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Analysing voice in language policy: plurality and conflict in Slovene government documents

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Abstract

Contemporary analyses of language policy often tend to presume ideological uniformity, rather than focus on the contrasts between various positions, and the power struggles that those differences bring about. In this paper, I present an approach that implements the notion of voice in language policy analysis to denote the ideological positions and interests of different social actors, in this case as reflected in government documents. I propose a method of analysis based on the discourse-historical approach in critical discourse analysis and demonstrate how this exposes different social actors behind policy documents by focussing on the traces of their participation in policymaking. I analyse two different texts produced by the Slovene government and intended to specify its language policy strategy for the 2007–2011 and 2012–2016 periods. I show that there are two hegemonic voices of linguists behind both texts, one based on values of national unity, and a second based on human rights and broad inclusion. Alongside these, there are various voices from other domains of Slovene society and EU policy, all recontextualised through the prisms of the two dominant voices.

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Notes

  1. See http://www.stat.si/popis2002/en/default.htm (Accessed 3 June 2013).

  2. http://www.uradni-list.si/1/content?id=50690 (Accessed 3 June 2013).

  3. See http://www.uradni-list.si/1/content?id=80272 (Accessed 3 June 2013).

  4. For more information, see the Ministry of Culture website (archived): http://www.arhiv.mk.gov.si/si/delovna_podrocja/slovenski_jezik/predstavitev_podrocja/priprava_resolucije_za_nacionalni_program_za_jezikovno_politiko_20122016/ (Accessed 3 June 2013).

  5. See http://www.mizks.gov.si/fileadmin/mizks.gov.si/pageuploads/zakonodaja/predlogi/kultura/NPJP12-16_osnutek_april_2012.pdf (Accessed 3 June 2013).

  6. Due to the timing of the research presented in this paper, these new and significantly different versions were not taken into account. They are however analysed in my later work (see Savski 2016).

  7. Due to space constraints, I do not present a more detailed overview of the categories which fall under these strategies. I therefore provide descriptions of concepts where necessary in the analysis itself. For a detailed typological breakdown of linguistic means, see Reisigl and Wodak (2001).

  8. Both texts were analysed in their original Slovene-language versions. The analysis in the following sections is organised into a narrative, and provides short translated extracts to demonstrate the diverse voices present in the texts, and the typical strategies that they employ. All translations are mine. Due to constraints of space, some extracts have been abbreviated.

  9. I will see this as similar to the relation between sound and fallacious argumentation, e.g. between substantiating a claim with sound empirical evidence or attempting to validate it through force or threat.

  10. I have named the voices according to the period of social development to which their ideological background belongs. See Neustupný (2006) for an overview of tendencies in language policy in different periods of social development.

  11. I introduce the STATE IS CONTAINER metaphor in part for explanatory purposes—it is not inherently present in the texts, however it does adequately explain the reasoning behind the early modern voice.

  12. For a detailed overview of tendencies in EU policy on and practice of multilingualism, see Krzyžanowski and Wodak (2010, 2011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YL, UK

    Kristof Savski

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  1. Kristof Savski
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Appendix: extracts in Slovene

Appendix: extracts in Slovene

[…] Organiziranost slovenske jezikovne skupnosti se je zelo približala idealu enojezikovne narodne države 19. in 20. stoletja; ne samo uradno, temveč skoraj vse javno in zasebno sporazumevanje med prebivalci Republike Slovenije svobodno poteka v jeziku te skupnosti […]

(Extract 1: R0711)

[…] Smiselno znanstveno in strokovno objavljanje v slovenščini je nujno, če želimo, da znanstvena sfera o svojih spoznanjih učinkovito seznanja slovensko javnost, na ta način v njenem jeziku sooblikuje družbo znanja […]

(Extract 2: R1216)

Slovenski geopolitični položaj se je za ohranjanje in urejen razvoj domačega jezika izkazal v zgodovini za zelo zahtevnega. Demografsko razmeroma šibka jezikovna skupnost je bila v zgodovini pogosto izpostavljena mešanju in sunkom, ki jih spodbujajo pomembne prometne poti ([…]) in križišča […] ter tektonski premiki in trenje med ljudstvi na stičišču […] jezikovn[ih] skupin[].

(Extract 3: R0711)

[…] Republika Slovenija skrbi za to, da se lahko vsi njeni državljani in prebivalci vključujejo v sporazumevalne procese, ki jim omogočajo enakopravno sodelovanje v državni in mednarodni skupnosti, pridobivanje in izmenjavo znanja ter izpolnjevanje njihovih osebnih, poklicnih in kulturnih potreb. […]

(Extract 4: R1216)

Eden od pomembnih ciljev, h katerim RS zavezujejo tudi načela EU, je zato zagotoviti vsem govorcem, katerih J1 ni slovenščina ([…]), pravico do ohranjanja in/ali obnavljanja (revitalizacije) lastnega jezika in kulture. […]

(Extract 5: R1216)

[…] usposabljanje javnih uslužbencev za delo z govorci, katerih prvi jezik ni slovenščina (med drugim tudi prilagajanje govorcem z uporabo njihovega ali tretjega (skupnega) jezika, če je to potrebno) […]

(Extract 6: R1216)

Razmah vulgarnega ekonomizma in s tem nesorazmerna krepitev utilitarne vloge pri izbiri jezika v obzorju sporazumevalne (in s tem proizvodne, poslovne, politične idr.) učinkovitosti na račun njegove simbolne vloge v obzorju posameznikove identitete na ravni kulturno-etnične pripadnosti.

(Extract 7: R0711)

Odločno zagovarjanje stališča, da uveljavljanje načela prostega pretoka ne sme izpodkopavati jasne domicilnosti uradnega jezika posamezne države članice ter da ima država pravico do pravnih varovalk in mehanizmov za nevtralizacijo negativnih učinkov prostega pretoka (razločevanje med pojmoma »diskriminatornost na podlagi državljanstva« in »varovanje in priznavanje kulturno-jezikovne identitete«).

(Extract 8: R0711)

[Cilji naj] pomenijo odločno zavračanje teorije ali prakse »talilnega lonca« ([…] absolutizacija načela prostega pretoka […]) ter potrjevanje jezikovne raznolikosti kot kulturnega bogastva Evrope in človeštva […].

(Extract 9: R0711)

Znanje jezikov je hkrati simbolna in praktična vrednota, ki mora biti dostopna vsakomur ne glede na kulturno, izobrazbeno ali premoženjsko ozadje. Zato RS skrbi za jezikovno izobraževanje vseh svojih državljanov in prebivalcev v slovenščini, v drugih maternih jezikih manjšin in priseljenskih skupnosti in v drugih jezikih, v skladu s potrebami posameznikov in posameznic, s kulturnimi, z gospodarskimi in drugimi družbenimi potrebami ter skladno z načeli evropske raznolikosti in večjezičnosti.

(Extract 10: R1216)

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Savski, K. Analysing voice in language policy: plurality and conflict in Slovene government documents. Lang Policy 15, 505–524 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-015-9388-5

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