coincidence that the German fashion designer Jil Sander. about which he says: Just as beauty boils down to artistic experience. as she tells us. and rather than to concern themselves with politics they prefer addressing issues such as: “Is the green bathroom cabinet an adequate expression of my personal life aesthetic or is it not?”] (Illies 2001: 60). die ein ganzes Leben lang am Gesamtkunstwek Ich [bastelt] und sich statt mit Politik lieber mit der Frage [beschäftigt]: ‘Ist der grüne Badezimmerschrank ein adäquater Ausdruck meines Lebensgefühls oder nicht?’” [‘the generation of lifestyle aesthetes who spend their entire lives creating their personality as an art object. and continues in a culture-free self image whose purpose is the promotion of a global aesthetic. The audience supported this. What was important for my success was my coordinated concept. in Florian Illies’s Generation Golf. To have someone else do the dirty work for you has never been less of a moral question than it is for us. the uncertainty about one’s future and one’s social standing (cf. the desire to follow a global aesthetic tends to polarize it. dass sich StudentenWGs einmal die Woche eine Putzfrau leisteten. Matthias Horx’s term “neoaristokratische Lebensform” [‘neo-aristocratic lifestyle’] is appropriately illustrated by Florian Illies’s Generation Golf : Ende der neunziger Jahre war es sogar schon soweit. He characterizes the escapees of modern societies by a comparison to the figure of Don Juan in Kierkegaard’s Either/Or. produces meaninglessness and social uncertainty for others. or rather. According to this conjecture. At the same time. (Illies 2001: 156) . As passions are volatile and short lived the aesthetic community is not one that strives for a common good or moves toward a final state or ideal. it is seduction. The secession of the successful: Don Juan’s aesthetic community Bauman speaks of the secession of the successful as a form of escapism primarily through personal taste and consumer behavior (2001: 50ff). the elite has chosen isolation by following a global aesthetic that frees them from the socio-political context of their locality. instead its raison d’être is never to be gratified in its constant search for satisfaction (cf.’]. Bauman 2001: 66).The Seductive Aesthetics of Globalization 315 3. Bauman 2001: 41– 42) in a fragmented local community. the constant perpetuation of desire and restless seduction that never moves toward a final state. “It is the norm breaking […] that is the main effect of temptation and the essence of seduction” (Bauman 2001: 130–131). temptation and seduction have replaced normative regulations as the principal means of system construction and social integration. The principal conclusion is that rather than homogenizing the human condition. What creates new systems of meaning for some. While some are freed from territorial constraints it degrades the locality. um in der gesparten Zeit Inline-Skating machen zu können. so wenig eine Frage der Moral wie für uns. As Pierre Bourdieu explained. [‘Towards the end of the nineties student roommates were already hiring people to clean their apartments so they could go inline-skating in the meantime. which Pierre Bourdieu has repeatedly described as permanent precarité. not possession they long for. andere für sich die Drecksarbeit machen zu lassen. to which others remain confined. take Mozart’s Don Giovanni if you wish. Nie war die Frage. Bis zur Kubakrise. We never made it to the Cuba Crisis. Alle Meinung und Emotion. the purpose of this paper was to show that the most important cultural consequences of these modes of seduction are not the corruption of the language or the erosion of national identity. dem Vietnamkrieg oder zu Willy Brandt haben wir es nie geschafft. die ein Mitglied der Generation Golf für Historie übrig hat. Und im nächsten begann man wieder mit dem Ende der Weimarer Republik. Die Moral. such cohesion depends crucially on early. we know nothing about what happened after World War II. Zu Bismarcks Deutschlandpolitik. And in the next school year. or Willy Brandt. [It seems as if the fixation on the Nazi-period in our history classes has lead to an uncomfortable imbalance. Napoleon oder dem Prager Frühling haben wir in der Regel weder Kenntnis noch eine Meinung. the Vietnam War. We have been taught that ethical questions arise whenever German expansionist fantasies have lead to catastrophes. Florian Illies (2001: 175) raises the following issue: Man hat den Eindruck. or the Prague Spring. education in – and memory of – culture. and without constant updating and interaction. ist auf die Nazi-Zeit gemünzt. wissen wir leider so gut wie nichts über die Zeit danach. but the bifurcation and polarization of human experience. once again. and strict.) If culture is defined as a process of communication. Napoleon.316 Prisca Augustyn As postulated in the beginning.]. dass die völlige Fixierung unseres Geschichtsunterrichts auf die Nazi-Zeit zu einer auffälligen Schieflage geführt hat. And because we went through the intricacies of the period between 1933 –1945 so many times. the following quote by Michael Benedikt is of crucial significance in the contemporary German context: “Social cohesion at any scale is a function of consensus. wenn es zu einer durch deutsche Großmachtträume verschuldeten Katastrophe kam. Und schon war das Schuljahr wieder vorbei.” (Michael Benedikt 1995: 41). (Illies 2001: 176) Florian Illies provocatively explains how the warped sense of history and the cultural memory of young Germans that seems forever anchored in the . in which the continuous sign-interpreting process perpetuates the community and establishes identity as collective experience. The final question to ask is why there is such a crowd of Don Juans in contemporary German society? (The term crowd is used here in lieu of “community”. Und weil wir so oft die Jahre von 1933 bis 1945 in allen ihren Verästelungen durchgenommen haben. And another school year was over. depends on forgetting and cheap communication. of shared knowledge. beginnt immer erst. history lessons. We have neither knowledge of nor the ability to form opinions of Bismarck’s Deutschlandpolitik. so haben wir jahrelang gelernt. Social flexibility. began with the end of the Weimar Republic. All opinions of and emotions my generation could have towards our history are linked to the Nazi-period. In this context. The Seductive Aesthetics of Globalization 317 Nazi-period inevitably makes them seek liberation in a global vision more than any other group of modern day Don Juans. UK: Polity Press. Michael 1995 On Cyberspace and Virtual Reality. indeed. and R. The purists’ preoccupation with the surface manifestations of language change seems like an inopportune distraction when the primary concern should be the cultural estrangement of a young generation and the social polarization of a society whose latent uncertainty is most adequately expressed in the title of Illies’s final chapter “Die Suche nach dem Ziel hat sich somit erledigt” [‘the quest for a final destination has become pointless after all. Cambridge: Polity Press. . a function of shared knowledge that depends on “constant updating and interaction. Zygmunt 1998 Globalization. UK: Polity Press. Technology and Society at the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences [IVA]). Cambridge: Harvard University Press. K. Seeking Safety in an Insecure World. their ultimate reality is the culture-free flexibility of an aesthetic community that depends on nothing more than the constant perpetuation of desire and restless seduction. Cambridge.) 1997 Ideas of Difference. Anglophilia has become an integral part of the subjective self-world of those who follow the attraction of global unity. Munro (eds. 2001 Community. The Human Consequences. Bourdieu. the German situation is one that is inevitably more precarious than any language purist may suspect. Stockholm. If what Michael Benedikt calls “social cohesion at any scale” is. Beck. Oxford: Blackwell. Pierre 1984 Distinction. References Baumann. Hetherington. and strict education in – and memory of – culture” (Michael Benedikt 1995: 41). Cambridge.’] (Illies 2001: 189). Benedikt. A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. New York: Columbia University Press. 2001 The Individualized Society. The corruption of the language per se must be understood as indicative of a precarious condition that has stopped questioning itself. Ulrich 1999 World Risk Society. early. In: Man and Information Technology (lectures from the 1994 international symposium arranged by the Committee on Man. 77–89. London: Macmillan. Hetherington and R. New York: Plenum Press. Sennett. Julia 1975 The system and the speaking subject. 10). McBride. Krampen. The Tell-tale Sign: A Survey of Semiotics. 147–179. Leipzig: Verlag von J. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Thure von 1987 The Sign Theory of Jakob von Uexküll. Bd. Harley C. (Studies in Semiotics 17) Lisse: The Peter de Ridder Press. 1977 A Perfusion of Signs. Sebeok. 45–55.A. Irmengard 1999 Semiotic Insights: The Data Do the Talking.Barth. Lisse: The Peter de Ridder Press. Trans.). and James D. 1979 The Sign and its Masters. In: K. Munro (eds. Martin et al. (eds. Ideas of Difference. Leftist Thought in Twentieth-Century America. Lange-Seidl. Classics of Semiotics. A Perfusion of Signs.). Jakob von 1940 Bedeutungslehre (Bios. Illies. In: Martin Krampen et al. Sebeok (ed. Abhandlungen zur theoretischen Biologie und ihrer Geschichte sowie zur Philosophie der organischen Naturwissenschaften. Heather 1997 The melancholy of the black widow. New York: Norton. Kristeva. David F. 147–179. Thomas A. In: Thomas A. Rauch. Oxford: Blackwell. Florian 2001 Generation Golf.) 1987 Classics of Semiotics. Uexküll.) 1975 The Tell-tale Sign: A Survey of Semiotics. . New York: Plenum Press. Austin: University of Texas Press.318 Prisca Augustyn Höpfl. Uexküll. (eds. 236–237. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Richard 1998 Achieving our Country. Sebeok. Thomas A. Richard 1998 The Corrosion of Character: the Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism. Annemarie 1977 Approaches to Theories of Non-verbal Signs. