LINGUIST List 12.1005

Tue Apr 10 2001

Books: Language & Culture

Editor for this issue: Naomi Ogasawara <naomilinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Kimberly Kahn, Language & Culture: Language & Nationalism in Europe

LANGUAGE AND NATIONALISM IN EUROPE
Edited by Stephen Barbour, Oxford University, and 
Cathie Carmichael, Middlesex University

This volume examines the role of language in the present and past
creation of social, cultural, and national identities in Europe,
considering the way in which language may sometimes reinforce national
identity (as in England) while tending to subvert the nation-state (as
in the United Kingdom).

The book describes the interactive roles of language, ethnicity,
culture, and institutions in the character and formation of
nationalism and identity throughout Europe. A select team of
international contributors consider various questions drawing on
evidence from the majority of European countries.

The book concludes with a consideration of the current relative status
of the languages of Europe and how these and the identities they
reflect are changing and evolving.

Contents: 
Chapter 1: Introduction: Nationalism, Language, Europe, Stephen Barbour 
Chapter 2: Britain and Ireland: The Varying Significance of Language for 
 Nationalism, Stephen Barbour 
Chapter 3: France: 'One State, One Nation, One Language?', Anne Judge 
Chapter 4: The Iberian Peninsula: Conflicting Linguistic Nationalisms, 
 Clare Mar-Molinero 
Chapter 5: Northern Europe: Languages as Prime Markers of Ethnic and National 
 Identity, Lars S. Vik�r 
Chapter 6: The Low Countries: A Study in Sharply Contrasting Nationalisms, 
 Robert B. Howell 
Chapter 7: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg: The Total Coincidence 
 of Nations and Speech Communities?, Stephen Barbour 
Chapter 8: Language and Nationalism in Italy: Language as a Weak Marker of 
 Identity, Carlo Ruzza 
Chapter 9: Contrasting Ethnic Nationalisms: Eastern Central Europe - Hungary, 
 Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, Barbara T�rnquist-Plewa 
Chapter10: 'A People Exists and that People has its Language': Language 
 Nationalism in the Balkans, Cathie Carmichael 
Chapter11: Greece and European Turkey: From Religious to Linguistic Identity, 
 Peter Trudgill 
Chapter12: Coming to Terms with the Past: Language and Nationalism in the 
 Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, the Baltic States, and the Russian 
 Federation, Cathie Carmichael 
Chapter13: Conclusions: Language and National Identity in a Changing Europe, 
 Cathie Carmichael

February 2001 336 pp.; 4 maps, 1 fig
0-19-823671-9 $70.00
Oxford University Press