ideolgoy and nation building
356
"As to its topic, this paper is to be situated in the context of a wider research
project intended to provide a historical snapshot of mainstream European thinking
about nations and national identification. The main data base consists of a
comprehensive collection of articles on ethnic conflicts (whether intra- or
internationally), separatist and unificational movements, and other topics -- such as
minority politics -- involving issues of group identity associated with 'nationality,'
from the mainstream daily press in at least 80Vo of the countries of Europe (both
East and West), over a three-month period in 1991."
newspapers methodology
357
"Third, and most importantly, more weight is attached to the implicit frame
of referencet,h e supposedlyc ommon world of beliefsi n which the reports (or the
editorial comments) are anchored, than to the explicit statements made by the
reporters(o r commentators)T. his approachi s crucialf or the investigationo f widely
shared ideologies. And fortunately modern linguistics, in particular linguistic
pragmaticsp, rovides us with fully adequate tools to undertake exactly this kind of
study."
How has online stuff complicated this?
358
German issue - US
"pot or salad bowl?], juxtaposed to an article on a dispute over voting rights at the
municipal level for minority members in Germany. Though the physical juxtaposition
of the two articlesi s clearlyb asedo n a judgmento f topical relatednesst,h e German
issue is phrased exclusively in terms of the sharing of political power and the
possiblei nfringemento f ethnicG ermanr ights,w hereasl anguageis explicitlyf ocused
on as an issue in the US:"
The Official English movement is indeed a sufficiently interesting phenomenon to
deserve special mention in connection with the multiethnicity of the United States.s
But implicit in this German report is the idea that the coherence of a society
strongly benefits from the existence of just one language.
"Linguistic strife is presented as an important force towards social disintegration,
triggered by a worsening economy. Because of the need for linguistic coherence,
German as the only language of Germany is taken for granted. The issue, which is
in reality as acute as in the American case (though there is not one single
'threatening'alternatives ucha s Spanishi n the US), doesn ot need to be mentioned."
feature clusters...what creates a nation? the basques, Ukraine etc. (cultural erosion - lack of "distinct language"
360
Moldovians representations
economy:
"The relationshipb etween( multi-)ethnicitya nd economicp rosperityi s a topic which
deservesm ore than the few linesw e can spendh ere. In general,t here seemst o be
an intuitive, almost automatic, associationb etween the rise of nationalism and
economic problems. Thus a weak economy is a much favored excuse for
manifestationso f racism.B ut if economicf actorsc an trigger interethnic conflicts,
ethnicg roupsm ust be seena s socio-economicalluyn differentiatedw holesw hich act
and react en masse under economic pressure.' The economy, which may soothe
slumberingin terethnicc onflictsi n timeso f generalp rosperity,i s seena s flexiblea nd
unstable, whereas ethnicity is seen as a stable and timeless element of social
stratificationa, stratificationw hichl argelyc oincidesw ith socio-economidc ifferences."
362
Homogenity
"In other words, the ideal model of society is mono-lingual, mono-ethnic,
mono-religious,m ono-ideologicalN. ationalism,i nterpreteda s the strugglet o keep
groups as 'pure' and homogeneous as possible, is considered to be a positive
attitude within the dogmao f homogeneismP. luri-ethnico r pluri-linguals ocietiesa re
seen as problem-prone, because they require forms of state organization that run
counter to the 'natural' characteristicso f groupingso f people"
dogma
"holding" places together
suspect - anyone with a different background - Germany
364
"In contrast to the German emphasis on an ethnic definition of. das Volk (in
terms of language, descent, culture, etc.), the French version of homogeneism
stresses the importance of territoriality. The difference in emphasis has clear
historicalr oots.T he German questf or a nation-statew as considerablyfa cilitatedb y
the spread of German dialects across a large part of Europe. Though only few
people activelyu seda commonl anguageo f culture,p oliticallyt he geographicaal rea
in question had been so fragmented that language was not only a useful, but
virtually the only possible, focus for unity. Moreover, by the time of German
unification in the second half of the nineteenth century, European nationalism was
taking a linguistict urn (expressedi,. a., in the insertion of a languageq uestion in
national censuses)B. y contrast, when France needed to identify le peuple after the
French revolution,t he French languagew as no more than an administrativem eans
for state-wide communication, a language which was shared (even in its dialectal
variants) by less than 50 Va of the population. As a result, the search for selfidentification
led to a reification of France itself as a natural and indivisible entity,
the French 'people' consisting of everyone living in its territory"
365
"In spite of this expressiono f astonishmenct oncerningt he lack of tolerance
for linguisticd iscontinuityi n the Slovakc ase,t he territoriallyb asedF rench version
of nationalismh as as much trouble acceptingd iscontinuitiesw: ithin its borders,
Franceis one.T his is clearlye xpressedin the debateo ver Corsicans eparatism,a nd
in particulart he official acceptanceo f the very notion of a 'Corsicanp eople.'"
366
Welsh language - children -- German comparisons
Irish (Gaelic)
Beligian "enrichment"
367
"In the Serbian-Croact ase,e xistingli nguisticd ifferences
(underscored by a different orthography) have become highly symbolic for the
discontinuityw, hereas in the Flemish-Dutch case (where the linguistic differences
are of almost exactly the same type and degree) language is the main symbol of
cultural unity."
368
European view of tribes in Africa
369
push "nations"
370
"battelfield" of language
371
" In other words, the radicalism of newly autonomous or independent nationalist
governmentiss not a product of their own ideology,b ut rather an understandable,
yetp otentiallyd angerousr,e actiont o generations-lonogp pressionb y the totalitarian
imperial authorities. These hyper-nationalist reactions, however, threaten the
possibilitieso f future collaboration among newly autonomous regions"
372
"It is only natural that people revolt when they are deprived of their own
languagea nd culture. Consequentlyt,h e natural,n ormal and desireds ocietyi s one
in which these forms of oppression are absent: the nation-state in which people
sharing one language, culture, religion and history live together within a sovereign
state system. Here again, we find homogeneism as the underlying premisse.
The argumenti n favor of homogeneismre mainsc omplexa nd often obscure.
In relation to Eastern Europe, it is blendedw ith the discourseo f anti-communism.
The 'natural resistance' movements are directed against (the remnants of)
communist rule."
373
"Nationalismh as been a notorious causeo f conflicts,a nd has led to some of the
worste ventsi n history.A lso, the 'liberated'Moldaviansa nd Kazakhso r Slovaks,a s
well as the liberated East-Germans, seem to be building a track record of
oppressioann d racisma gainstm inorities.E very minority hasi ts own minorities.A nd
for members of minority groups, be they immigrants in Western Europe, or Gagauz
people in Moldavia, the 'national' government may be as bad as the empire,
becausein both casesv ery little attention is given to their linguistic,c ultural or
whatever rights. Only the structural level of the debate has shifted. Nothing has
beena chievedt o guaranteem ore democracyi n a pluralist sense."
natural resistance
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