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Lisse: The Peter de Ridder Press. Shands.). Frankfurt: Fischer Kierkegaard. Søren [1994] Either/Or.). Princeton: Princeton University Press. Stephen and John Wiseman (eds. Sebeok (ed. Rorty. (ed. Swinson and Lillian Marvin Swinson. In: Thomas A.) 2000 Globalization and its Discontents. Meltzer 1977 Unexpected Semiotic Implications of Medical Inquiry. A. Kanak Sprak speist sich dabei aus so unterschiedlichen Quellen wie jugendlichem Slang. wie eine genuin transnationale Ästhetik die deutsche Sprache und damit Kultur neu imaginiert. So hat Migration als transnationales Phänomen die Bedingungen für neue Formen von Deutsch geschaffen. Language into literature. nicht-nationale und transnationale Sprachen und Codes auf innovative Weise aufeinander treffen. Something new emerges precisely where discordant notes turn into: language. wo Mißtöne werden: zu Sprachen. englischsprachigem Hip-Hop-Vokabular und rotwelschen und jiddischen Bruchstücken. Im Extremfall können diese Diskurse die in Deutschland bereits existierende kulturelle und sprachliche Heterogenität sogar verschleiern. werden der tatsächlichen Komplexität kultureller Entwicklungen und Verschränkungen vor Ort nicht gerecht. wo lokale und globale.Critically “Kanak”: A Reimagination of German Culture 1 Yasemin Yildiz Zusammenfassung Globalisierungsdebatten. Die Welt franst aus: Sprache(n) entstehen. norddeutschem Dialekt. Globalisierung verstärkt als Prozess transnationaler Interaktion zu verstehen. … Und in Deutschland? Deutschland franst im Innern aus. Damit wird die deutsche Sprache der Ort. The world frays: Language(s) emerge. … And in Germany? Germany frays on the inside. literarischer Hochsprache. Oliver (Oliver 1995: 1163) . ist es daher nötig. José F. Um die Situation der deutschen Sprache im Globalisierungszeitalter vollständiger zu erfassen und zu bewerten. die nur um Amerikanisierung und Homogenisierung kreisen. Sprache zu Literatur. nationale. Es entsteht genau dort Neues. Am Beispiel von Feridun Zaimoglus Kultbuch Kanak Sprak (1995) zeigt dieser Aufsatz. 18). if not alien. the voices that Zaimoglu creates in this manner are frequently at odds with each other. this critique is partially articulated through the appropriation of the highly derogatory term Kanake. Turkish-German writer Feridun Zaimoglu published a slim volume with the provocative title Kanak Sprak: 24 Mißtöne vom Rande der Gesellschaft [Kanak Speak: 24 discordant notes from the margins of society]. What is most striking about these monologues and in fact constitutes their most visceral provocation is their language. Islamic fundamentalist or transsexual. appears strange. the language of the text is strongly oral and deliberately unidiomatic. Far from being unified and homogenous. and at times offensive terms. he also acknowledges that he reworked the language and made conscious choices in its representation (Zaimoglu 1995: 15. . for instance. violence. These figures describe mainstream society and their own status within it in critical. garbage collector. Along with this claim to authenticity. it is to a large degree their language which underscores the force of the social commentaries. provocative. nor elsewhere in literature. Zaimoglu puts forward a powerful social and cultural critique of German society. though. or sexism – Kanak Sprak embraces these stereotypes in an exaggerated and defiant appropriation. With its language and attitude Kanak Sprak is the figurehead of a cultural phenomenon that has spread into multiple media. Rather than pointing to positive counterexamples to combat the negative associations of that term – such as criminality. instead they engage in trenchant social critiques.2 In this text. By transgressing the rules of language and the norms of the sayable. Yet. Frequently relying on violent. Introduction: The Kanak Sprak phenomenon In 1995. he has created a distinctive style and language that is neither found on the streets. in this text.320 Yasemin Yildiz 1. both in terms of content and style. Zaimoglu’s figures do not explicitly discuss language or comment on it. though. For the most part. an ethnic slur primarily directed at migrants from Turkey or those presumed to be from Turkey. and scatological imagery and obscure slang. obscene. As a result. Zaimoglu asserts that this language is based on the speech of young men he interviewed for the book. released their song “Sexy Kanake” a year before Kanak Sprak appeared – Zaimoglu’s book has been the most visible site of this appropriation. German. the monologues enact this critique and make it a material fact. The book does so in a series of monologues attributed to young men of Turkish background in Germany who occupy marginal and frequently abject social positions such as pimp. heroin addict.3 While others have also undertaken to redefine the slur – the hip hop group Fresh Familee. In its overall effect. comedy acts. more generally. It is a phenomenon which links minority representation to new aesthetic forms and formats and in particular turns to the German language as a crucial site of this representation. Striking about much of the German discourse on linguistic globalization is the fact that even where globalization is the framework of the discussion.5 Not all of these spin-offs shared the same anti-hegemonic thrust that characterizes Zaimoglu’s book. to the threat of cultural Americanization. Remarkably. linked to some kind of non-normative use of the German language. Kanakmän (Omurca 2002). so that “Kanake” turned back into the insult that it was before. thus testifying to the emergence of a cultural figure and form which agitates the “German” imagination at large. music. Kanak Sprak forces us to examine our understanding of globalization and how it should inflect the way we pose such questions as the “future of German”.6 In some cases. it is still frequently stuck in a deeply binary constellation of German vis-à-vis English. and Fear of a Kanak Planet (Loh and Güngör 2002). the various appropriations were produced both by minority and majority artists.4 Zaimoglu himself became a much sought after commentator for major papers such as Die Zeit and a frequent guest on TV talk shows. 2.Critically “Kanak”: A Reimagination of German Culture 321 Since the mid-1990s. What these various manifestations of the Kanak phenomenon share is the transgressive quality of their discourse. theater and video performances.8 This constellation is implicitly figured as the confrontation of two clear-cut . numerous artistic (re)appropriations of the Kanak figure and versions of the language have taken shape and resulted in literary anthologies. and cartoons with titles such as Kanaksta (Lottmann 1999). ethnic German authors simply reproduced the stereotypes without any critical twist. as in the case of the popular “dictionaries” concocted by Michael Freidank (2001). At the same time. this phenomenon goes beyond a single author and media star. films. articulating an anti-assimilationist critical stance towards mainstream German culture and politics (Kanak Attak 1999). The issue of language and globalization tends to be understood as referring to the dominance of English and.7 As this broad-based and heterogeneous appropriation testifies. the loosely organized network Kanak Attak formed. In fact. Bringing in globalization discourses: Against the primacy of the Americanization paradigm This foregrounding of language in the articulation of marginalized social identities makes Kanak Sprak in particular a very suggestive text for thinking about the future of the German language. exclusively focusing on the threat of Americanization has the effect of mistakenly imagining German as otherwise unchanged and unchangeable. would recognize that this is the word for cell phone.11 Is it then “English” which puts pressure on “German” or “German” which borrows from other languages for its own purposes? I suggest that the most important question we need to ask in this respect is: what desires does the use or evocation of English satisfy for German speakers? What does “Americanization” look like from this vantage point? What functions does it fulfill? The interaction between languages does not take place unilaterally. technological developments and the effects of large scale migrations are among the factors that have changed the parameters of cultural interaction. The various spoken and written forms of present-day German thus interact with multiple influences. globalization can precisely not be understood in exclusively national terms. who didn’t also know contemporary German.322 Yasemin Yildiz national languages or at least one national language (German) with another. As is well known. Therefore. National boundaries no longer exclusively determine the participants of that interaction or the participating cultural channels and products (Appadurai 1996. . but no English speaker.9 Yet. Besides multiple “new Englishes” (Crystal 1997: 130–134). see also Hardt and Negri 2000). Instead we need to recognize that it is a living language which continues evolving and which registers change. we need to alter our framework to register fully the processes in which the German language is involved. Furthermore. globally functioning. as well as other languages. national language (American English).10 It may lead to the ideological fantasy of an organic and pure German which has remained untouched. What can we make of a ubiquitous word in German such as Handy for instance? This word seems to derive from English. Even the interaction with what we facilely call “English” occurs in a more complex manner than a binary opposition implies. in its global reach there is not simply one English but rather a language which undergoes transformations and is appropriated in the most diverse ways. As theorists such as anthropologist Arjun Appadurai have pointed out. there are elements seemingly from English which have a life of their own. its potential for exciting impurities and its creative uncontrollability. as if it were outside of time and history. This means that besides English we need to take into account the evolving multilingualism within Germany as part of the German language’s contextual fabric. Even if we assume the dominance of English in general and Americanization in particular. influences which register in multifarious ways. The most serious ideological problem with the sole focus on Americanization is therefore that it obscures the contemporary realities of German. we still need to consider local appropriations of English. stable German language. occurs along with the equally changing cultural imagination of the language. have done research on the appropriation of Turkish by non-Turkish adolescents in Hamburg which shows the diverse social uses to which that language is put in the everyday life of young people from German majority and non-Turkish minority backgrounds. One of the questions for the future of the German language