of German origin who live in the Czech Republic form the empirical starting point. ... in the Skoda-Volkswagen Joint Venture in Mladä Boleslav in 1994. (Nekvapil ..... territory (the center, border country, the interior, specific locations), etc.
On non-self-evident relationships between language and ethnicity: How Germans do not speak German, and Czechs do not speak Czech* Jlfti NEKVAPIL
Abstract This article proceeds from the linguistic, social, and political Situation that has developed on the territory of the Czech Republic over the course of the 20th Century. The biographical accounts given by people of German origin who live in the Czech Republic form the empirical starting point. The sections on language in the biographical narratives are assessed äs revelations of a partial cultural System, a fragment of the ethnolinguistics of the German Community members. Making use of 'membership categorization analysis' developed in ethnomethodology, this paper deals with one feature related to ethnic categories, namely a particular language. It turns out that on the territory of the Czech Republic the relation between ethnic category and language is category-constitutive. This paper demonstrates that the relation between language and ethnicity varies and different generations have had different kinds of experience with its concrete form.
0. Introduction The starting point of this article is the linguistic and social Situation which has developed during the 20th Century on the territory of what is now the Czech Republic. My attention is focused upon some of the linguistic behavior of the German population and its coexistence with the Czech population. The emphasis is on the viewpoints of particular individuals; statistical Information concerning society äs a whole is programmatically left aside. The reader may find Information on the ethnic composition of the Czech Republic in articles such äs Nekvapil (1997a), Nekvapil and Neustupny (1998). I have attempted to reconcile, at least partially, the much-debated differences between the micro- and the macro-approach to social phenomena (see, for example, StevenMultilingua 19-1/2 (2000), 37-53
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son 1997) by making use of some of the conceptual Instruments of 'membership categorization analysis' developed in the early stages of ethnomethodology, or rather conversation analysis (Sacks 1972). The social categories of 'Czech' and 'German' have often been used in descriptions of the political, cultural, ethnic, and national problems concerning Central Europe. The 'correct' employment of such categories in communication, however, might be problematic for the participants themselves. The properties of social categories, determining their application to individuals or groups, can be specified in terms of the 'category-bound activities or features' defined by Harvey Sacks. In the case of ethnic categories this relates considerably to what social psychology and sociology have been exploring äs ethnic or national stereotypes for a long time. Ethnic categories are among the essential sets of social categories, such äs the 'age' set (with the categories child, adult, old man, etc.), the 'gender' set (man, woman) or the 'family' set (father, mother, son, etc.). These, however, are not social categories, which are used (only) in scientific sociology, but rather they are terms which are used by the members of the Community themselves. These social categories, including their properties, in a way represent concentrated knowledge which is tapped into by members of the Community, laymen and experts alike, in their everyday dealings. Even if ethnic categories rank among the basic social categories - they are often culture-forming (see Moerman 1974) - the category-bound activities or features can vary under historical circumstances. Some properties of the ethnic categories can even be negotiated in interaction whilst applying them (Leudar and Nekvapil 1998), i.e., in real communication events: for example, speech at home, in the street, in declaring one's nationality in a census, and in the sociological interview. This paper deals with one feature related to ethnic categories, their alignment with a particular language. Such an alignment is found in scholarly definitions; for example, Edwards (1994:125) defines ethnicity äs 'a sense of a group identity deriving from real or perceived common bonds such äs language, race or religion'. The alignment is also found in lay formulations. For instance, during an investigation into the Czech-German communication in the Skoda-Volkswagen Joint Venture in Mladä Boleslav in 1994 (Nekvapil 1997b), a respondent commented upon the linguistic performance of one of his colleagues saying: '... while a German he today (.) he speaks Czech, so he's absolutely self-sufficient ...V This comment obviously operated on presuppositions containing a category-bound activity/feature which can be stated äs 'Germans speak German'. This paper deals with some difficulties related just to this category-bound activity (by analogy, 'Czechs speak Czech') under real historical circumstances. Even if this feature may be problematic, it provides a good analytic - 10.1515/mult.2000.19.1-2.37 Downloaded from PubFactory at 08/09/2016 02:51:10PM via Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Universitätsbibliothek
