Module Identifier GEM0330  
Module Title MOTHER-TONGUE AND FATHERLAND: LANGUAGE & POLITICS IN GERMANY  
Academic Year 2007/2008  
Co-ordinator Dr Winifred V Davies  
Semester Semester 2  
Pre-Requisite Normally a 2, 1 degree in German Studies  
Co-Requisite GEM0130 , GEM0230  
Course delivery Lecture   10 Hours.  
  Seminars / Tutorials   10 Hours.  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Assessment Essay: 1 x 5000 word essay  75%
Semester Assessment Seminar Presentation: Lead 2 seminars25%
Supplementary Assessment Resubmission of essay  100%

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module students should be able to.
1.   demonstrate that they have acquired a knowledge and understanding of the major theoretical issues raised during the module.
2.   discuss critically the debates surrounding issues of language and power.
3.   write about theories and issues in a well-structured and well-argued way.
4... undertake further postgraduate research

Brief description

The main aims are:

1.   To consider in depth the role of language in political processes and the relationship between language and politics.
2.   To familiarise students with sociolinguistic debates relating to the above topics on the basis of case studies.
3.   To introduce students to theoretical issues relating to the above topics (e.g. linguistic relativity, linguistic determinism)
4.   To encourage students to engage with issues of language and power

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
Ahlzweig, C (1994) Muttersprache - Vaterland. Die deutsche und ihre Sprache Opladen
Bauer, G (1988) Sprache und Sprachlosigkeit im "Dritten Reich Koln
Bochman, K (1985) 'Pour une etude comparee de la glottopolitique des fascismes'in: Problemes de glottopolitique, A Winther, Rouen 119-29
Cameron, D (1992) Feminism and Linguistic Theory 2nd. Macmillan
Domarus, M (1965) Hitler. Reden und Proklamationen Munchen
Fairclough, N (1989) Language and Power Harlow
Frank, K (1992) Sprachgewalt. Die sprachliche Reproduktion der Geschlechterhierarchie Tubingen
Hellinger, M (1995) 'Language and gender' in: The German language and the real world ed. by P Stevenson, Oxford, 279-314
Hellinger, M (1990) Kontrastive feministische Linguistik: Mechanismen sprachlicher Diskriminierung im Englischen und Deutschen Munchen
Hellinger, M (ed) (1985) Sprachwandel und feministische Sprachpolitik Internationale Perspektiven, Opladen
Heringer, H (ed.) (1982) Holzfeuer im holzernen Ofen. Tubingen
Hutton, C (1999) Linguistics and the Third Reich London: New York. Routledge
Johnson, S On the status of female informants in Peter Schlobinski's "Stadsprache Berlin"in Linguistique Berichte, 246-55
Johnson, S (2000) The cultural politics of the 1998 reform of German orthography German Life and Letter 53: 106-25
Johnson, S A (1995) Gender, group identity and variation in the Berlin Urban Vernacular Bern
Klemperer, V (1957) Lingua Tertii Imperii - Notizbuch eines Philologen 3 Aufl. Halle
Maas, U (1984) Als der Geist der Gemeinschaft eine Sprache fand Opladen
Martin, V (1997) Der schimpfte mit ihren Schulern. Perspectives on the changing use of the in-suffix, in Littler, M Gendering German Studies, Oxford
Pusch, L (1984) Das Deutsche als Mannersprache
Pusch, L (ed) (1983) Feminismus: Inspektion der Herrenkultur
Samel, I (1995) Einfuhrung in die feministische Sprachwissenschaft Berlin
Schramm, H (ed) Frauensprache - Mannersprache, Frankfurt am Main
Stevenson, P & Theobald, J (eds) (2000) Relocating Germanness , London: Macmillan
Townson, M (1987) 'Language and politics - a case study of German fascism 1933-45'in: Sprache und Gesellschaft in deutschsprachigen Landern, edited by C V J Russ and C Volkmar Munchen, 275-96
Townson, M (1992) Mother-tongue and fatherland: Language and politics in German Manchester
Tromel-Plotz (1982) Frauensprache: Sprache der Veranderung

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 7