is: can the allegedly organic link between ethnic Germans and the German language be rethought? What is really at stake: is it the future of the German language or is it the future of the notion of an ethnically and culturally homogenous Germany which is the only legitimate owner of the language? If one cares for the future of the German language. Americanized English and a supposedly homogenous. and it is necessary to consider that dynamic for the case of language as well. The insight into the interdependence of the global and the local – what some refer to as “glocalisation” (Roland Robertson) – can be observed in other realms. will it be possible to care for it without necessarily linking it to ethnic Germans as its sole proprietors? Sociolinguistic research is indispensable for showing us the present state of the language evolution in everyday life. Ultimately this recognition will challenge the still prevalent view that the German language is the sole property of ethnic German speakers. since ethnic minorities appropriate and alter the German language in new ways.12 How can this more transnational understanding of globalization inform the present discussion? In evaluating the “future of German” in a globalizing world. In this respect.14 Moreover. it will also be necessary to recognize the diversity of speakers of German. which others might borrow but not possess. a language does not solely exist in its actual linguistic . we encounter a paradox: While there is a lament over the supposed decline in the use of German. The actual use of the language. for instance. Peter Auer and Inci Dirim (2003). there is an unwillingness to admit that German is not the sole property of ethnic German speakers and that there are in fact many other speakers of German. however. Such a focus on multilingualism within Germany unearths a dynamic that is much more complex than a mere binary between an invading.Critically “Kanak”: A Reimagination of German Culture 323 and what they tell us about local forms of agency and desire. languages of minorities also change their form and function as they interact with German. That is. As part of the recognition of multilingualism within Germany. The example of young ethnic German Aussiedler from Kazakhstan interspersing Turkish phrases into their German speech gives us a different dimension of globalization that remains occluded by the sole focus on English. the effects of migration on German culture in general13 and on the German language in particular necessarily occupy a central place. draws on literal translations from Turkish while remaining in German. As I have already noted. who primarily writes in high German. Rather.17 Also gaining in prominence is poet José F. thus changing not only the form but also the cultural resonance of German dialect and Heimat ‘homeland’ poetry. A. who in (1991) was the first minority winner of the prestigious Ingeborg-Bachmann-prize. but intersperses his local Allemannic dialect as well as Spanish passages into some of his poems. author of Mutterzunge.18 The significance of these poetic and provocative reshapings of the German language by minority writers does not lie in depicting changes occurring on society’s margin. Kanak Sprak appears as a significant site of such a new imaginary. Not the least through this language. they produce “new imaginaries” (Gaonkar 2002) and with that signify the reimagination of the cultural landscape at large. the two should not be conflated. but rather investigated complementarily. ‘Mother Tongue’ (1990).324 Yasemin Yildiz parameters. in part. Oliver.15 A focus on the cultural imagination of the language is also relevant given the crucial role ascribed to imagination in processes of cultural globalization (Appadurai 1996: 31). While there is a dynamic relationship between the linguistic situation in everyday life and the reimagination of that situation in literary texts. Literature can help us understand what cultural meanings are produced at the site of the transformation and multiplication of German. How a language is conceived of culturally. Kanak Sprak constitutes an imagined space in which unforeseen connections between some languages and histories are made. It is here that a text such as Kanak Sprak comes into play. Relocating difference: From Turkish to German Given the widespread interest it provoked. it is significant that minority writers in contemporary Germany have increasingly turned to the German language itself as a site for articulating a cultural critique of the exclusive nature of the nation as an “imagined community”. a strategy which results in a highly poetic alienation effect. In this context. the book does not document a sociolect. does not necessarily correspond to linguistic characteristics of that language. but rather produces an artificial language which in this form exists only as a literary invention. but constitutes a distinct realm in itself. Among the contemporary minority writers who reinvent and reimagine the German language is for instance Emine Sevgi Özdamar.16 Özdamar’s writing. which notions circulate about it in cultural discourses. at the same . but also in the continued cultural constructions of it. 3. sentimental. he translates passages into standard German: “Der Kanake sagt. and histories are downplayed or transformed. which plays with the French-derived Turkish word for German (Alman) and the name of the Germanic tribe. Zaimoglu inadvertently reproduces the image of Turkish as inherently “Oriental” – that is apolitical.20 Instead.22 With this strategy. but it is not sufficient in itself. the expressions which Zaimoglu mentions as ones which he intentionally did not incorporate are terms of endearment: “gözüm (mein Auge). and there they are only cited to indicate what has been left out. the term of endearment ‘light of my eye’ is replaced with the less flowery “Bruder” [brother] (Zaimoglu 1995: 14). That means that neither actual Turkish words. and about language and globalization more generally? Turkish-German youth and in some places also young people of other ethnicities practice code-switching between Turkish and German. gözümün nuru (mein Augenlicht)” [my eye […] light of my eye] (Zaimoglu 1995: 14). What do these choices tell us about the language poetics of Kanak Sprak specifically. cultures. An expression such as “Jungblutbengel” [young blood rascal] (Zaimoglu 1995: 28) is also not immediately recognizable as an evocation of the Turkish word for young man.23 In this manner. bricht sich aber viele Knochen’ und meint ‘wer von Hass erfüllt .Critically “Kanak”: A Reimagination of German Culture 325 time that expected relations between other languages. Turkish is present only in the most indirect ways: as in the frequent reference to Germans as “der Alemanne”. German is the necessary matrix for understanding Kanak Sprak. that language would thus seem to be the proper home of the figures in Kanak Sprak. The tenderness which might be expressed through the Turkish phrase is replaced by a fraternal relationship and a renewed emphasis on masculinity. in his introduction. Kanak Sprak does not feature words from Turkish or other migrant languages. For example. nor Turkish-derived expressions are a suitable means of representing the Kanak as Zaimoglu wants to construct him. delikanli. Zaimoglu gestures at that fact.21 The only place in Kanak Sprak where we encounter actual Turkish words is in the foreword. Indeed. Turkish is excised and avoided. As it turns out. Since the words and the grammar of the text are clearly in German. though it may draw on the word’s literal meaning ‘crazy blooded’ in addition to the German phrase “junges Blut” ‘young blood’. feminized. The author explains this choice by his desire to avoid the “Folklore-Falle” [folklore trap] and not let his language be misunderstood as “blumige Orientalensprache” [flowery language of Orientals] (Zaimoglu 1995: 14). […] ‘Hasshand teilt gerne aus.19 Yet. In order to avoid “orientalizing” his subjects Zaimoglu does away with Turkish or minimizes its influence. when. Such a local affiliation is not unusual for ethnic minorities globally and seems to offer a site of belonging alternative to the nation. Though situated on the margins of society. these figures’ language lays claim to all levels of articulation and to their anarchistic hybridization. but mixes the most diverse registers.25 This strategy does not obey the expected clichés of “Gastarbeiterdeutsch” ‘guestworker German’ or “Türkenslang” ‘slang of Turks’ both of which are associated with simplified and incorrect grammar and with the importation of foreign words. dass ihr euch habt eure blanke seele verwursten lassen. Through this intralingual translation.24 The language does not stay restricted to the local. [When like some ole zoo baboons you grab at the german guards’ sugar cubes. or the use of “olle” for “alte” ‘old’. [The Kanak says ‘hatred hand likes to give it out. muss man sein Schicksal selbst in die Hand nehmen’”. vergesst nicht. wo man das olle gras halm für halm wachsen hört” [We are growing-ups from gaarden. By making the mixing of registers one of the primary stylistic features of the text. which is evoked through archaizing word order. greift ohne Rücksicht auf Verluste zur Gewalt’”. where you can hear the ole grass grow blade by blade] Zaimoglu 1995: 39). you have to take your fate into your own hands’] (Zaimoglu 1995: 14). [The Kanak says ‘god fucks every lame brat’ and means ‘if you want to advance.326 Yasemin Yildiz ist. Within the monologues. do not forget. And means ‘whoever is filled with hatred turns to violence without consideration of losses’]. clashes with vernacular expressions: “Wenn ihr wie olle zoopaviane nach des deutschen wärters zuckerwürfel schnappt. the local region is frequently evoked as a point of reference (“Wir sind wüchsige aus gaarden.” (Zaimoglu 1995: 86). the sentences themselves require further translations in order to enable understanding. pathos. For example. rather than in the nation at large. however. only signal difference and eschew showing affiliation. but breaks many bones’. that thou hath allowed your bare soul to be made into cheap fodder]. This use of the vernacular locates the text in a specific German region. The language does not. Although in both cases every word of the initial sentence is in German. The traces of spoken language in particular are often indicative of north German vernacular through such characteristics as contractions of the article “eine” into “’ne”. here. but that this does not ensure access to understanding and a common ground for