Language imperialism
The term language imperialism describes a systematic endeavor to enforce the dominance of a language by political, economic and cultural means and thereby in turn to promote one's own political, economic and cultural interests. As a result, weaker cultures and minorities can be disadvantaged. Thus there is a connection with the more common term cultural imperialism .
The term used in cultural-political and linguistic discussions (including by Robert Phillipson ) is considered controversial. Critics see it as a politically motivated catchphrase (see: anti-imperialism ).
For historical imperialism of the 19th century one can actually speak of language imperialism with a certain justification. The language of the colonial power was the official language , state education was in this language, so that learning this language was a prerequisite for economic success or even survival. There have also been and still are repressions against “autochthonous” languages. To what extent these processes can be adequately explained with the model of “imperialism” is, however, debatable.
literature
- Robert Phillipson : Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 1992, ISBN 0-19-437146-8 .
- Robert Phillipson: English-Only Europe? Challenging Language Policy. Routledge, London et al. 2003, ISBN 0-415-28807-X .
- Robert Phillipson: Linguistic Imperialism Continued. Routledge, New York, NY et al. 2009, ISBN 978-0-415-87201-0 .
- Tove Skutnabb-Kangas , Robert Phillipson (Ed.): Linguistic Human Rights. Overcoming Linguistic Discrimination (= Contributions to the Sociology of Language. 67). Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 1995, ISBN 3-11-014878-1 .