Studying the Choice of Language in a Multilingual Environment: Representations and Practices in Bohemia during the Age of Enlightenment
Madl, Claire
Studying the Choice of Language in a Multilingual Environment: Representations and Practices in Bohemia during the Age of Enlightenment - 2013.
49
Using the concepts of practices and representations, this paper seeks to find a way to analyze specific language choices for interpersonal communication in a multilingual environment, whether these choices appear singular or conformist. The field of research is the Habsburg monarchy, especially Bohemia at the end of the 18th century. Important factors impacting the phenomenon of multilingualism in this area are presented. The precise occurrence of various languages is then determined on the basis of book production, book collections, and what we know of the reading practices of local residents. An initial outline of the main characteristics of various languages can then be traced, with French used mainly by aristocrats and the sciences more often read in German than in French. Meanwhile, Latin was still used for legal literature, while Czech had become mainly an oral language used by the common people. Contemporary testimonies provide us with other (sometimes conflicting) representations of languages, with French being downgraded, mother tongues acquiring exclusive value, and the use of some languages systematically associated with a specific social group. This paper then focuses on Franz Anton von Hartig (1758–1797), an individual for whom solid documentation enables us to define his personal linguistic abilities, the representations he shared, and his main linguistic practices, especially in his diplomatic activities. This case study analyzes the strategies he implemented in interpersonal communicative situations in order to free himself from dominant representations and practices and confer an original meaning to his language choices.
Studying the Choice of Language in a Multilingual Environment: Representations and Practices in Bohemia during the Age of Enlightenment - 2013.
49
Using the concepts of practices and representations, this paper seeks to find a way to analyze specific language choices for interpersonal communication in a multilingual environment, whether these choices appear singular or conformist. The field of research is the Habsburg monarchy, especially Bohemia at the end of the 18th century. Important factors impacting the phenomenon of multilingualism in this area are presented. The precise occurrence of various languages is then determined on the basis of book production, book collections, and what we know of the reading practices of local residents. An initial outline of the main characteristics of various languages can then be traced, with French used mainly by aristocrats and the sciences more often read in German than in French. Meanwhile, Latin was still used for legal literature, while Czech had become mainly an oral language used by the common people. Contemporary testimonies provide us with other (sometimes conflicting) representations of languages, with French being downgraded, mother tongues acquiring exclusive value, and the use of some languages systematically associated with a specific social group. This paper then focuses on Franz Anton von Hartig (1758–1797), an individual for whom solid documentation enables us to define his personal linguistic abilities, the representations he shared, and his main linguistic practices, especially in his diplomatic activities. This case study analyzes the strategies he implemented in interpersonal communicative situations in order to free himself from dominant representations and practices and confer an original meaning to his language choices.
Réseaux sociaux