communication. Zaimoglu challenges the demarcation line around what is proper and what belongs together. German is multiplied and its multiplicity is gleefully displayed. Or: “Der Kanake sagt ‘Gott fickt jede Lahmgöre’ und meint ‘wenn man weiterkommen will. though. What Zaimoglu is telling his readers is that they might know one German language. . hier. English words appear not exclusively but most frequently in contexts in which rap is evoked. English and rap in Kanak Sprak: The imposition of the global? While a migrant language such as Turkish remains quite subterranean. Kanak Sprak mobilizes not only spoken language and regional dialects of German but also the “global” language English. die so in keiner der beiden Sprachen vorkommen” [is assembled out of ‘hotchpotched’ vocabulary and turns of speech which in this form do not occur in either of the two languages] (Zaimoglu 1995: 13. was man aus sich machen sollte. It testifies to the existence of something that is not derived from national languages. wir schwimmen nicht mit dem strom. we need to consider the specific uses to which the English language is put. and 5) gives the impression that they are representative for the text as a whole. Is this then merely another case of Americanization? As I argued earlier. weil peace is schon das. die alle peace wollen und peace stiften. breaker”. Zaimoglu stresses this when he asserts that the language of the Kanak figure “setzt sich aus ‘verkauderwelschten’ Vokabeln und Redewendungen zusammen. English language fragments thus enjoy a privileged position and serve as an entryway into Kanak Sprak. In the monologue attributed to “Bayram. vor dem der garantiert im falschen pelz rumläuft. the placement of these three among the first five (monologues 1. In Kanak Sprak. emphasis added).Critically “Kanak”: A Reimagination of German Culture 327 Rather than referring back to either of the two national languages that would seem to be available to Turkish-German youth – standard German or Turkish – Kanak Sprak marks the emergence of a different mode of articulation. auf schlaffem posten bist du im nu’n toter posten. Bist du’n lamm fressen sie dich. 18. Rap is’n harter kodex. 3. Via rap. […] hier bei uns. Although this is the case only in three monologues out of 24. and rap takes this shape: Ich bin’n breaker und hab meine gute posse. this language evokes a realm of creativity simultaneously within and beyond the scale of national languages. . bei den brüdern und schwestern. um dich auf lamm zu polen. the connection between English phrases. wo jeder’n fluss is und aufhört ‘n gottverschissenes rinnsal zu sein. die schon ne wehr brauchen vor den verdammten verderbern im dunkeln. wir machen nen eigenen strikten strom. Instead. hüter über deinen bruder und die posse und über die kleinen. German minority discourse. bei den breakern und rappern. ist schluss mit dem stuss. […] Der rap sagt: sieh dich vor vorm untersten wie obersten chargen. 4. he will join the police force. to rewire you into a lamb. “Ali” sees his role as spreading an anti-drug and anti-crime message: “no drugs.” stem from the vocabulary of African American rap culture and in the speech of this figure provide an identity.328 Yasemin Yildiz I’m a breakdancer and I have my good posse who all want peace and do peace cause peace is what you should make of yourself. we make our own strict tide. the English words and the specific minority culture to which they refer in this context. Beyond the referential meaning of the words. no crime […] if you want to be real bronx] (Zaimoglu 1995:28). German words could not take their place. Considering rap as a means of “Aufklärung” [enlightenment] (Zaimoglu 1995: 28) for the oppressed. Rapper (von ‘da crime posse’)”. The transfer of this African-American cultural practice to a German context. “breaker” “posse” and “peace. This observation is partially confirmed in another Kanak Sprak monologue entitled “Der direkte Draht zum schwarzen Mann” [the direct line to the black man] attributed to “Ali. where everyone’s a river and stops being a goddamshitty rivulet. among the brothers and sisters. German social workers in youth clubs have organized courses in rap and staged local graffiti and breakdance competitions (Çaglar 2001: 226–227). Rap’s a tough code. As anthropologist Ayse Çaglar (2001) points out. Because of these implicit meanings. 23. of one’s own position within it as well as a “code” of conduct. “Ali” continues. […] rap says: beware of the lowest and the highest ranks. minority culture as a means of integrating young Turkish-German men into German society (Çaglar 2001: 229–230). Paradoxically.S. however. a community. and a vision. (Zaimoglu 1995: 41–42) The English words. we don’t swim with the tide. no crime […] wenn du echt bronx sein willst” [no drugs. guardian of your brother and the posse and of the little ones who already need some defense against the damned ruiners in the dark. namely one which is transnational. we’re done with that bullshit. has its own specific parameters and implications. This orientation and sense-making activity draws on a social analysis implicit in the terms themselves. If you’re a lamb. hip hop and rap culture and aesthetics have been actively promoted by state institutions as an appropriate “language” and cultural practice for Turkish-German youth in particular. respectively. since he pleads for “unbedingte teil- . they’ll eat you. they offer a mode of orientation and of making sense of the world. Instead. of the one who runs around in a false fur. […] here among us breakdancers and rappers. on a slack post you’re fast a dead post. they saw these forms of U. If he does not succeed in his musical career. make the young TurkishGerman breakdancer part of a much larger “posse”. English is of strategic importance for the book. the still dominant trope in discourses on Turkish-Germans. American context.27 Their surprise success in 1995 coincided with the publication of Kanak Sprak.S.29 This imagined link between Turkish-Germans and African Americans is by no means new.26 One of the most successful products of this effort was the predominantly Turkish-German hip hop group Cartel whose formation was enabled precisely by state-sponsored social work in Berlin.Critically “Kanak”: A Reimagination of German Culture 329 nahme” [unconditional participation in society] (Zaimoglu 1995: 32). In citing the English vocabulary of rap. In that case. the presence . which appears as the designated and most legitimized means of minority articulation.30 As a third term and language. Both are part of a general trend where minorities in Germany can be heard primarily through the vehicle of hip hop. US-American culture has for some time served as a site of projection for dealing with changes in German society. the figures in Kanak Sprak participate in one of the prime examples of a transnationally circulating cultural form. While this does not mean that the young people who embrace this style are merely manipulated. Already in a (1973) feature on Turkish migration to Germany. both by the state and by minority subjects.28 Rap is thus actually a site where minority and majority imagination – if we can make such a distinction – intersect and interact. Experiences with cultural differences were and are articulated through reference to a U. Though globally dominant. rap can also function as part of a state apparatus of law and order. however. one which they claim for themselves. rap carries with it the association of oppositionality and minority resistance on which these figures draw.S. the Spiegel magazine raised the specter of German cities turning into “Harlem”. Yet at the same time. With this appropriation of the globalized language of rap. they go beyond the tired cliché of being stuck between two cultures. English does not stand for Americanization but is used in Germany as a means to negotiate other forms of cultural difference. On the contrary. So what role does English play in this context? Actual English words and phrases constitute only a minimal portion of Kanak Sprak. and seem to suggest that no useful German precedents are available. it does point to the fact that in the “German” imagination there is a link between minorities in Germany and U. English mediation is at times used as a gateway to a place in German culture. Ultimately. American minorities. As we have seen. English breaks down the binary between sole affiliation with either Turkish or German. This example demonstrates that far from being simply an outlaw identity. drawing on an English-language mediated cultural form does not necessarily denote a place outside German culture. then it is one of shared secrets.31 It is an itinerant code based on a vocabulary of elaborate neologism and circumlocution that remains incomprehensible to those not instructed in it. Besides hip hop aesthetics. at the same time that global cultures provide a transformative language for expressing the conditions of the local. small-time criminals. Clearly. a fact that in the past has had grievous consequences for the latter. The use of Rotwelsch also raises the question of Yiddish. forms. Rotwelsch and Jewish languages in Kanak Sprak While Zaimoglu uses the enabling language of hip hop. is known as the secret language of marginal groups. such as wandering beggars. Rotwelsch signifies a means of communication that excludes the mainstream and the majority. Kanak Sprak combines both elements: through its twisting of the standard language it creates opacity and signals the exclusion of the majority from its network.330 Yasemin Yildiz of English and rap in Kanak Sprak illustrates how a multiplicity of local desires shapes the circulation of global forms. Ihr Reden ist dem Free-Style-Sermon im Rap verwandt. eine Art Creol oder Rotwelsch mit geheimen Codes und Zeichen. 