Language under totalitarianism

4 characteristics of Nazi propaganda

set phrases, military vocab, blended style, reduction of written language

2 ways language was a tool for radicalisation in WW2

to justify the war and to bolster morale

How are Nazi soldiers described in a 1944 Wehrmachtsbericht?

die heldenhaften Verteidiger

How did the Nazi newspaper der Stürmer describe Jews in 1929?

den jüdischen Feind von nebenan

how did der Stürmer describe Jews in 1944?

den jüdischen Feind auf der anderen Seite der Frontlinie

3 techniques of Aristotelian strategy used by Der Stürmer

polarisieren, profilieren, plausibilisieren

2 examples of Nazi camouflage terminology

Schutzhaft and Sonderbehandlung

1 Nazi abbreviation

RU = Rückkehr unerwünscht

1 way linguist Leo Weisgerber’s language use changed from 1929 to 1943

used new terms e.g. volkhaft

How does Musolff (2017) analyse Nazi language pragmatics?

Cognitive Semantic Analysis and Conceptual Metaphor Theory

Example of CMT

biological terms mapped with Jewishness

1 Jewish neologism

Judenangst

1 example of Nazi Fremdwortpurismus

Maschine > Gangwerk

How did a 1941 family use linguistic defiance?

they said their son died “für das Vaterland” instead of “für Führer und Vaterland”

2 Nazi fixed phrases

das ewige Deutschland, verschworene Gemeinschaft

What did Victor Klemperer describe as being encouraged by the Nazis?

Gläubigkeit, ohne zu verstehen

3 Nazi neologisms based on jud-

Entjudung, Judenhaus, judenrein

What happened at the 1942 Wannsee Konferenz?

Politicians openly discussed murder and the notetaker sanitized it with official language

What did the DDR think about BRD Vergangenheitsbewältigung?

they condemned it

What is the Vier Varianten These?

East, West, Austrian, Swiss

1 English loan allowed in DDR

High Society

What did Stevenson (2002) report about the DDR?

patrol boat escapees

3 levels of discourse in the DDR

public, semi public, private

2 Russian loans in the GDR

Kollektiv, Kombinat

2 DDR set phrases

kühne Erbauer des Sozialismus, von weltgeschichtlicher Bedeutung

3 BRD neologisms

Alternativbewegung, Gastarbeiter, Mitbestimmung

2 Nazi words that both DDR and BRD dropped

Wehrmacht, entdeutschen

What is a variety?

a set of linguistic forms which pattern according to social factors

What did Wilhelm von Humboldt say?

Language varies when a nation’s spirit varies