The German Language and the Real World: Sociolinguistic, Cultural, and Pragmatic Perspectives on Contemporary German (Revised Edition)

Language has always been a major marker of cultural identity in the German-speaking world, and the reunification of Germany, with its dramatic political and cultural consequences, has led to an upsurge of interest in contemporary German. In this collection of essays, German linguists consider a wide range of topics, including language change, language in political discourse, language in Berlin after the wall, language and gender, the speech styles of youth subcultures, and language and television. Annotation. This collection of specially commissioned essays focuses on the forms, functions, and uses of contemporary German in the period of dynamic change following reunification. Some contributors address broad issueslanguage and national identity, the status of German as an international language, language change and attempts to fix the form of the language, and sociolinguistic variationwhile others examine topics of particular significance in the current sociopolitical climate. These include social change and linguistic variation in Berlin after the Wall, the political language of the Rightand Left, the speech of youth subcultures, language and gender, language and television, and language in intercultural communication. Reviews of the hardback edition ̀This volume fills a void in up-to-date English-language information on German linguistics. Highly recommended for all college and university collections, as well as public libraries.' Choice, 33: 3, November 1995 ̀The appearance of this collection is timely. . .it updates us on important, immediate issues affecting German language and society' ̀. . .while this work will be appreciated most by those focusing on sociolinguistics in the German-speaking context, those searching for comparative sociolinguistic material will find it a valuable source as well.' ̀All in all, Stevenson has organized an interesting and useful volume for Germanophile sociolinguists and for those interested in a multidimensional real German.' Language Learning, 46:1, March 1996 This collection of specially commissioned essays focuses on the forms, functions, and uses of contemporary German in the period of dynamic change following reunification. Some contributors address broad issueslanguage and national identity, the status of German as an international language, language change and attempts to fix the form of the language, and sociolinguistic variationwhile others examine topics of particular significance in the current sociopolitical climate. These include social change and linguistic variation in Berlin after the Wall, the political language of the Right and Left, the speech of youth subcultures, language and gender, language and television, and language in intercultural communication. Reviews of the hardback edition `This volume fills a void in up-to-date English-language information on German linguistics. Highly recommended for all college and university collections, as well as public libraries.'Choice, 33: 3, November 1995 `The appearance of this collection is timely...it updates us on important, immediate issues affecting German language and society'`...while this work will be appreciated most by those focusing on sociolinguistics in the German-speaking context, those searching for comparative sociolinguistic material will find it a valuable source as well.'`All in all, Stevenson has organized an interesting and useful volume for Germanophile sociolinguists and for those interested in a multidimensional real German.'Language Learning, 46:1, March 1996 The study of real language : observing the observers / Patrick Stevenson To what extent is German an international language? / Ulrich Ammon Germanness : language and nation / Florian Coulmas Norms and reforms : fixing the form of the language / Wolfgang Werner Sauer and Helmut Glück Directions of change in contemporary German / Helmut Glück and Wolfgang Werner Sauer After the Wall : social change and linguistic variation in Berlin / Helmut Schönfeld and Peter Schlobinski Theories of sociolinguistic variation in the German context / Norbert Dittmar Language. in intercultural communication / Martina Rost-Roth Critical linguistics and the study of institutional communication / Ruth Wodak Political discourse : the language of right and left in Germany / Siegfried Jäger Evaluation of language use in public discourse : language attitudes in Austria / Sylvia Moosmüller Language and gender / Marlis Hellinger Jugendsprachen : speech styles of youth subcultures / Peter Schlobinski Language and television / Werner Holly.