5. marginality. or prostitutes and dates back to the Middle Ages. at the same time it is a form of stylized public speech. both in its make-up – the tendency to create new German words. Rotwelsch. for instance. a kind of Creole or thieves’ cant with secret codes and signs. and even histories. Zaimoglu also likens Kanak Sprak to other “jargons”: “Längst haben sie [die Kanaken] einen Untergrund-Kodex entwickelt und sprechen einen eigenen Jargon: die “Kanak-Sprak”. the Kanak Sprak of Zaimoglu’s making has a few things in common with Rotwelsch. in both cases one speaks from a certain pose] (Zaimoglu 1995: 13). as it was mistakenly conflated with the . though forms of it are still alive in some areas. the borrowing from other languages – and in its social positioning on the margins. Much of Rotwelsch consists of borrowings from Yiddish. as well as Slavic and Romance languages. Whereas rap style summons a form of effective public speech. Yiddish in particular. dort wie hier spricht man aus einer Pose heraus” [They [the Kanaks] have long since developed an underground-code and speak their own jargon: ‘Kanak Speak’. the other analogies and related linguistic codes are significant in their own regard. While rap is highlighted. If a community is imagined through this code. and illegality. This effect is furthered by numerous borrowings from other languages. the monologues also draw on other languages. Their speech is related to the freestyle sermon in rap. or. geschächtetes fleisch” (Zaimoglu 1995: 141) [I who has submitted to god’s word. German in an age of globalization As I have demonstrated. a sphere in which Kanak Sprak. does their use tell us about immigrants’ relationship to the history and cultural memories with which they come into contact and into which they necessarily enter. does the use of such words not suggest the presence of unconscious histories embedded in languages? What. through Rotwelsch and. These languages serve as the index of a cultural memory of previous marginal existence beside and within German. The starting point in this process is the reappropriation of the slur Kanake. Even if there is no conscious link made to Yiddish and all the associations it brings with it in Germany. eat kosher. “meschugge” (117). In this particular instance. Conclusion: Politics of resignification. Zaimoglu blurs Jewish and Muslim practices within a German text and linguistically crisscrosses minority subject positions within Germany. too. Although these words are used today in everyday speech and might have lost the connotation of Fremdwörter ‘Germanized foreign words’ the citation of these “Germanized” Yiddish words is nonetheless intriguing. “schofele” (136). properly slaughtered meat]. esse koscheres. words which have origins in Yiddish.Critically “Kanak”: A Reimagination of German Culture 331 so-called thieves’ cant (Grossman 2000: 134–135). Kanak Sprak joins multiple languages and codes in irreverent and complex ways in order to give voice to a cultural and political transformation under way. der ich mich [gottes] wort ergeben. as when Zaimoglu has the Islamic fundamentalist say “Ich. Yiddish. the traces of Jewish languages in Kanak Sprak do not seem random in this carefully composed volume.33 Given these explicit references. locates itself. the text evokes non-national languages which were thought of as illegitimate and improper. “mischpoke” (121). less explicitly. By using the Hebrew term “kosher” rather than the Turkish-Arabic “helal”. furthermore. That is.34 Some of the other “Jewish” references are quite ironic. 6. With Rotwelsch Zaimoglu invokes a language form which is itself bastardized and meant to undermine authorities and which stretches across territories without being tied to a nation. he undermines the very discourse on purity and properness which the sentence confesses to. not the least through language?32 In fact. references to experiences of German-Jews and particularly the German historical memory of the Holocaust surface throughout Zaimoglu’s text. Zaimoglu credits the Black consciousness . In Kanak Sprak we repeatedly find expressions such as “schlamassel” (47). However. this is particularly evident with the network “Kanak Attak” since it does not organize around one specific (ethnic) identity (Kanak Attak 1999. Cheesman 2002: 187). and bisexuals and in the meantime has also entered the German vocabulary. This enlarged notion of Kanak may also explain why others of various backgrounds have felt free and encouraged to adopt the term.35 This term began being widely used in the 1990s first in the United States by sexual minorities such as gays.37 The attack on long-established families undermined the credibility of the dominant rhetoric of assimilation and integration. it is worth pointing to the historical moment that preceded Kanak Sprak. In the case of Kanak.332 Yasemin Yildiz movement and hip hop with providing the model for this reappropriation (Zaimoglu 1995: 17). both Kanak and queer have taken on the function of umbrella terms in political movements. both Kanak and “queer” represent an anti-normative and anti-normalizing stance. and changed. it was especially the firebombing of the homes of long-resident Turkish-German families in Mölln (1992) and Solingen (1993). Following German reunification. This rejection of assimilation and normalization preceded Kanak Sprak and finds a reformulated articulation in it. which interpellates new collective subjects and which makes the German language a multilayered home. is itself in question. Like Kanak. turned. discourses of assimilation are rejected and visibility is provoked. Besides the open mob violence in Rostock primarily against Vietnamese families (1992) or the numerous firebombings of refugee shelters.36 In this context. but rather suggests that what German is. the early 1990s witnessed an increasing number of racist attacks against the non-German population and Germans of color. that provoked the mass protests from minorities against racist violence. In Kanak Sprak the German language itself is resignified. namely “queer”. The German language that we encounter in Kanak Sprak is woven out of multiple linguistic levels and is not confined to a national . That does not simply mean that parts of it are twisted. in which women and children died. Moving away from referring to specific ethnic or sexual identities. there was the first outspoken rejection of assimilation as an acceptable or promising demand on minorities. Under both names. and is altered by the uses to which Zaimoglu puts it. but more in its performative thrust. lesbians. Furthermore. “queer” was a highly derogatory term before it became a defiant self-reference. The significance of Zaimoglu’s project therefore does not lie in the invention or inscription of a language for actual use. the altered way Kanak has come to function shares some significant features with another recently reclaimed term. In the context of those protests.38 The resignification of Kanak is a synecdoche for the resignification that the text as a whole undertakes. (2001). In addition to numerous articles. Though Zaimoglu does not say so explicitly. Globalization understood as Americanization runs the risk of simplifying and obscuring the much more complex dynamics that will define the future of German. For more on hip hop and Kanak aesthetics and politics see below. we still need to pay attention to the local meanings given to them. but it does reveal a part of its present. as well as remembering non-national languages. 2. See Cheesman (2002) for the most extensive account of the reception of Zaimoglu’s text. In its self-assured performance. See Zaimoglu (1997). Unless otherwise noted. albeit non-traditional possibilities. (2000).Critically “Kanak”: A Reimagination of German Culture 333 framework. In one case it is set off against Kanake in a sarcastic mimicry of German attitudes towards different people of color (1995: 22). The title is a reformulation of the rap album Fear of a Black Planet by the US-American group Public Enemy. by understanding them as the interplay between hegemonic influence. and its generative. the appropriation of Kanake is modeled on the appropriation of the racist epitaph “nigger” in some forms of hip hop. Zaimoglu’s writing helps us understand the cultural imagination of the “German” language in the present. As these examples suggest. 4. The word “nigger” itself appears prominently in two different functions in the text. Even where we do detect forms of Americanization. In particular. and local appropriations. I am particularly indebted to Michael Rothberg whose support for and critical interest in this project have been invaluable. . all translations of titles and passages are mine. Writing such as Kanak Sprak may not be the “future” of German. (2002). it imagines a German which is the site of the local along with the transnational. drawing on national memories. (1998). Kanak Sprak emphasizes that the transformation of German culture is not something abstract but something that makes itself felt through the very fabric of the German language. such an understanding does not account for other aspects of globalization such as multilingual migration. I would like to thank Leslie Adelson for comments on an earlier version of this paper and Barbara Mennel for her feedback on a later version. This is the title of a German-language book about hip hop (2002). Notes 1. Zaimoglu has published five more books since then. Rather. 3. hip hop is of central importance in this phenomenon. local histories. in another it functions as an overarching identificatory term (1995: 25). 5. For an example of a cross-ethnic identification and use of the form. see the texts of Italian-German writer Vito Avantario (2000). See for example Bär (2000:18–20). 14. 10. 9. however. This underscores the deeply political nature of perceptions of encroachment and threat. It is also important to point out that despite the so-called “Kanak-Chic” (see Steyerl [2001] for a critical assessment). I would like to thank Phillipp Angermeyer for drawing my attention to Auer. His analysis. See also Cheesman (2002: 180). . but also stresses their dynamic relationship. Given this discourse on the global dominance of English elsewhere. among other things. for instance. Among the most successful versions in popular culture are the characters created by the comedy duos Erkan&Stefan and Mundstuhl. His study shows in great detail. led by Werner Sollors (1998). 15. there were police reports of brutal attacks on minorities accompanied by verbal abuse featuring that slur. They do not. He lays out quite clearly the differences between these forms. itself. See for instance the work of Peter Auer or Volker Hinnenkamp. Much more polemical articulations of that view can be found in the contributions to Glück and Krämer (2000). On the conceptual relationship between the global and the local see Hardt and Negri (2000: 44–45) who treat both as “different networks of flows and obstacles” (45) and rightly caution against the other extreme. the tendency to privilege the local alone. Schiewe discusses this phenomenon with further examples such as “showmaster” or “twen” (Schiewe 2000: 40) 12. It might be useful to remember the manifold ways in which German already bears the traces of other languages. the term is still very much used as an insult.334 Yasemin Yildiz 6. Focusing on the media dimension of globalization likewise primarily leads to a discussion of the role of English. however.S. began in part as a response to that political debate and offers an alternative vision of American literature by collecting American writings in languages other than English. Among the examples of stylized versions of what he calls ethnolect are in fact Zaimoglu’s first two books. 