Qualitative Changes in Ethno-linguistic Status: A Case Study of the Sorbs in Germany by Ted Cicholi RN (Psych.), MA. Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Political Science School of Government 22 September 2004 Disclaimer Although every effort has been taken to ensure that all Hyperlinks to the Internet Web sites cited in this dissertation are correct at the time of writing, no responsibility can be taken for any changes to these URL addresses. This may change the format as being either underlined, or without underlining. Due to the fickle nature of the Internet at times, some addresses may not be found after the initial publication of an article. For instance, some confusion may arise when an article address changes from "front page", such as in newspaper sites, to an archive listing. This dissertation has employed the Australian English version of spelling but, where other works have been cited, the original spelling has been maintained. It should be borne in mind that there are a number of peculiarities found in United States English and Australian English, particular in the spelling of a number of words. Interestingly, not all errors or irregularities are corrected by software such as Word 'Spelling and Grammar Check' programme. Finally, it was not possible to insert all the accents found in other languages and some formatting irregularities were beyond the control of the author. Declaration This dissertation does not contain any material which has been accepted for the award of any other higher degree or graduate diploma in any tertiary institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, this dissertation represents my own work and does not contain any material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of the dissertation. Ted Cichori 22 September 2004 Authority of access This thesis may be made available for loan and limited copying in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. iv Table of Contents Volumes 1 and 2 Disclaimer ii Declaration iii Acknowledgements xvi Abbreviations and Acronyms xvii Dedication xx A Note on Terminology and Referencing xxi Terminology xxi Referencing xxi Abstract xxii Volume 1 Introduction 1 Methodology 6 Chapter 1: Defining the Terms 24 1.0 Introduction 24 1.1 Defining the term race 27 1.1.1 Categorisation of Races 30 1.1.2 Race and ethnicity 31 1.1.3 Biological conceptions of race 36 1.2 An anthropological approach and the classification of races 38 1.3 The sociology of language 46 1.4 Defining 'nation', 'state' and 'nation-state'. 51 1.4.1 Nation-State and its Discontents 55 1.5 Minority groups 60 1.6 Ethnocentrism 61 1.7 Nationalism 62 1.8 Conflicts and language: A 'covalent' relationship 63 1.9 The Enlightenment and the study of race 64 1.10 Identity 66 1.11 Culture 75 1.12 Conclusion 76 Chapter 2: Who are the Sorbs:7,0rigins and their history to the GDR 79 2.0 Introduction 79 2.1 Who are the Slays? 81 2.1.1 Groupings of the Slav tribes 84 2.1.2 Problems with historical evidence and tribal nomenclature 86 2.2 Early history 91 2.3 The Destruction of Early Christianity 111 2.4 Early linguistic differentiation 113 2.5 Charlemagne in Brandenburg and Saxony 114 2.6 The role of Brandenburg and antagonisms with the Slays 118 2.7 Some early theoretical blueprints 120 2.8 Brandenburg's continued influence 120 2.9 The Later Middle Ages 1250 to 1493 and difficulties in historical precision 125 2.10 The Early Habsburgs and the influence of Bohemia 126 2.11 Governance in the Latter Middle Ages 128 2.12 The peasantry 132 2.13 1410 and after: Slavonic victories and German defeats 134 2.14 Consequences of the Reformation 136 2.15 Germanic influence revisited 137 2.16 The Congress of Vienna and the birth of Sorbian national consciousness 140 2.17 Disappointment after the Paris Peace Conference. 147 2.18 Weimar Republic 148 2.19 The Nazi Period 149 vi 2.20 The Sorbs after 1945 152 2.21 Conclusion 158 Chapter 3: Theories of Language, Linguistics and the Language of the Sorbs 161 Part I: Defining Language and its Associated Concepts 161 3.0 Introduction 161 3.1 Defining language 162 3.1.1 The origins of language 163 3.1.2 The language instinct 165 3.1.3 The Experiment of Psammetichus 167 3.1.4 Other theoretical perspectives 168 3.1.5 Other theories 173 3.1.6 Is there a genetic basis? 