32.2852, FYI: [Recorded talk] Austrian German or German in Austria: on a problem case, since 1848, in academic enquiry [Österreichsiches Deutsch oder Deutsch in Österreich: ein Problemfall der Wissenschaftsgeschichte, seit 1848]

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-32-2852. Wed Sep 08 2021. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 32.2852, FYI: [Recorded talk] Austrian German or German in Austria: on a problem case, since 1848, in academic enquiry [Österreichsiches Deutsch oder Deutsch in Österreich: ein Problemfall der Wissenschaftsgeschichte, seit 1848]

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Date: Wed, 08 Sep 2021 03:56:19
From: Alexander Rauscher [alexander.rauscher at gmail.com]
Subject: [Recorded talk] Austrian German or German in Austria: on a problem case, since 1848, in academic enquiry [Österreichsiches Deutsch oder Deutsch in Österreich: ein Problemfall der Wissenschaftsgeschichte, seit 1848]

 
I had the honour read Dollinger's most recent book early and to host his talk
last week (the week of Aug. 22nd). 

Summary: Do we speak Austrian German or German in Austria? Though the answer
is quite clear, German Studies would beg to differ. The case of “German” is
synthesized in Dollinger's new general-interest book [2021, in German, &
related 2019 title in English], which follows the logic: if academia fails to
produce results over years, the speakers of the varieties must be informed.
The idea seems to be working, as this fact-based, funny, sometimes cheeky book
not only shows how *not* to use millions of public research funding these past
few decades, but above all why the concept of a Standard Austrian German would
finally need to be implemented in German Studies, teacher education and in
Austrian schools without ands, ifs & buts, and free from linguistic
inferiority complexes. The book’s success, going through three editions in as
many months, suggests that public success may be of relevance in the social
sciences — underscored by a congratulatory note from the (Green Party)
Austrian president Alexander van der Bellen. 
 
The case of Austrian Standard German - which is what Austrians speak when they
give lectures in German (such as Dollinger’s lecture) - shows that the
Humanities and Social Sciences cannot work without theory and that, without
social theory, one may drift off into historical and German-nationalist
discourse, which otherwise would have little influence today. The lecture also
shows how empirical approaches do not necessarily turn out to be “modern” or
cutting-edge and that, on the contrary, ideas from the 1880s, perhaps even
großdeutsch (German nationalist) ideas, may manifest themselves or creep in
through the backdoor in indirect ways today via the way how we conceptualize
the German language. Dollinger calls that “hegemonic linguistics” and shows
that not all is well in Germanisitik. Do we need an Austriazistik? Some say we
do, while Dollinger hopes that German Studies can still be turned around.
 
 
Books on the topic:

Dollinger, Stefan. 2021. Österreichisches Deutsch oder Deutsch in Österreich?
Identitäten im 21. Jahrhundert. Wien: new academic press. TOC and first
chapter: https://www.academia.edu/42767781/
 
Dollinger, Stefan. 2019. The Pluricentricity Debate: On Austrian German and
Other Germanic Standard Varieties. London: Routledge. TOC and first chapter:
https://www.academia.edu/37714477/ 
 
Dollinger, Stefan. 2019. Debunking "pluri-areality": on the pluricentric
perspective of national varieties. Journal of Linguistic Geography 7:98-112.
Online: https://www.academia.edu/38389481/ 
 



Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics

Subject Language(s): German (deu)

Language Family(ies): German





 



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