On non-seif-evident relationships between language and ethnicity 39 starting point for the very reason that it is category-constitutive - for what, at first glance, can be more natural in everyday life than the fact that the Germans speak German and the Czechs Czech and that a German can be recognized by the fact that he or she speaks German and a Czech because he speaks Czech? What is significant in this connection is that in everyday ethnic identifications, based on language, most inhabitants of the Czech Republic discount altogether the fact that there are also Austrians to be taken into account! I draw on 30 unstructured qualitative Interviews conducted in 1995-1996. The Interviews were collected among citizens of the Czech Republic who, according to diverse sources, were known to be ethnically German. The original target of the research was to contribute to understanding the life of the German minority in the Czech Republic by means of biographical narratives by the minority members (Nekvapil, Stehlikovä, and Smidovä 1997; Stehlikovä 1997). An overwhelming majority of the persons interviewed were born in the 1920s and 1930s. It follows from the essence of the biographical narrative that the research was diachronic and covered the life experience of at least three generations. It is also significant to note that the interviewees were informed that this was part of a study of Germans in the Czech Republic. I do not deal with the way in which the ethnic identity of respondents or researchers was established, or which ethnic categories they attributed themselves to in the sequential course of the interview (which by itself is an interesting topic for further study; see Nekvapil 1997b). I am only interested in observing the role of language in the course of forming an ethnic identity of the social actors to whom the respondents are referring (including themselves). In other words, I am only interested in the cases in which the ethnic identity äs related to language becomes a (partial) topic of narration. We shall see that the relation between language and ethnicity varies, and different generations have had different kinds of experience with its concrete form in the territory of the Czech Republic. The experience of all informants can be generalized in the following scheme mapping the basic possibilities of the relationship between an ethnic category X and speaking the language (in this case the ethnic categories 'the Czechs', 'the Germans', and the languages 'Czech' and Oerman'): Czechs speak Czech. Czechs speak both Czech and German. Czechs speak German. Germans speak German. Germans speak both German and Czech. Germans speak Czech. - 10.1515/mult.2000.19.1-2.37 Downloaded from PubFactory at 08/09/2016 02:51:10PM via Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Universitätsbibliothek
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In the remainder of the paper I shall discuss all of these cases. I will specify them in spatio-temporal and social terms, äs revealed in the biographical narratives. As many quotations from the recorded biographical narratives are provided, I will first comment on the research Status of these often extensive speech Stretches about language in the narratives under analysis. It is instructive that in the acquired corpus there are also a few narratives in which the language problem has not been brought to the fore at all; it arises just slightly in others, even more in still others. This fact is due to an eliciting of the biographical narratives which was aimed at getting the knowledge of the life stories of individual persons whereby, optimally, the respondent himself determines what is and what is not relevant for his story. The researcher might have been active in the interview, yet it was not his research task to inquire specifically about the language of the respondents. The research was not (socio)linguistic primarily, but sociological and/or anthropological. It can be assumed therefore that the sections on language in the biographical narratives recorded can be assessed äs revelations of a partial cultural System, specifically, a language ideology, a fragment of the ethnolinguistics of the German minority members. Simply, the narratives suggest the role and the relevance of language in a broader sense in the respondents' lives.
