German Language and Society
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Unit 1: What is Language?
keywords:
linguistic theory, invisible hand explanation
text:
none
Definitions of Language
Four Definitions of Language
Introductory Lecture
What is Language?
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Unit 2: Language and Symbolic Power
keywords:
Bourdieu, symbolic capital, habitus
text:
Bourdieu, Pierre (1991): Language and Symbolic Power, trans. Gino Raymond and Matthew Adamson, Cambridge: Polity Press, pp. 66-89.
Important Quotes
Presentation with important quotes from the text & from Austin's speech act theory
Exercise: Heidi
Page with video clip, transcript and tasks
Wikipedia page of "Heidi", Film (2015), Regie: Alain Gsponer
Example
African American Vernacular English
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Unit 3: From Social Stratification to Lifestyles: Milieus and Sociolects
keywords:
milieu, lifestyle, tradition, modernization, individualization, re-orientation
texts:
* Wagner, Tanita da Silva / Bug, Peter (2015): Actual Consumer Lifestyle Segmentations - a European Perspective. Hochschule Reutlingen.
- Linke, Knut (2017): Analysis of Socio-Spatial Differences in Germany for the Definition of Online Milieus. Journal of International Business Research and Marketing, Volume 2, Issue 6, pp. 37-59, doi:10.18775/jibrm.1849-8558.2015.26.3005
presentation:
From Social Stratification to Lifestyles
- Slides of presentation
- Sinus milieus in Germany, official website
- German Wikipedia page on Sinus milieus
- English Wikipedia page on sociology of culture
Cultural Capital and Education in Japan
- Questionnaire on cultural activities
- Survey Outcome 1
- Survey Outcome 2
Further Reading
- Yamamoto Y, Brinton MC. Cultural Capital in East Asian Educational Systems: The Case of Japan. Sociology of Education. 2010;83(1):67-83. doi:10.1177/0038040709356567
- Kataoka, Emi (2017): Cultural Prestige and Classificatory Systems as Class Habitus: Gendered "View" of Culture and Effect of Intergenerational Social Mobility. In: 駒澤大學文學部研究紀要, 75, pp. 105-133.
Milieus in Tokyo
- HIGUCHI Naoto / ITO Midori / TANABE Shunsuke / MATSUTANI Mitsuru (2010): Explaining Japan's Lack of Green Parties : A Social-Milieu Approach. In: 徳島大学社会科学研究 23, pp. 73-105.
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Unit 4: German Dialects & Regional Languages
keywords:
regional variation, dialects, dialect features
texts:
- Stevenson, Patrick (1997): The German-speaking World: A Practical Introduction to Sociolinguistic Issues. Taylor & Francis Routledge. pp. 61-81.
- Johnson, Sally / Natalie Braber (2008): Exploring The German Language. Cambridge University Press. pp. 246-255
presentation:
Park, Fukuda, Haori,
Georg Wenker
Deutscher Sprachatlas
Atlas Deutsche Alltagssprache
Isoglosses
Deutsche Welle on German Dialects (C1 level)
Exercise
Locate dialects based on main isoglosses
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Unit 5: The Development of the Bürgertum (bourgeoisie) and Standard Language Ideology
keywords:
standard language, correctness, codification, language ideologies
text:
Milroy, James (2007): The Ideology of the Standard Language. In: Llamas, Carmen / Mullany, Louise / Stockwell, Peter (eds.): The Routledge Companion to Sociolinguistics. London: Routledge. pp. 133–139.
presentation:
Phan, Shibata, Suzuki, Dai
Modelling the Norms of the Standard Language
Die tun-Periphrase im Deutschen
Ulrich Ammon: Social forces that determine what is standard in a language
Bourgeoisie vs. Nobility in the Late 18th Century
Natürliche und affectirte Handlungen des Lebens
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Unit 6: Standard German as a Pluricentric Language and Language Attitudes in Non-dominating Centers (Austria, Switzerland)
keywords:
pluricentricity, standard German, variation, attitudes
text:
Muhr, Rudolf (2004): Language Attitudes and language conceptions in non-dominating varieties of pluricentric languages. In: Trans, 15, The Unifying Aspects of Cultures.
presentation:
Nishida, Yoshida, Ueno
Austrian German
Class Materials on Austrian German
Exercise on Austriacisms
Helvetisms - Swiss Variants in Standard German
German Wikipedia
English Wikipedia
Standard German in Switzerland
Usage of Standard and Swiss German in Switzerland - A Survey by the Swiss Government (2014)
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Unit 7: Identity and Politeness in Discourse: Germany and Switzerland
keywords:
politeness, ideologies, Swiss German dialect
text:
Locher, Miriam A. / Luginbühl, Martin (2019): Discussions on Swiss and German Politeness in Online Sources. In: Ogiermann, Eva / Blitvich, Pilar / Garcés-Conejos (eds): From Speech Acts to Lay Understandings of Politeness: Multilingual and Multicultural Perspectives. Cambridge: CUP, pp. 250-279.
presentation:
Inoue, Tanaka, Nakazato, Tsutani
Politeness
Approaches to define "politeness" in linguistics
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Unit 8: Political Systems and Political Cultures in Switzerland
keywords:
political system, consensus, democracy
text:
Bochsler, Daniel / Hänggli, Regula / Häusermann, Silja (2015): Introduction: Consensus Lost? Disenchanted Democracy in Switzerland. In: Swiss Political Science Review, Volume 21, Issue 4, Special Issue: “Consensus lost? Disenchanted Democracy in Switzerland”, pp. 475-490. (https://doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12191) pdf
presentation:
Sawa
Direct Democracy and Voting Systems
- Class Material: Pros and Cons Direct Democracy
- Wikipedia: First-past-the-post voting (Mehrheitswahl / Majorzwahl)
- Wikipedia: Proportional representation (Verhältniswahl / Proporzwahl)
- Wikipedia: Duverger's law
- Wikipedia: Popular initiative in Switzerland (Volksinitiative)
- Wikipedia: Referendum
- Youtube video: What did democracy really mean in Athens?
The Political System in Switzerland - Online Resources
- The Swiss Confederation - A Brief Guide
- Modern Direct Democracy
- Youtube video: How Direct Democracy Works In Switzerland
Konsens vs. Mehrheitsdemokratie / Consensus vs. Majority Democracy
In what sense is Switzerland a "Consensus Democracy"
Consensus democracy
  • Power sharing
  • Inclusion of minorities
  • Balance of decision
  • Representation at the expense of responsiveness
  • Focus on legitimate process
  • CH paradigmatic case?
Majority democracy
  • Concentration of power
  • Decision-making capacity
  • Assertiveness
  • Responsiveness at the expense of representation
  • Focus on legitimate outcome
  • GB as a paradigmatic case
Influence of Campaigning in Direct Democracy

