This accessible textbook offers students the opportunity to explore for themselves a wide range of sociolinguistic issues relating to the German language and its role in societies around the world. It is written for undergraduate students who have a sound practical knowledge of German but who have little or no knowledge of linguistics or sociolinguistics. It combines text with practical exercises and discussion questions to stimulate readers to think for themselves and to tackle specific problems. In Part One Patrick Stevenson invites readers to investigate and reflect on issues about the status and function of the German language in relation to its speakers and to speakers of other languages with which it comes into contact. In Part Two the focus shifts to the forms and functions of individual features of the language. This involves, for example, identifying features of regional speech forms, analysing similarities and differences between written and spoken German, or looking at the 'social meaning' underlying different forms of address. Part Three explores the relationship between the German language and the nature of 'Germanness'. It concentrates on people's attitudes towards the language, the ways in which it is changing, and their views on what it represents for them.

A collection of studies on the role of English in German-speaking countries, covering a broad range of topics.

The relationship between literature and religion in German is unique in the European tradition. It is essential to the definition of German, Austrian and Swiss cultural identity in both the Protestant and Catholic traditions, and is crucial to our understanding of what has been called the 'special path' of German intellectual life. Offering in-depth essays by leading scholars, Literature and Religion in the German-Speaking World analyses this relationship from the beginnings of vernacular literature in German, via the Reformation, early-modern and Enlightenment periods, to the present day. It shows how such fundamental concepts as 'subjectivity', 'identity' and 'modernity' itself arise from the interrelation between religious and secular modes of understanding, and how this interrelation is inseparable from its expression in literature.

Same as Instructor's Edition but softcover and different cover image.

The Position of the German Language in the World focuses on the global position of German and the factors which work towards sustaining its use and utility for international communication. From the perspective of the global language constellation, the detailed data analysis of this substantial research project depicts German as an example of a second-rank language. The book also provides a model for analysis and description of international languages other than English. It offers a framework for strengthening the position of languages such as Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Spanish and others and for countering exaggerated claims about the global monopoly position of English. This comprehensive handbook of the state of the German language in the world was originally published in 2015 by Walter de Gruyter in German and has been critically acclaimed. Suitable for scholars and researchers of the German language, the handbook shows in detail how intricately and thoroughly German and other second-rank languages are tied up with a great number of societies and how these statistics support or weaken the languages’ functions and maintenance.

This book provides the first systematic overview of German sociology today. Thirty-four chapters review current trends, relate them to international discussions and discuss perspectives for future research. The contributions span the whole range of sociological research topics, from social inequality to the sociology of body and space, addressing pressing questions in sociological theory and innovative research methods. TOC: Introduction Culture / Uta Karstein and Monika Wohlrab-Sahr Demography and Aging / François Höpflinger Economic Sociology / Andrea Maurer Education and Socialization / Matthias Grundmann Environment / Anita Engels Europe / Monika Eigmüller Family and Intimate Relationships / Dirk Konietzka, Michael Feldhaus, Michaela Kreyenfeld, and Heike Trappe (Felt) Body. Sports, Medicine, and Media / Robert Gugutzer and Claudia Peter Gender / Paula-Irene Villa and Sabine Hark Globalization and Transnationalization / Anja Weiß Global South / Eva Gerharz and Gilberto Rescher History of Sociology / Stephan Moebius Life Course / Johannes Huinink and Betina Hollstein Media and Communication / Andreas Hepp Microsociology / Rainer Schützeichel Migration / Ludger Pries Mixed-Methods and Multimethod Research / Felix Knappertsbusch, Bettina Langfeldt, and Udo Kelle Organization / Raimund Hasse Political Sociology / Jörn Lamla Qualitative Methods / Betina Hollstein and Nils C. Kumkar Quantitative Methods / Alice Barth and Jörg Blasius Religion / Matthias Koenig Science and Higher Education / Anna Kosmützky and Georg Krücken Social Inequalities―Empirical Focus / Gunnar Otte, Mara Boehle, and Katharina Kunißen Social Inequalities―Theoretical Focus / Thomas Schwinn Social Movements / Thomas Kern Social Networks / Roger Häußling Social Policy / Birgit Pfau-Effinger and Christopher Grages Social Problems / Günter Albrecht Social Theory / Wolfgang Ludwig Schneider Society / Uwe Schimank Space. Urban, Rural, Territorial / Martina Löw Technology and Innovation / Werner Rammert Work and Labor / Brigitte Aulenbacher and Johanna Grubner List of Contributors Index

For All Students Ideal for a variety of courses, this completely up-to-date, alphabetically organized handbook helps students understand how people from German-speaking nations think, do business, and act in their daily lives.

This is the first of three volumes based on papers given at the conference 'The Fragile Tradition: The German Cultural Imagination Since 1500' in Cambridge, 2002. Together they provide a conspectus of current research on the cultural, historical and literary imagination of the German-speaking world across the whole of the modern period. This volume highlights the ways in which cultural memory and historical consciousness have been shaped by experiences of discontinuity, focusing particularly on the reception of the Reformation, the literary and ideological heritage of the Enlightenment, and the representation of war, the Holocaust, and the reunification of Germany in contemporary literature and museum culture.

This book addresses the nature and role of fear in the German world from the early modern period through to the 20th century. Offering the first collection that centres fear in the historical analysis of central Europe since 1600, these essays demonstrate the importance of emotional experience to the study of the past. Fear has been at the centre of many of the most important historical events in this region; witch hunts, religious conflicts, invasions and ultra-nationalism in the form of the Nazi regime. This book explores ways in which fear was understood, developed and negotiated throughout these historical contexts, and how people of the German world coped with it. From the fear of vampires to the loss of national sovereignty, pestilence, gypsies and criminals, Fear in the German Speaking World 1600-2000 draws connections between cases over a period of 400 years and considers fear alongside the history of emotions more generally. In doing so, the chapters reveal a complex, evolving construction of fear that is universally human, but also dependent upon its cultural and historical context.

If we want to understand how German speakers think about themselves and the world in which they live, then a useful place to begin is by looking at the language they use. This fully revised and updated edition provides a systematic approach to the study of the German language and an introduction to the social aspects of the language, including its dialects, its history and the uses of the language today. No previous knowledge of linguistics is assumed, and each chapter is accompanied by a series of practical exercises. This edition includes a brand new section on gender, purism and German unification, fresh examples for analysis and an updated chapter on the geography of Germany today. The book will help students not only to find new ways of exploring the German language, but also of thinking and talking about German-speaking cultures.