was partial and would support, ignore or fight language policy depending on
the position of the writers. Only a minority was of the opinion that language
and nationality need not coincide at all costs. The idea that the coexistence of
German and French could have positive aspects was even less popular and it is
not until very recently that it has gained support.
The Warsaw conference of 1993 quite naturally devoted a lot of attention to
Slavic languages. This tradition was continued in Saarbrücken, albeit on a more
modest scale. Roland Marti (Saarbrücken) „Language policy in the border areas
of the Slavic linguistic continuum“ gives a tour d’horizon of the situation in the
Slavic area. He distinguishes between external (directed towards non-Slavic
languages) and internal language policy (directed towards other Slavic lan¬
guages). Most interesting is the internal language policy. It has led to the
creation of new standard languages in areas that were formerly roofed over by
other Slavic standard languages. Even more remarkable are attempts to unify
existing standard languages: the best known case is the Serbo-Croatian
language. Two contributions describe the relationship between German and
Polish. One of them focuses on Germany, the other on Poland. Alicja Nagórko
(Warsaw) „Poles in Germany as mirrored by language“ compares the linguistic
situation of Polish migrant workers in the Ruhr area around the turn of the
century with the language of Solidamosc emigration and the so-called Aus-
siedler (ethnic Germans returning to Germany). The former resisted assim¬
ilation for quite a long time and they even left an imprint on the German
language in the Ruhr area. The latter, on the contrary, are quite eager to assim¬
ilate. Marek Laziriski (Warsaw) „Language policy in Poland towards the
German minority“ tackles a topic that is politically rather sensitive. The uneasy
relationship between the German minority and the Polish majority has historical
roots and the situation demands considerable circumspection on both sides. It
seems, however, that tensions are lessening somehow and there are some
positive developments to be noted, especially as far as the situation of the
German language at school is concerned.
Two contributions are devoted to a classic example of a multi-ethnic, multi¬
lingual state and its successor, viz. the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Austria.
Friedrich E. Prinz (Munich) „Language and nation in the Bohemian countries
(1848-1938)“ devotes his attention mainly to one facet of language policy in
the Empire, viz. the Mährischer Ausgleich. This attempt to ease linguistic and
ethnic tensions introduced the principle of personal autonomy (self-declaration)
by allowing the citizens to opt for a national register of their choice. Peter
Wiesinger (Vienna) „On the linguistic situation and language policy in the
minority areas of Austria“ describes the present situation in Austria. The six
officially recognised minorities are granted far-reaching protection in cultural
and linguistic matters. Even though language policy protects and supports
minority languages, they are diminishing, especially with the younger gen¬
eration.
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