Probability of government success as a function of direction and intensity of campaign.

1. Influence on initiatives:
(Direction: in favor of government’s position (0) - opposing the government’s position (1))

2. Influence on referendums:
(Direction: in favor of government’s position (1) - opposing the government’s position (0))

Direct Democracy in Japan?
- Okamoto, Mitsuhiko; Ganz, Nils; Serdült, Uwe (2014). Direct Democracy in Japan. c2d Working Papers Series 47, Zentrum für Demokratie Aarau (ZDA).
- Solís, Mireya (2019): Japan’s consolidated democracy in an era of populist turbulence. Brookings Policy Brief.
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Unit 9: Linguistic Framing and Controversial Concepts in the History of the Federal Republic of Germany
keywords:
semantic battles, framing
text:
Felder, Ekkehard (2017): Legal Text and Pragmatics: Semantic Battles or the Power of the Declarative in Specialized Discourse. In: Pragmatics and Law: Practical and Theoretical Perspectives. Edited by Francesca Poggi and Alessandro Capone. Berlin u.a.: Springer Verlag (Perspectives in Philosophy, Pragmatics & Psychology. Vol 10), pp. 165–192. here: 173-182
presentation:
Yamasawa, Sato, Tsubakimoto, Motohashi
Exercise on Controversial Concepts in English
material used in classed
Exercise on Controversial Concepts in German
material used in classed
Examples
Metalinguistically Marked Expression in the German Weekly "DIE ZEIT" (1946-2011)
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Unit 10: Far Right Politics and the Language of the Nazis
keywords:
lingua tertii imperii, Nazi language
text:
Klemperer, Victor (2013): The Language of the Third Reich. LTI – Lingua Tertii Imperii. A Philologist’s Notebook. Translated by Martin Brady. London, New York: Bloomsbury Academic. (extract)
presentation:
Azuma, Shim, Katagiri, Yamada
Victor Klemperer
- English Wikipedia Page on Victor Klemperer
- English Wikipedia on LTI
- Documentary "Die Sprache lüge nicht" (in German)
- Documentary "Language Does Not Lie" (in English)
Nazi Language
  1. What role did language play in the Nazi's ascend to power?
  2. How does Nazi language reflect Nazi ideology?
  3. How was language used to create and dehumanize social groups?
  4. How did the Nazi use language to soften the truth of their atrocities?
examples used in class
Nazi German - A View from Outside
Brinitzer, C. (Hrsg.): Cassell’s war and post-war German dictionary / by Carl Brintizer. London: Cassell, 1945
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Unit 11: Germany as a Post-migrant Society
keywords:
migration, post-migrant paradigm, sociology
text:
Foroutan, Naika (2019): The Post-migrant Paradigm. In: Bock, Jan-Jonathan / Macdonald, Sharon (eds.): Refugees Welcome?: Difference and Diversity in a Changing Germany. New York, Oxford: Berghahn, pp. 121-142.
presentation:
Haeger, Isozaki, Lee, Osada
Naika Foroutan
- Wikipedia page of N. Fouroutan
- Naika Foroutan: Post-migrant Societies: Plural Democracies in Change (Video, in English)
Migration statistics and reports provided by government institutions
Data provided by the Statistisches Bundesamt / Federal Statistical Office of Germany
- Statistics on Migration in Germany by Destatis - Statistisches Bundesamt (in English)