174 3.1.7 Evolution as a consideration regarding the origins of language 175 3.1.8 The Physiology of Speech 176 3.1.9 Speech Development 177 3.2 Different Forms of Language 178 3.2.1 Gesture as a visual language 179 3.3 Acquisition of language 180 3.4 Other Definitions of Language 181 3.5 Lingua, Lingual, Linguistic, Linguism 185 3.5.1 Linguist 185 3.5.2 Linguistic 187 3.5.3 Sub-fields of linguistics: A brief overview of the terms 188 3.5.4 Linguistic analysis 188 3.5.5 Linguistic anthropology 188 3.5.6 Linguistic atlas 189 3.5.7 Linguistic form 189 3.5.8 Linguistic geography and linguistic map 189 3.5.9 Dialect 189 vii 3.5.10 Linguistic psychology, linguistic science, linguistic stock 190 3.5.11 Philology 191 3.6 The Function of Language 191 3.7 The Philosophy of Language 192 3.8 Meaning 192 3.8.1 Linguistic Meaning and Speaker Meaning 193 3.8.2 Reference 196 3.8.3Truth 196 3.9 Language death 197 Part The Language of the Lusatian Sorbs 199 3.10 Classification of Languages 199 3.10.1 An Overview of the Slavonic Languages 201 3.10.2 Phonology 204 3.10.3 Morphology 204 3.10.4 Aspect 205 3.11 Historical background of the Lusatian language 206 3.12 Upper and Lower Lusatian: Two languages or one? 207 3.12.1 Lower Lusatian 211 3.12.2 Upper Lusatian 211 3.12.3 Lexis and word borrowing 212 Conclusion 213 Chapter 4: Romanticism and 'national character'. Language policy in the GDR 217 4.0 Introduction 217 4.1 The German Language: Towards an explanation in terms of national character 219 4.2 Defining romanticism 224 4.3 Romanticism and nationalism 228 4.4 Polish Romanticism 229 4.5 Romanticism in Germany 230 viii 4.6 Czech Romanticism 235 4.7 Sorbian Romanticism 237 4.8 Analysis and some early conclusions 238 4.9 Background information 242 4.9.1 The creation of a divided Germany 242 4.10 Early difficulties in establishing Sorbian culture and language policy 247 4.11 Establishing a bilingual school system 251 4.12 Bilingual Structures in the School System 252 4.13 Other developments 254 4.14 'The New Life in Lusatia will develop bilingually, in dual national form'. 255 4.15 Further developments of a bilingual Lusatia and the educational system 262 4.16 Practical difficulties in the bilingual education system 264 4.17 Sorb repression 267 4.18 Changes in the SED's Language Policy: A Policy of Contradictions? 268 4.19 The status of the Sorbian language 273 4.20 Division within the Sorb groups at the end of the 1960s. 274 4.21 1971-1989 280 4.22 Early 'thawing of the ice' between East and West 283 4.23 Problems, Developments, and Glasnost 283 4.23.1 The problem of policy contradictions 'in the bilingual schools 283 4.23.2 Social actors and the GDR State: Clubs, Domowina and the Church 285 4. 24 The mid-1980s 288 4.24.1 The Domowina and the Churches 288 4.25. Continuing problems 290 4.26 Glasnost (openness) 292 4.27 The end of the SED 294 4.28 Some other considerations on the fall of the GDR regime 296 4.29 Conclusion 298 ix Volume 2 307 Chapter 5: Political concepts, and their socio-legal implications for national minorities. A comparison between Danish-speakers of Schleswig-Holstein and the Sorbs of Lusatia 307 Part I 307 5.0 Introduction 307 5.1 Theoretical perspectives on the concept of minorities 313 5.1.1 Origins of the concept of multiculturalism 313 5.1.2 Defining multiculturalism 314 5.1.3 Multiculturalism and some of its criticisms 315 5.1.4 Pluralism 320 5.1.5 Cosmopolitanism 324 5.1.6. Defining the term cosmopolitan 324 5.1.7 Cosmopolitanism 326 5.1.8 Some implications of the term cosmopolitanism 326 5.1.9 Other definitions of cosmopolitan 327 5.1.10 Other considerations 330 5.1.11 Kant's Cosmopolitan right 332 5.1.12 Marx on ethnic minorities 333 5.1.13 A matter of autonomous viability versus pluralism? 335 5.1.14 Language and ethnicity 337 5.1.15 Some preliminary formulations 340 Part II 341 5.2 The Danish-speaking minority in Schleswig-Holstein: background history 341 5.3 Identity shift 347 5.3.1 The "New Danes" 348 5.3.2 The Plebiscites of 1920 349 5.3.3 Continuing issues and resolution 352 5.4 The Frisians: A brief background 353 5. 4.1 German Frisians and national Frisians 355 5.5 Roma and Sinti minorities 357 Part III 360 5.6 Assessing the Minorities Policies in Germany 360 5.6.1 The United Nations Charter 362 5.6.2 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) 363 5.6.3 Council of Europe: European Treaties — The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (1992) 364 5.7 The Danish minority in Germany: The case of Schleswig-Holstein, a constitutional guarantee or rhetoric? 367 5.7.1 The question of the media available in Schleswig-Holstein 369 5.7.2 The Danish minority's response 370 5.7.3 Financial support system 371 5.7.4 Contacts and exchanges with the German Bundestag 372 5.7.5 The Sildschleswiger Wahlerverband (SWW or the South Schleswig Voters' Association) 373 5.7.6 Other Danish minority institutions 375 5.8 A brief overview of the German Federal Government's minorities policy: the Frisians and the Sinti/Roma 376 5.9 Danish minorities policy and the German minority in Denmark 382 5.10 Conclusion 384 xi Chapter 6: A Prognosis for the Sorbs 387 6.0 Introduction 387 Part I: The physical environment 393 6.1 After