The Politics of Language and Nationalism in Modern Central Europe

This work focuses on the ideological intertwining between Czech, Magyar, Polish and Slovak, and the corresponding nationalisms steeped in these languages. The analysis is set against the earlier political and ideological history of these languages, and the panorama of the emergence and political uses of other languages of the region.

'Kamusella has produced a magisterial study, ambitious in its aims but supported by original research as well as offering a synthesis of specialized contributions in a number of languages. The concepts it uses and the conclusions it reaches about

language and politics can be expected to provoke a more general discussion. It is likely to remain the standard work in its field for a generation.' - from the Foreword by Peter Burke, Emeritus Professor of Cultural History, University of Cambridge, UK

'Truly extraordinary is the author's detalied command of history, philology, and the national languages involved in this study. For those seeking information on language modernization in Central Europe or on case studies on the politics of language, this book is an excellent choice.' - Patrick Heinrich, International Journal of the Sociology of Language

'A magnificent history of language politics...Kamusella's book is an illustration of its own core argument: scholarship on language serves social purposes. Every EU official and NGO activist who deals with East Central Europe should have this book to hand, and every graduate seminar on nationalism in the region should begin with it. It provides countless sound judgements, and dispenses with a tremendous amount of nonsense.' - Timothy Snyder, Times Literary Supplement

'Apart from being an exceptional academic achievement, the monograph is also a very powerful political statement. It is one of themost impressive, in-depth arguments for the relevance of the study of Central Europe as a historical region... The book should certainly be received favourable by Anglophone students of Central and Eastern Europe, who would find this text a must-read in decades to come. In the English-speaking academic world, it is most likely to be used as an essential reference work that provides a broad - and yet in-depth - overview of the region's cultural, linguistic and historical landscape.' - Balázs Apor, AB Imperio

'This is a fine and invaluable study. We must be grateful to Kamusella for his meticulous scholarship and to Palgrave Macmillan for publishing a book with more pages than I have been allowed words to review it.' - Bernard Spolsky, Language Policy

Auteur
TOMASZ KAMUSELLA is Senior Lecturer at the University of Opole, Poland, and focuses on the issues of language politics, nationalism, ethnicity, and European integration. Recent books include Silesia and Central European Nationalisms and (co-edited in two-volumes) Nationalisms Across the Globe. In 2002-2006, he researched this new monograph, The Politics of Language and Nationalisms in Modern Central Europe, at the European University Institute, Florence; the John W Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, Washington DC; the Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna; and the Herder-Institut, Marburg, Germany.

Contenu
Foreword; P.Burke Author Preface Introduction Language in Central Europe: An Overview The Broader Linguistic and Cultural Context of Central Europe PART I: CENTRAL EUROPEAN POLITICS AND LANGUAGES IN THE LONG NINETEENTH CENTURY The Polish Case: From Natio to Nation The Hungarian Case: From Natio to the Ersatz Nation-state The Czech Case: From the Bohemian Slavophone Populus to Czech Nationalism and the Czechoslovak Nation The Slovak Case: From Upper Hungary's Slavophone populus to Slovak nationalism and the Czechoslovak nation PART II: NATIONALISMS AND LANGUAGE IN THE SHORT TWENTIETH CENTURY The Polish Nation: From a Multiethnic to an Ethnically Homogenous Nation-State The Hungarian Nation: From Hungary to Magyarország The Czech Nation: Between Czechoslovak and Czech Nationalism The Slovak Nation: From Czechoslovakia to Slovakia, Conclusion Bibliography