13. In his classic study. but rather use non-standard speech and minority youth as comic triggers. deal with the political and explosive issues which are at the core of Kanak Sprak. it is ironic that in the U. These voices have led to the emergence of ‘English-only movements’ in recent years. 8. 11. Androutsopoulos (2000) offers an insightful sociolinguistic consideration of the interaction between non-standard language varieties developed by speakers and the stylized adoption of that variety in media and various cultural forms. For a useful brief overview of the history of labor migration to Germany since the late 19th century and a sketch of its social and cultural effects see Terkessidis (2000). 7. as in Hoffmann (2000). Eric Blackall (1959) has traced many of the strands that led to the development of German as a high literary language in the course of the 18th century. I was repeatedly reminded of that in an online search in which next to the many entries on Zaimoglu. The Harvard-based project Multilingual America. there have been voices worrying about the status of English vis-à-vis Spanish. the crucial role that the emulation of English style and grammar played in this development. Although there is a monologue by a male-to-female transsexual (Zaimoglu 1995: 34–38) Kanak Sprak is explicitly gendered as male. Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La Frontera (1987) and Abdelkebir Khatibi’s Amour bilingue (1983) are just two prominent examples of such an aesthetic engagement with language. In fact. focuses on the role of mass media in the circulation of ethnolect and does not engage with Zaimoglu’s work at any length. see Gutiérrez Rodríguez (2001). 21. This gendered discourse ultimately finds its expression in rap-inspired rhythms and attitudes. 18. See also Sommer (2003) who gathers essays about “bilingual games” in multiple languages and literary contexts. The aforementioned use of Allemanic by José Oliver’s is a further literary example for this. Çaglar (2001: 236) highlights the fact that belonging is no longer defined along nation. however. as I will suggest below.Critically “Kanak”: A Reimagination of German Culture 335 16. but rather in the province. 27. however. they constitute a distinct transnational literary phenomenon. See for example Oliver (1993). 25. Zaimoglu’s third book Koppstoff: Kanaka Sprak vom Rande der Gesellschaft [Headstuff: She-Kanak Speak from the Margins of Society] (1998) gathered monologues by female counterparts to the figures in Kanak Sprak. As Cheesman notes. 22. makes this absence even more remarkable. For the most extensive coverage of literature by minorities see the handbook edited by Chiellino (2000) in which. The rarity of direct allusions to the Turkish language is one of the features which distinguishes Zaimoglu’s writing from Özdamar’s style. does not follow the trend of locating minorities in metropolitan spaces. Zaimoglu and the Kanak phenomemon are treated only briefly and dismissively. 23. Kanak Sprak’s local affiliation. Androutopolous (2000: 5). That is. See Konuk (1997) and Seyhan (2001) for an analysis of the literary language and the relationship between Turkish and German. especially from Turkish-German women. The foregrounding of the “black man” in this monologue further indicates that the source for and point of access to this appropriation of American English is ultimately the expression of a resistant male minority existence. 19. the group da crime posse of the above mentioned rapper Ali (Aksoy) was part of Cartel. In response to strong criticism. 26. For a critique of the sexual politics in the larger Kanak phenomenon. as Cheesman (2002: 190) points out. (Zaimoglu 1995: 13). The range of registers and the recourse to a high literary vocabulary also differentiates his style starkly from that of the popular comedy version of migrant youth speech. Aksoy is the only clearly identifiable . but can be found across multiple languages and contexts. The fact that he does include Turkish words on occasion in his subsequent works. 24. 17. Zaimoglu himself hints at that fact in his description of the sources of Kanak Sprak. state or ethnicity but is rather oriented towards urban spaces. with some entries written in standard German. 20. These bilingual or multilingual aesthetics are not limited to minority writing in German. Yet the language in that volume is noticeably different. entering into. In this context. I would like to thank Barbara Mennel for sharing this essay with me prior to its publication. as indicated by a New York Times feature on Turkish-German youth via a portrait of filmmaker Neco Çetin and the focus on his hip hop. 36.336 Yasemin Yildiz figure in the text (2002: 185). For a fascinating discussion of the very different meanings which Cartel’s reclaiming of Turkish identity through hip hop acquired in the German. so that the link imagined between Yiddish and German Jews is no longer based on fact. 33. My title suggests this parallel by alluding to Judith Butler’s important essay “Critically Queer” (1993). and public intellectual Zafer Senocak asks: “Doesn’t immigrating to Germany also mean immigrating to. 37. though. For more on tropes about Jews and language. Cartel’s songs were predominantly in Turkish while also featuring Spanish. In his essay “Germany-Home for Turks?” Turkish-German poet. . Çaglar (2000: 233) makes a similar argument about the historical and cultural moment with respect to the success of Cartel. and Turkish contexts vis-a-vis nationalism. see Gilman (1986). Zaimoglu (1998: 9) retrospectively acknowledges the impact of those events on Kanak Sprak. Adelson discusses this in greater detail in her (2000) essay where she explores Jewish references in Turkish-German literature. graffiti and gang member experience (Bernstein 2003). 28. 29. For a more accurate and critical discussion of this trend in filmic representations see Mennel (forthcoming). 32. that in contrast to Kanak Sprak. it would also be important – though not possible here – to consider the role of Afro-Germans. Engel (1999/2000) lays out in much more detail the parallels and overlaps between the queer and Kanak movements in Germany. 31. In his foreword to Koppstoff. novelist. See Girtler (1998) for an account and documentation of the contemporary Viennese variety. gradually ceased to be the primary language of most German Jews in the course of the 19th century. 34. German and English lyrics. 35. Turkish-German. Yiddish. of course. For an incisive critique of this extremely widespread trope. It should be noted. the arena of Germany’s recent past?” (Senocak 2000: 6). 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Das in der multinationalen Kommunikation oft benutzte Global English lässt in den meisten Fällen kaum eine subtile Kommunikation zu. in dem Studierende Deutsch und Ingenieurwissenschaft studieren und ein Jahr als Studenten und Praktikanten in Deutschland verbringen. da es eher eine pragmatische Notsprache ist. especially within the framework of American higher education at a time when the world appears obsessed with learning English. and travel most anywhere in the world without learning another language. in fact. work. Grandin Zusammenfassung Die Bedeutung des Englischen als Weltsprache nimmt durch die Globalisierung stark zu. neues Leben für Deutsch ins amerikanische Hochschulwesen zu bringen. Das heißt jedoch nicht. to eliminate the need. along with those of most other languages at both the secondary and post-secondary levels. live. As this volume testifies. Falling German enrollments. muss mit der betreffenden Sprache und Kultur vertraut sein. at least on the surface. zeigt eine Möglichkeit. dass das Interesse an deutscher Sprache und Kultur in den USA absinken muss. for Americans to concern themselves with languages other than English. German Departments in den USA sollten zur Kenntnis nehmen. Das Beispiel des Studiengangs ‘International Engineering’ an der University of Rhode Island. The intent of this volume is to assess the impact of globalization on the German language and culture.oder Ingenieurwissenschaften) ihre Berufschancen durch das Erlernen der deutschen Sprache und das Studium der deutschen Kultur verbessern können. Germanists fear that the place of the German language and culture in the American higher education curriculum is threatened by the hegemony of .Globalization: A Look at the Positive Side John M. once and for all. Wer eine tiefer gehende und dauerhafte Kommunikation mit einem Gesprächspartner sucht. indicate that most Americans believe they can. dass Studierende in den von der Globalisierung betroffenen Fachgebieten (zum Beispiel den Wirtschafts. The fact that English has indeed become the lingua franca of the 21st century would seem. First. Though unfortunately not universally expected of American students. promising besieged languages such as German new vitality and an expanded place in American higher education. for example. explore. Those without at least one language other than English are confined to their own linguistic and cultural perspectives and thereby handicapped in comparison to their multilingual peers from other nations. As we shall see below. Some go so far as to doubt the future stability or integrity of languages such as German even within their own national borders. Brazilians to speak with Chinese. Americans must consider the reality that the true global standard for cross-cultural communication in today’s global society is not English. to suggest that the rapid pace of globalization may. stripped of subtleties and complexities. it is made clear to students in . it also enables. Global players know that global English is a language of convenience with a depth far inferior to their own mother tongues.” Though the widespread reality of Global English makes it convenient for Americans to communicate on basic levels in most countries around the world. and so on. and proactively respond to potential new opportunities. Koreans to speak with Italians. It is accepted as a necessary tool. Germans to speak with Vietnamese.342 John M. often supporting little more than surface-level communication for nonnative speakers around the world. we are