1. Czechs speak Czech This relationship between language and ethnic category marks the pole of self-evidence, for it is understood äs category-constituting in everyday life. This self-evidence can be paradoxically proven by the formulations relating to cases of counter-evidence, äs the working logic comes up in conversation only if it does not work, i.e., if it ceases to be self-evident. See, for example, the following extract: (1)
C: and he, (.) her, you know (.) husband, (.) he is (.) an Austrian Czech. (.) OK, (..) anrd (.) my step-dad, they lived just in those blocks ( ) (.) in Hostinny, (..) and they were three boys. three friends. (..) an:d he was saying, I don't know, sometimes they speak German, then Czech. and he's saying, who are you in fact. Czechs or (.) you know= B: =Czechs or Germans. right= C: =Czechs or Germans. (.) ... (Mr. and Mrs. Z., Krkonose Mountain region, probably about the Situation shortly after World War II)2 - 10.1515/mult.2000.19.1-2.37 Downloaded from PubFactory at 08/09/2016 02:51:10PM via Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Universitätsbibliothek
On non-self-evident relationships between language and ethnicity 41 This example suggests that with regard to the ethnic identification of the persons observed, the observer is puzzled by the code switching between Czech and German, since he is expecting that Czechs would speak Czech (and Germans would speak German). In the example to follow we can see that, during highly nationalistic periods, the category-constituting character of language can unfavorably affect persons whose ethnic identity is not language-based; such cases can appear to be unwanted deviations against the self-evident background mentioned above: (2)
A: and- now after the war, now let's bring this to to further ( ), er when they were searching how how who collaborated, they found, that my father wrote into the census documents, (.) Czech nationality and (.) German mother tongue. and this was this was a hundred percent truth, but with with those after-the-war supercommunists that was a fault indeed. because how he could (.) how a Czech could er have the German mother tongue. you know. (Mr. S., Liberec, about the Situation after World War II)
On the other hand, the relationship between an ethnic category and the appropriate language may quite spontaneously be strengthened by the social actors. The following example shows a linking of ethnic and linguistic identities, referring to the behavior and opinions of the narrator's grandfather; in other words, alignment to an ethnic category X should be guaranteed by the linguistic ability χ (i.e., Czechs speak Czech and/or Czech is spoken by Czechs). (3)
A: the boys, (.) they just went, in fact all the kids went once (.) er in their lives for a year to Libosovice to learn Czech, because their granddad wanted them to remain Czechs. (..) you see, (Mr. S., Liberec, about the Situation between the wars)
In the adduced example, the remarkable thing is the assumption of ethnicity being preserved through a one-year stay in the respective linguistic environment. The length of this stay can be regarded in two ways, both being relevant for the assessment of the importance of so-called 'Handel' (exchanges) and for the formation of a multilingual character of Czechoslovakia between the World Wars. In particular, the importance of these exchanges seems to be more or less overestimated. The point is that, on the one hand, a one-year stay is a relatively long period and it can be assumed that a number of these exchanges were shorter (i.e., vacation length); on the other hand, even a oneyear period is too short to ensure that the individual has acquired a good knowledge of the language, even less so the respective ethnic consciousness (regarding this problem see also further Statements by the narrators). - 10.1515/mult.2000.19.1-2.37 Downloaded from PubFactory at 08/09/2016 02:51:10PM via Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Universitätsbibliothek
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2. Czechs speak both Czech and German With regard to the Czech lands, in saying that Czechs speak both Czech and German, a trivial conclusion can be drawn that German is not spoken by Germans only. This bond of an ethnic category and language(s) thereby significantly weakens the potential Czech-German linguistic or ethnic polarity. It is symptomatic that in our narratives references to Czech-German bilingualism mostly occur in extracts dealing with Czechoslovakia between the World Wars: (4)
A: ... a:nd I learned Czech, then I went (.) on an exchange, we usually did, I was in Plzen on a vacation, (.) a Plzen guy came round, B: um A: on that vacation, then we learned most. B: um A: you see. right a:nd (..) then (..) there was you know, when I came from Plzen, then it was too. (.) the guys (.) from Czech families, they mostly knew German. you see. he couldn't- they chatted in Czech too. never he had no clue, why we spoke this or that. (.) of course. (Mr. S., Chomutov, about the Situation between the wars)
The above bond between ethnic category and multiple languages invites an examination of the often emphasized Czech-German inter-war bilingualism, i.e., to what extent German was mastered by the Czech population (and Czech by the Germans; see below). Despite the orientation of our research towards the fates of the Germans (not the Czechs), we have marked a number of formulations concerning Czech-German bilingualism among Czechs, äs the German minority could not ignore in their narratives their coexistence with the Czech majority population, including linguistic coexistence. On the whole our research data suggest that Czech-German inter-war bilingualism was more widespread among Czechs than Germans.
