Literary language death and literary language revival : a socio-linguistic study of literary Czech

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dc.contributor.authorLožkovovʹa-Spilka, Nadĕz̆da Alexandraen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-14T21:07:30Z
dc.date.available2024-08-14T21:07:30Z
dc.date.copyright1985en_US
dc.date.issued1985
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Linguistics
dc.degree.departmentSchool of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts M.A.en
dc.description.abstractThis thesis analyzes the appearance and the growth of a literary language in the context of nation building and a growing sense of linguistic identity. It was, in fact, because Czechs used a particular literary norm that they considered themselves to be Czechs and not Poles or Slovaks. In this case, the spoken code was not useful as a source of linguistic identity because the dialects spoken in the border areas (in particular between modern-day Poland and Czechoslovakia) were very similar to one another. This thesis also analyzes the role that a literary language plays in helping a subordinate speech community resist linguistic assimilation (and acculturation) to a dominant social group. Having an active literary tradition gave Czech-speakers a sense of pride in their language, and made them less likely to use German in their every-day speech situations. Inasmuch as Czech was, for the most part, the language of the lower classes, possessing a literary norm caused a social 'revolution', since it allowed Czech-speakers to deal with the German-speaking elite on an equal basis. The appearance of literary languages in Eastern Europe is very much related to the phenomenon of emergence of the modern state system in that region. These so-called 'nation states' are based on the theory that all of the inhabitants should speak a common language, or at least adhere to a common literary standard. Man y of the national conflicts of the modern world stem from the attempts to enforce this standard on a not always cooperative population.
dc.format.extent129 pages
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/18735
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.titleLiterary language death and literary language revival : a socio-linguistic study of literary Czechen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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