naïve to think that the subtleties of business. it is far less than perfect and not viewed as a substitute for or threat to one’s own first language. contrary to our fears. Grandin the English language worldwide. but rather multilingualism. Global English1 is a simplified language. As one German executive described this phenomenon to the author of this article: “The language of global business is bad English. As a commonly accepted global language. be making knowledge of languages other than English even more important for Americans than in the past. there are indeed signs of new paradigms for American language programs. we should note that the English used today as the most universal language for global communication is not in competition with the native tongues of those who use it routinely for utilitarian purposes. and for those using it as such. and to explore ways in which German departments might recognize. Global English enables peoples throughout the world to accommodate monolingual Americans who are unwilling to learn other languages and expect the world to speak with them in English. politics or interpersonal intercourse can be successfully bridged without knowledge of the linguistic and cultural perspectives of our partners. The intent of this article is to explore some counter-arguments to these anxieties. DaimlerChrysler and other companies of this global reputation and stature are. and from a German perspective. The CEO’s such as DaimlerChrysler’s Juergen Schrempp are required to be very much at home with English. would prefer to do business in German. that any Americans planning to play any kind of major role in companies such as these had better be able to join the decision-making processes.2 When the non-German visitor approaches the main gates of companies in Germany. to have someone at the other end of the line who understands the German linguistic and cultural perspective. and others. From another and much more blunt perspective. he certainly is not greeted in English. DaimlerChrysler. and not in Global English! For these reasons. far less extensive than one is often led to believe. BMW. and. It is logical. The thousands of people living these linguistic realities every day know that having both languages at hand in their facilities in Germany and the USA significantly enhances the chances for success. companies such as Siemens and BMW are actively combing the world for talented young professionals who are at least bilingual and . in practice. it is far from true that day-to-day business in Munich or Stuttgart is conducted in English. therefore. The strategic decisions are carried out by Germans. and. he or she will still be surrounded by conversations in German. at the very least. it is worth noting that Siemens. the volume and quality of English drops dramatically. Knowledge of some English is assumed at many levels in global companies in Germany. unless he or she is a known non-speaker of German. as a speaker of basic Global English.Globalization: A Look at the Positive Side 343 other parts of the world that mastery of other languages is a fundamental requirement. in most cases he or she. still German companies. When the German engineer picks up the phone to speak to his or her counterpart abroad. but. he will be the linguistic outsider and not the native speaker of the corporate official language. Secondly. any in-depth discussion commonly reverts to subgroups in the mother tongue. in Germany. Even when cross-national meetings take place in English. and the best of the German English speakers still feel the need to think things out in their first language. in the German language. it must be stressed that the use of English among global organizations is. which often occur over dinner or a drink or in other social settings. In short. after all. the business will be done in German. but the lack of German is a major handicap for the native speakers of English working for or with German-American or AmericanGerman companies. in German (!). In cases where a nonGerman is accommodated by English. as one moves down from the very top managerial levels. Though we may read that English is the official language of global companies such as Siemens. If one considers. If he or she is to succeed today. Grandin who have in-depth international experience. from continent to continent. is a global company. Mexico. Who would have thought that BMW would build some of its most prized models in South Carolina for export to the entire world? Who would have thought that BMW would have to be in daily communication with key colleagues in the United States. a company such as BMW. An engineer. globalization has meant a major transition from relatively small Bavarian automobile manufacturer to major worldwide competitor with manufacturing centers in several countries. South Africa. nevertheless retained its image and standard through its adherence to German craftsmanship (Made in Germany). Language faculty. and its success relies intensely upon communication from country to country. It is incumbent upon universities and colleges to understand and react to these changes and to develop curricula appropriate to the needs of students who will live and work in this new age . Though key decisions are still made in Stuttgart.344 John M. for example. they are actively working with the few universities who are finding ways to teach German language and culture to young professionals. As companies such as these have undergone major transitions in this age of globalization. And they are looking to universities to encourage students to acquire these skills during their programs of study. however. and so too the preparation that is needed for young professionals to thrive and survive in this new global workplace.3 It is critical that language faculty take note of the impact that globalization has had upon business and industry in recent years and understand how this relates to their roles and obligations in preparing young people for opportunities unknown in the past. is now required to bring numerous skills beyond those of pure technology to the workplace. along with their colleagues in many other subject areas across the curriculum must take note of the changes in the global workplace and understand that there is significant and growing demand for bilingualism among Americans. Global companies such as Siemens view multilingualism and international experience as fundamental to any positions of major responsibility. though international for decades. The DaimlerChrysler we know today. England. its day-to-day operations are conducted globally. building cars and trucks in most continents and selling to a worldwide market. the need to work in multinational teams. Because they know that Americans do not foster these kinds of skills. so too have their personnel needs. the need to understand and integrate the perspectives of peers and partners from other national locations are critical qualifications. the Far East. and elsewhere? Mercedes is another brand which. for example. German IEP students spend the fall semester at our partner university (Technische Universität Braunschweig) and then progress to a six-month professional engineering internship with one of now almost 25 associated companies in the German-speaking countries. the age of globalization is asking this of us. demonstrating a willingness to open themselves to the world.e. is offering a chance for a new and more central role in the overall university curriculum. i. . international work experience and technical expertise. IEP students are highly gifted and motivated. The companies view IEP students as candidates for high potential positions and thus recruit them eagerly and provide salary incentives for the global preparation. at the same time. The students themselves endorse the program with their eagerness to join the IEP and their hard work in pursuit of the qualifications for today’s global workplace. which now boasts over 100 majors. helping to prepare them for the workplace of technology which has become intensely global in recent years. The IEP model has breathed new life into the German program at URI. to graduate engineers with second language proficiency. The global businesses providing internships abroad and general support for the program are likewise pleased with the IEP. For the first time ever. Though Germanists may have never considered themselves to be major players in preparing students for the workplace outside of academia. and to play a significant role in the driving of the world’s economy. The University of Rhode Island has taken note of these facts and developed a curriculum for its engineering students. The language faculty are delighted to see their courses of interest to a new and previously neglected clientele. German departments now have the opportunity to link the humanities intricately with the technology disciplines. Students in this program study language and culture each semester as they progress in their engineering curriculum. The IEP has proven to be an attractive program for all parties involved. and take note of the fact that this doubledegree program requiring one additional year attracts only highly motivated and gifted students.Globalization: A Look at the Positive Side 345 of globalization. The International Engineering Program (IEP)4 is a five-year undergraduate program leading to both the Bachelor of Science in one of the engineering disciplines and the Bachelor of Arts with a major in German (with tracks also available in French and Spanish). as well as the interpersonal skills required for interaction with peers throughout the world. the language. In the fourth year of the five-year sequence. The overall goal is to provide engineering students with the skills needed for the global workplace. and.. and the second degree. The engineering faculty are excited to see their students in the forefront of such a new educational direction. for whom this had never been a consideration in the past. URI’s International Engineering Program brings new hope to German programs at schools with professional degree programs like engineering. Of the approximately 180 students currently in the program. Another major component of the program is internship placement with companies abroad. Can or should faculty with expertise in classical Germanistik. culture. the students have learned the benefits of bilingualism and international experience in very concrete ways. and a humanistic perspective to a whole segment of the student body. The program now offers. for example. the faculty can still boast. Of the