3. Czechs speak German This bond of the ethnic category and language, in its radical shape, i.e., Czechs speak German only (but most probably preferably too) defies the ordinary, i.e., a category-constituting idea about the relationship between language and ethnicity; it goes beyond members' intuitions. It represents a stage in the process of ethnicity change, 'life in between the categories'. Illustrative evidence is not abundant in the narratives analyzed, which undoubtedly is due to the focus of our research on the Germans in the Czech Republic. It is his- 10.1515/mult.2000.19.1-2.37 Downloaded from PubFactory at 08/09/2016 02:51:10PM via Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Universitätsbibliothek
On non-s elf-evident relationships between language and ethnicity 43 torically bound mostly to Czechoslovakia between the World Wars or during still earlier periods: (5)
A: he got married here (.) to a girl Jozefina Tomesovä. she was a thoroughbred Czech, but she didn't speak Czech any longer, mind. (..) you see, because they spoke German here, they went to German schools, and granddad learned German only here. (Mr. S., Liberec, about the Situation probably before World War I)
It is evident in the above example that ethnicity need not be defined by a cultural component, let alone by a linguistic one, but that the biological component can be dominant. (See the above definition of ethnicity äs 'a sense of group identity deriving from real or perceived common bonds such äs language, race or religion'; italics by Nekvapil). While in the previous example the ethnic identity is more or less formulated äs a biological fact, i.e., irreversible but modifiable in other ethnic dimensions such äs the language, in the following example ethnic identity is more or less formulated äs an expression of free will, i.e., without any biological basis, or any full-fledged acquisition through other dimensions, such äs the language. Incidentally, the differences in the relevance of various dimensions of ethnicity in individual communities are pointed out in studies by experts (see, e.g., Eriksen 1993). (6)
A: my mother- not to forget the most important, er in the 30s when there was a plebiscite among the German inhabitants which they, (..) which nationality they claimed, then my mother (,) on the wish of father claimed (.) Czech nationality, (.) she was registered äs a Czech, we found out (still) in 1945, (..) she really (.) claimed the Czech nationality in that plebiscite, and she behaved like a Czech all her life. even if (.) er till the end of her life she didn't learn Czech (.) properly. but she considered herseif a Czech. (Mr. V., Krusne Mountain region)
This example also indicates that the six possible relations between ethnic category and language that have been dealt with in turn in this article are formulated in a clear-cut, i.e., basic, form. The above example shows that through an ontogenetic development something is happening with the language (äs well äs the ethnic identity). The narrator's mother declares herseif Czech at a particular point but she speaks German and improves her Czech only gradually. Metaphorically speaking, the narrator's mother 'lives in between the categories', both ethnic and linguistic. - 10.1515/mult.2000.19.1-2.37 Downloaded from PubFactory at 08/09/2016 02:51:10PM via Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Universitätsbibliothek
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4. Germans speak German Concerning this relationship between ethnic category and language, basically the same explanation is valid äs for the 'Czechs speak Czech' type. Here, similarly, mentions of practices of force can be found, based on a category-constituting relationship between language and ethnicity, i.e., Germans speak German. Identically, we see in the following example an inference of the concept of deviation from this matter-of-fact. Only her German teacher was reprimanding her all the time why she was learning Czech when she was a German. (from the field notes; Mrs. HL, Sumava, about the Situation between the wars)
Should the relationship Oermans speak German' be experienced äs a category-constituting one, then speaking German must be perceived äs a clearly ethno-identifying factor. A number of respondents depicting the Situation of the Germans after World War refer just to this fact. This can be best traced in the extracts on how German usage had to be limited in public to prevent their Identification äs Germans: (7)
B: and- how did it work with those bands. you just had to er er when did you where did you have to wear them. after you left hörne, A: ((in-breath)) B: then you had to put the band [on?] how did how (.) [how did it work.] A: [er] [we should have] worn them all the time. (.) but when we're running at hörne you wouldn't wear them. but when you when you went Shopping or to Hostinny, then we simply had to put it on. if we did not then you got a fine. (..) it just- you see you must widerstand it that way just äs the Jews had to wear stars. (.) during the war you see, (.) so we wore bands after the war. (..) ye just you know everyone knew, and well but we took it off sometimes too. when we really wanted to for the cinema. because, (.) if you're fourteen fifteen, then you might feel like going to the cinema. don't you. so we took it off sometimes too, and we just (.) wouldn't talk and went to the cinema. you could have done that. (Mrs. H., Krkonose Mountain region, about the Situation after World War II)
Keeping one's ethnic identity secret by refraining from speaking one's mother tongue is further demonstrated by the following example, which also makes it clear that ethnically flexible individuals can deal strategically with their ethnic identities and language usage under various circumstances. This fact by itself makes the problems under review significantly dynamic and - 10.1515/mult.2000.19.1-2.37 Downloaded from PubFactory at 08/09/2016 02:51:10PM via Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Universitätsbibliothek
On non-self-evident relationships between language and ethnicity 45 Supports the idea that an ethnic identity is produced and/or reproduced daily (cf. Gumperz 1982). (8)
