Language & Nationalism in Europe Chapter 13: Language & national identity in Europe

Changes in Language Use Some languages have been almost extinguished by violence: Yiddish, Irish Violence involved in the creation of Spain, Germany, Croatia National identities & histories are often artificially constructed Nationalism is part of modernization & standardization of languages serves the communication needs of modern societies

Role of EU EU has facilitated new ties and new identities Within the EU, it is possible to be both a nationalist and a transnationalist at the same time, creating “multinational nationalists” “Nationality becomes simply a question of identity, choice, and introspection” -- some think it will become a thing of the past

But nationalism is still with us! 1990s witnessed violent nationalism & ethnic cleansing 1990s 15 new states were created in Europe, evidence of strong nationalist aspirations “We are witnessing 2 parallel & apparently contradictory phenomena: the abandonment of nationalism and the re-emergence of nationalism”

The role of language Herder: “one’s true homeland is one’s language” “to kill a nation there is nothing more deadly than to kill its national language” “But if language inhabits the realm of emotions, it is also involved in state formation and in functioning as a citizen in a modern (linguistically) unified state”

Final notes The new nations are new politically, but not culturally (they were there all along) Unfortunately, violence works -- no one ever noticed all the human rights violations against the Kosovars until they revolted Postmodern vision: decentered centers, information technology