Upload
barnard-bryant
View
240
Download
6
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Language & Nationalism in Europe
Chapter 5: Northern Europe: Languages as Prime Markers of
Ethnic & National Identity
Q: What is “Northern Europe”?
• Finland + Aland Islands (Swedish lang)
• Sweden
• Denmark + Faroe Islands (Faroese)
• Norway
• Iceland
Some general characteristics of Northern Europe
• Religion:
• Relatedness of languages:
• Correspondence between statehood & national identity:– Exception:
Some general characteristics of Northern Europe
• Religion: majority Lutheran Protestant
• Relatedness of languages: All except Finnish & Sámi are closely related
• Correspondence between statehood & national identity: Good– Exception: Sámi people have no state or
territory of their own, and live in northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, & Russia
More on the languages:
• Uralic (Finno-Ugric): – Finnish & Sámi, which are NOT mutually
intelligible
• Indo-European (Germanic): – Swedish, Danish, & Norwegian, which are all
mutually intelligible– Faroese & Icelandic, which are not mutually
intelligible
Historical Background
9th-11th c: Norway, Denmark, Sweden emerge as kingdoms
1396: all three are united with Finland in Union of Kalmar
1450 & thereafter: wars between Sweden and dominant Denmark
1905: Norwegian independence
1917: Finnish independence
Historical Background, cont’d.
1918: Iceland gets home rule
1944: Iceland gains independence
Through 1980s: Sámi suffered harsh linguistic & cultural oppression
1973: Sámi parliament in Finland
1989: Sámi parliament in Norway
1993: Sámi parliament in Sweden
Development of written languages in Sweden & Denmark
• Denmark & Sweden: indigenous runic writing coexisted with Latin & Latin letters
• 1527 – Lutheranism became state religion in Sweden– 1541 Translation of Bible into Swedish (based on
Stockholm speech)
• 1536 -- Lutheranism became state religion in Denmark– 1550 Translation of Bible into Danish (based on
Copenhagen speech)
Development of written languages in Sweden & Denmark, cont’d.
• Conscious attempts to emphasize differences between Swedish & Danish
• 18th c Danish & Swedish become consolidated as national languages
• Swedish is dominant as the majority language in Scandinavia
• 19th c Danish suffers from conflict with German, Prussian wars
• Anti-German reaction takes form of pan-Scandinavianism
Norway
• Old Norse used as written language until 14th c
• 16th c -1814 – Danish used as written language during Danish rule
• 1840s large-scale collection of popular culture in local dialects
• Aasen collected dialectal information and codified Landsmaal, today know as Nynorsk
Norway, cont’d.
• 1864 Nynorsk grammar
• 1873 Nynorsk dictionary
• 1929 Bokmaal codified as literary standard distinct from Danish
• Bokmaal & Nynorsk now co-exist as standards, though Bokmaal dominates in the press and in schools
Norway, cont’d.
• Nynorsk appeals to rural population as being genuinely Norwegian; Bokmaal has urban, elite & foreign (Danish) associations
• Nynorsk supports greater range of genres, asserts rural/regional associations
• Regionalism is strong in Norway, but there is no trace of separatism
Finland
• Was part of Sweden, but Swedish was spoken only by the elite on the coast; Swedes did not suppress Finnish (as they did Danish) because they did not see it as a threat
Finland, cont’d.
• 1809 Finland awarded to Russia
• Mid 19th c Finnish language movement
• 1830s Codification of modern Finnish
• 1917 Finland becomes independent
Finland, cont’d.
• Finnish constitution grants equality to Finnish & Swedish
• Today 95% use Finnish, 5% use Swedish and use of Swedish in Finland is declining
• There are some Finnish minorities in N. Norway and Sweden
Sámi
• Sámi (aka “Lapps”) – Sámi is linguistically fragmented and under pressure to assimilate
• 30,000 – 35,000 speakers, most in Norway, 1/3 in Sweden and a few in Finland and Russia
Sámi, cont’d.
• North Sámi of Norway is dominant variety, with a written standard language
• Goal of unified Norwegian language had a negative impact on Sámi, and many Sámi are now monolingual Norwegian
Iceland
• Populated from Norway, Scotland, Ireland
• Linguistic and religious ties to Norway
• Medieval Iceland was independent, but later subjugated with Norway to Denmark
Iceland, cont’d.
• Icelandic unintelligible to Scandinavians by 16th c
• 16th c Icelandic Bible
• Danish was used as administrative language
Iceland, cont’d.
• 1830s Icelanders strove for political autonomy & linguistic purism, which persists today
• “Iceland is practically the only example in Europe (and possibly the world) of a linguistically homogeneous nation-state.”
• All Icelanders speak Icelandic as mother tongue
Iceland, cont’d.
• Little or no dialectal fragmentation
• Language is the primary symbol of identity/nationhood
• Ancient literary culture
• Geographical isolation
• Persistent focus on purism and avoidance of loanwords
Faroes
• Populated from Norway since 9th c, part of Norway since 11th c
• Faroese becomes distinct in Middle Ages
Faroes
• Subjugated to Denmark along with Norway, and remains a part of Denmark today
• Danish used as literary language
• 19th c Codification of Faroese
Faroes
• Today Faroese & Danish are both official languages and all Faroese learn Danish in school
• Faroese is strongly influenced by Danish, attempts to resist Danish by importing Icelandic words
• Some desire for independence, but this is unrealistic given economic ties to Denmark
Conclusions
• Language is an important mark of nationhood throughout this region
• Swedish & Danish were established first and inspired others to follow
• Finns, Sámi, Faroese & Icelanders had languages clearly distinct enough to be recognized as such
• Norwegian had greatest difficulty in establishing a separate linguistic identity
3 challenges to language and national identity in N. Europe:
1. Pan-Scandinavianism > Nordism promotes unity in the region, reducing distinctiveness & supporting teaching of other Scandinavian languages, giving the larger Germanic languages an advantage
2. Massive intrusion of English and other languages through the EU
3. New immigration from SE Europe & elsewhere – this is low, but Scandinavia is not longer homogeneous, and minorities “challenge the prevailing idea of the unity between nation, state, and culture”