A: look (..) nowadays (.) is of interest, (..) that there are just those again, (.) that, (.) or they claim German nationality towards. you see, Federal Germany. or some relations. (..) who were er (.) Germans (...) for a while then Czech for a while, depending on where the wind was blowing. (..) I could give you the names. you see, the names. (.) er in 1938 (..) they were Czech. they might have been er partly of German origin. the grandmother and so on. (...) then the border country was occupied after the Munich treaty, right, (.) and from then on they were SuperGerman. they served in the army, were at SS, and so on, (..) and then in 1945 they turned Czech again. and took an active part in the national committees and so on, and when an old lady: came, and asked, you see if they could interpret and so on, right, then they could not. (.) they did not know how to. (Mr. B., Novy Bor, North Bohemia)
5. Germans speak both German and Czech As mentioned above, bilingual individuals weaken the potential ethnic polarity. If perfectly bilingual, they can also initiate situations where it is difficult to teil 4 who is ethnically what': (9)
B: In 1931, ten years later there was a census, in which Chomutov had (..) a 9 percent Czech population. right, (..) but it doesn't matter, at all. I (..) lived at that time, and (.) it didn't matter whatsoever. OK, (.) if you spoke Czech or German. (..) A: em B: nobody would be embarrassed. I had lots of schoolmates, I I wouldn't know about if they were German or Czech. A: and you were a Czech family or a Ger[man family?] B: [we were a Gerjman family. A: OK. B: right and they spoke to us Czech or German depending on which way they they learned plain. A: ((laughter)) B: we didn't care at all. (Mr. S., Chomutov, about the Situation between the wars)
It is of basic importance, however, to learn to what extent such a nearly perfect Czech-German bilingualism in between the World Wars. In our - 10.1515/mult.2000.19.1-2.37 Downloaded from PubFactory at 08/09/2016 02:51:10PM via Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Universitätsbibliothek
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narratives we can find a number of extracts offering evidence that its distribution, perfection and/or acquisition were rather limited. This can be indirectly proven by a narrative concerning the post-war deportations when German probably became taboo even if it was necessary to communicate with hundreds of thousands of people: (10) A: and you- did you get well then an official notice that you (.) right, didn't need to depart? or [how] B: [never] A: did all that go. B: never nobodyM told you officially, simply: it somehow (.) automatically it stopped then, (..) an:d simply: that was anyway such a restless time, (.) so nobody: yet- simply would- simply we waited, when (.) we'd be getting the notice, and then (all) well it did grade, and then just they somehow (.) said in between words. (.) äs words are told (.) that well the deportation was fmished, (...) and OK we took it that way (..) äs (.) on the whole this way you have to look at it that (..) you see there wasn't any announcement anyway. (..) for us the Germans. (..) none. right, simply (...) those notices were printed in Czech, and (.) if you could understand you've understood, and if you didn't then (4s) simply have it translated somewhere or (..) live without it (..) that in that time simply it couldn't be otherwise. (3s) A: um (...) and do you think that a number (.) er of people might not have understood the notices (.) that they needn't have understood in Czech, (.) what was written there (2s) B: none. (3s) nobody w- would you see me what I knew after the turnover (..) if you want. (..) I only knew 4a pretty girl give us a kiss', and that men'd have taught us, (.) and they went (.) across that Olesnice to (.) to Hostinny to Eichmanka, (..) OK and that was all that I knew in Czech. (3s) A: (um)= B: =and that simply: (.) ((out-breath)) if you then live with people, you simply learn. if you go Shopping, (.) and you want something, they can't understand you, then you just simply have to (..) and (..) we were sweet thirteen fourteen fifteen, (..) so you're learning fast. (3s) and we also played with kids, so you'd catch something again. (3s) A: but- this means that at the time of the deportation then er do you think that actually (.) lots of Germans (.) did not understand the notices. right, B: ((in-breath)) (4s) well er they they did right, the eider could speak (.) Czech, oh ye they understood Czech. but for sure nobody could read - 10.1515/mult.2000.19.1-2.37 Downloaded from PubFactory at 08/09/2016 02:51:10PM via Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Universitätsbibliothek
On non-seif-evident relationships between language and ethnicity 47 or write Czech. because they learned this (..) in-between r/zewselves. for they might have gone from Kalnä, next they went to Volesnice to farmers (.) for bread for cottage cheese, äs it used to be then. (3s) so they made themselves understood. but (...) I'd doubt that that anyone of them could write Czech or read Czech. (4s) you know how then you know you would (.) talk to a German, (.) right? but if they wanied you to read a book, (.) to understand it, (..) right, if you do not master the language perfectly, then A: um ((in-breath)) Biit'sdifficult. A: um (Mrs. H., Krkonose Mountain region) This example shows clearly how tricky general assumptions can be about Czech-German bilingualism among either Czechs or Germans. What is called bilingualism should therefore be differentiated at least by generation, by communication Situation (home, family, school, work, institutions, public communication in general), temporally, or by social Status, depending on the territory (the center, border country, the interior, specific locations), etc. This section cannot be concluded without mentioning that after World War II those Germans who were not deported learned, by necessity, to communicate in Czech, some a little, others perfectly. This can be confirmed by the above example and by the fact that we were able to carry out this fieid research largely in Czech (only two Interviews were conducted in German). On the other hand, post-war Czech-German bilingualism among Germans, different from that between the wars, was undoubtedly a result of discriminating linguistic attitudes towards the German minority, which for many years have been typical of the Czech majority (see the next section).
