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Language-Related Discourses, Language Ideologies, and Ethnonationalism

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Language and Ethnonationalism in Contemporary West Central Balkans

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Abstract

This chapter switches the focus from the presentation of results and their methodological comparison to a contextualized interpretation of the findings, with a specific focus on the links between mainstream public language-related discourse, dominant language ideologies, and ethnic identities and nationalism. Specifically, the chapter identifies the main thematic and ideological discourses in evidence in the research corpus, discourses of endangerment and contestation, as well as recurrent topoi to identify, define, and explain the dominant language ideologies, particularly as they pertain to ethnic identities and nationalism in contemporary West Central Balkans, thereby demonstrating the proposed three-step approach to identification of language ideologies (thematic discourses > ideological discourses > language ideologies). The principal language ideology identified is shown to be linked to the language philosophy of Johann Gottfried Herder as well as the nineteenth-century Romantic nationalism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English, American University of Sharjah, University City, United Arab Emirates

    Adnan Ajšić

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  1. Adnan Ajšić
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Ajšić, A. (2021). Language-Related Discourses, Language Ideologies, and Ethnonationalism. In: Language and Ethnonationalism in Contemporary West Central Balkans. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72177-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72177-0_6

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