Data provided by the Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF) / Federal Office for Migration and Refugees
- Migration report 2020 / Migrationsbericht 2020 (in German)
- Key results in English
- Educational and Labour Migration Monitoring: Issuance of Residence Titles to Third-Country Nationals
- More reports on Migration & Integration

Bundeszentralt für politische Bildung / Federal Agency for Civic Education
- Historical and Current Development of Migration to and from Germany
Stereotypes on German and Migrants
- Task during class
- Official website of "Datteltäter"
- Datteltäter TV channel
- Datteltäter youtube channel
Games
Serious Online Game on Migration: "Auf und davon" (in German)
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Unit 12: Multilingualism in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland
keywords:
multilingualism, language policy, language legislation, language maintenance
text:
Adler, Astrid / Beyer, Rahel (2018): Languages and language policies in Germany. In: Gerhard Stickel (ed.): National language institutions and national languages. Contributions to the EFNIL Conference 2017 in Mannheim. Budapest: Research Institute for Linguistics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, pp. 221-242.
presentation:
Yuasa, Newton, Srisukato
Ethnic Plurality and Multilingualism in Germany
- Wikipedia: Languages in Germany
- Wikipedia: European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
- National minorities in Germany and their languages: Brochure by the German Ministry of the Interior
Statistics on Multilingualism
Multilingual countries: Languages spoken at home

source, raw data

Ethnic minorities in Germany

source
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Unit 13: German Multiethnolects
keywords:
migration, ethnolects, non-standard varieties
text:
Freywald, Ulrike / Mayr, Katharina / Özçelik, Tiner / Wiese, Heike (2011): Kiezdeutsch as a multiethnolect. In: Kern, Friederike & Selting, Margret (eds.): Ethnic Styles of Speaking in European Metropolitan Areas. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 45–73.
presentation:
Zeng, Schilling
Xenolekt / Foreigner Talk
German Wikipedia article "Xenolekt"
Exercise on xenolectal grammar in German
Multiethnolects and Xenolect in Public Discourse
Japan Today on "Vietnamese" convenience store robber

German tabloid "BILD" on Kiezdeutsch

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Unit 14: Xenophobia and Linguistic Purism in Germany
keywords:
purism, linguistic purism, loan words, xenophobia
text:
Pfalzgraf, Heiko (2009): Linguistic Purism in the History of German. In: Horan, Geraldine / Langer, Nils / Watts, Sheila (eds): Landmarks in the History of the German Language. Frankfurt am Main et. al.: Peter Lang, pp. 137-168.
presentation:
Kouadri, Fukunaga
Purism - Definition and Examples
- Materials used in class
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Final Paper
Contents
Write 1500 words on the topic of your presentation. In particular, answer the question of how language and culture / society are interrelated. If possible, work with examples from German. (It is also possible to use examples from other languages.)
Deadline
Wednesday, July 30, 23.59
How to submit
Submit via the Moodle page of this course (section "Submit your essay here...")