approximately 150 graduates of the program. It has not only solidified enrollments. the German faculty have taken the initiative to acquire. Finally. even in today’s slow economy. too. which. but has put forth a new model for professional education in today’s global society. in the process. beginning through advanced intermediate language sections specifically designed for engineering students. which serves as residential and administrative center for the program on the URI campus. as it has meant significant new directions for the German faculty at URI. 20% of URI’s undergraduate engineering students are now simultaneously completing a BA with a language major along side their engineering BS. retool to accommodate the needs of students in professional school programs? Do German department faculty have the entrepreneurial skills needed to create new curricula in collaboration with colleagues from very different fields? Can programs combining language with professional school curricula preserve the humanistic goals of faculty in the humanities? The German faculty at the University of Rhode Island can answer these questions for themselves with a resounding yes.5 The current status of the International Engineering Program demonstrates that German can play a major role in higher education today. . i. Finally. They have attracted large numbers of engineering students to their courses and have. 105 are in the German IEP..346 John M. however. It has likewise enabled the German faculty to bring language. It also offers an advanced technical German course taught in German by German-speaking engineering faculty. not been developed with ease. and manage an IEP House. But it also raises many questions about the overall role of German language and culture programs in the American higher education system. is coordinated by the German faculty. The German program also supports and coordinates the annual exchange of students with the Technical University of Braunschweig. of a 100% job placement rate. expertise in some area of German language and/or literature.e. renovate. Grandin The IEP has. The program has meant new life for German language and culture at URI. Each year separate sections of German are offered for engineering students at the beginning through advanced intermediate levels.S. URI was blessed with an engineering dean at that time who understood the importance of preparing engineers for international experience. Department of Education) and others. Because the traditional humanities student simply is no longer there. Fortunately the German faculty were willing to take chances and could convince their administration that non-traditional forms of research and teaching should be counted toward promotion and tenure. What is the message from the URI experience for German departments in the United States? The URI faculty know that they would not be in business had they not undertaken substantial changes several years ago. the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (U. essentially. they have acquired and renovated their own administrative and residential center for the IEP.Globalization: A Look at the Positive Side 347 been able to adopt their courses to the interests of students in technical disciplines. They have solicited support from German-American companies. Many. enabling them to offer fully subscribed literature and culture courses at the advanced levels. they have developed a student clientele at the upper levels. which guarantee six-month internships for as many as 25 students per year. they have built a network of companies in Germany. The German faculty have likewise learned to be innovative. Texas A&M. At the same time. Are these experiences transferable? To a large degree. Fortunately. and others are on the path to programs similar to the IEP model. close its doors. and entrepreneurial. thereby ensuring the integrity of German as a humanities major and their original mission. the University of Wyoming. If German is to survive as a disci- .6 the University of Rhode Island International Engineering Program attracted engineering and language faculty from 50 American universities as well as several German universities to explore this topic. Fortunately URI had a German faculty willing to explore drastically new alternatives on behalf of their students. Are there indications that the URI model might work elsewhere? In the context of its Sixth Annual Colloquium on International Engineering Education in October 2003. Faculty have been recruited to support the teaching of these courses through the medium of technical German. the program had to be open to new options or. indicating a genuine interest and commitment. there is no choice for those at all interested this question. The concept of the integration of German language and culture with engineering studies is likewise being strongly supported by organizations such as the German Academic Exchange Service. Rice University. political. such as Georgia Institute of Technology. Volume 8/2: 1–15. See Grandin/Dehmel (1997: 2: 1–15). And each German faculty group will have to ask what role they should be playing. and how they can make their own institutional statement on behalf of the German language and culture.uri. and Eric W. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. John M. Grandin. References Crystal. who their allies are.uri. Clear evidence for this observation is available from the results of a survey conducted among engineers in the multinational locations of the TRW Corporation in 1995.edu/iep. 3. consult: http://www. 6.edu/iep/house/index.e.uri. This does not mean that all universities have to go the way of a University of Rhode Island. . For details about the Annual Colloquium on International Engineering Education see: http://www. David 1997 English as a Global Language. He is in ongoing dialogue with over twenty global companies regarding their personnel needs and the qualifications desired for professionals in the global workplace. The Journal of Language for International Business. Dehmel 1997 “Educating Engineers for the Global Workplace: a study of CrossCultural Issues”. 2. 4. but it does mean that each department at each college or university must assess its situation and its role within the overall institutional mission. 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NJ: Educational Testing Service. (Thema Deutsch 3. Heinrich (ed. Wiesinger. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. Deutsch und anderes – die Sprache im Modernisierungsfieber. In: Rudolf Hoberg (ed. Zimmer. Über die Pidginisierung der Sprache. Ingeborg 2002 Deutsch und Englisch in Skandinavien. 1998 . Impulse für eine neue Sprachpolitik. Zint-Dyhr. Reinbek: Rowohlt.). In: Dieter E.372 Select Bibliography Neuanglodeutsch. (Thema Deutsch 3.). 7–85. Deutsch – Englisch – Europäisch. Mannheim/Leipzig/Wien/ Zürich: Dudenverlag. 368–381. uni-muenchen. Peter Eisenberg Universität Potsdam Institut für Germanistik Postfach 601553 14415 Potsdam / Deutschland eisenberg@rz. Ph. Dr.de .D.at Professor David Crystal.de Priv. Prof. FL 33431 USA [email protected] Professor William W. Dieter Direktor u. [email protected] Professor Dr. Dr. Boca Raton.pipex.dieter@uba. Ulrich Ammon Gerhard-Mercator-Universität FB 2 – Institut für Germanistik Lotharstr. Petra Braselmann Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck Institut für Romanistik Innrain 52 6020 Innsbruck Österreich Petra. Gwynedd LL57 2DG Great Britain crystal@dial. h. 27 80539 München Deutschland ehlich@daf. Kutztown University Department of Anthropology Kutztown PA 19530 USA donner@kutztown. Konrad Ehlich Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Institut für Deutsch als Fremdsprache / Transnationale Germanistik Ludwigstr.-Prof. Dr. am Umweltbundesamt. Univ. Berlin / Mitglied des Bundesvorstands des Vereins Deutsche Sprache Postfach 10 41 28 44041 Dortmund Deutschland hermann-h. 65 47057 Duisburg Deutschland [email protected] Professor Prisca Augustyn.D. Ph.edu Professor Dr. of Languages & Linguistics 777 Glades Rd.c.uni-potsdam. Donner. Hermann H.List of Contributors Professor Dr. Florida Atlantic University Dept. University of Wales Department of Linguistics Bangor.D.edu O. Bernd Hüppauf New York University Department of German 19 University Place New York. Calvinstr.D. Ph.de Professor John M. Andreas Gardt Universität Kassel Fachbereich 09 – Germanistik 34109 Kassel Deutschland gardt@uni-kassel. Fishman. Executive Director International Engineering Program 67 Upper College Road Kingston. Ph.edu Professor Dr.edu Professor Joshua A.D.D. 122 80637 München Deutschland Professor John F. Ph.goethe. at Oswego Oswego.de [email protected]@nyu. 3616 Henry Hudson Pkwy. Rudolf Hoberg Vorsitzender der Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache Spiegelgasse 13 65183 Wiesbaden Deutschland [email protected] Professor Dr. NY 10003 USA bernd. 5a 10557 Berlin Deutschland Dr. Spracharbeit Ausland Dachauer Str. Robert Phillipson Copenhagen Business School Department of English Dalgas Have 15 2000 Frederiksberg Denmark rp.D. Grandin. NY 13126 USA lalande@oswego. Lalande II. Rhode Island 02881 USA [email protected]. 7B-N Bronx NY 10463 USA [email protected] Professor Dr.com Professor Dr. Stephan Nobbe Director Goethe-Institut Prag Masarykovo nbrezi 32 11000 Praha 1 Czech Republic [email protected]@cbs. Chair Modern Languages and Literatures / 205 F Wilber State University of N. / Apt.de Professor Dr.dk . Hans Joachim Meyer Staatsminister a.374 List of Contributors Nikky Keilholz-Rühle Goethe-Institut Abt. PA 19530 USA valuska@kutztown. cand Cornell University Dept. UNC Charlotte Department of Languages and Cultural Studies 9201 University City Blvd.D.goethe.D.List of Contributors Uwe Rau Deputy Director and Head of Language Department Goethe-Institut 1014 Fifth Avenue New York. NJ 08034-3668 USA helene@aatg. Valuska.D.edu Helene Zimmer-Loew Executive Director American Association of Teachers of German 112 Haddontowne Court #104 Cherry Hill. Ph.de 375 Professor Robert Reimer.edu Wolfgang Thierse Präsident des Deutschen Bundestages Deutscher Bundestag Platz der Republik 1 11011 Berlin Deutschland [email protected] Yasemin Yildiz.org Dr.de David L. 6–13 68161 Mannheim Deutschland wagener@ids-mannheim. Charlotte. Peter Wagener Institut für Deutsche Sprache R 5. NY 14853 USA yy47@cornell. of German Studies 183 Goldwin Smith Hall Ithaca.uncc. NY 10028 USA rau@newyork. Ph.org . Executive Director Pennsylvania German Heritage Center at Kutztown University Department of Languages and Cultural Studies Kutztown. Ph. NC 28223 USA rcreimer@email.