6. Germans speak Czech As indicated above, we need to differentiate between a radical variant 4Germans speak Czech only, i.e., not German' and some weaker variants which only approximate to that Situation, or anticipate it. In both the variants this concerns 'life in between the categories' mentioned. The latter is only a transient stage, resulting in an ethnic identity change in many individuals. 'Germans speak Czech' transfers step by Step to 'Czech is not definitely spoken by the Germans but by the Czechs', and a counter-intuitive relationship between the ethnic category and language thereby returns to the Standard: in this case 'Czechs speak Czech'. - 10.1515/mult.2000.19.1-2.37 Downloaded from PubFactory at 08/09/2016 02:51:10PM via Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Universitätsbibliothek
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Our respondents speak particularly about the first stage of this transition, which was characterized by linguistic discrimination. This discrimination was not only maintained systematically in institutions, but also completely prevailed in casual life. Both the expiicit and implicit goal of the majority society was to prevent the Germans from speaking German. (11) A: and (.) it was really so. we had no clever teachers. right? (..) only then one came, and he had sympathy for Germans a bit the ( ) teacher. right? B: hm A: and then, (2s) and me too (.) because we Germans and there we were really mostly only Germans. there were so few Czechs there, (.) because the climate there was rough, (.) and Czechs didn't want to live there at all that's why they left again B: ehm A: they left (..) C: ehm A: and we stayed there, one day I had, (.) er to write äs punishment, a hundred times I will not speak Czech at school. (.) B: ( ) ((something in the sense of: 'Czech?')) A: not speak German. B: Isee A: I will not speak German. ... (Mrs. M., Krusne Mountain region, about the Situation after World War II) The above example is not only one example of institutionally-enforced linguistic discrimination. It is also relevant in that the punishment was imposed by a teacher who - according to the narrator - even feit compassion for Germans. The Czech school System became a linguistically discriminating Instrument. Under the System's influence not only German children were linguistically affected, but their parents äs well. (12) B: ( ) once more- (.) back (.) to the forced assimilation. right? (..) how did it proceed. what practices were being employed. so on the one hand (.) it was on- at the bottom level then that children were saying. (..) you are fascist because you speak German. that's why one tried (..) to speak Czech. (from the interview with Mr. P.; summary by the Interviewer, about the Situation after World War II) - 10.1515/mult.2000.19.1-2.37 Downloaded from PubFactory at 08/09/2016 02:51:10PM via Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Universitätsbibliothek
On non-s elf-evident relationships between language and ethnicity 49 The following example illustrates that such effects were produced by schools not only in the first decades following World War II, but äs late äs the beginning of the 1980s: (13) A: well the guy knew better, you see but, more äs you're saying. you see but, (.) that's- he's two two years older than the lass right, he's got the- (.) he'd catch Czech more. B: [um] um A: [when] when the girl then spoke and that- and when I spoke the Cz- at home German, and she said. we are in Qec/iöslovakia. we speak we speak Czech. B: whosaid. A: my daughter. well at at school they told them. B: um. A: she was told down at the College too. (.) and she was seventeen years. or sixteen. (Mrs. A., Krkonose Mountain region, the beginning of 1980s) It would be shortsighted, however, to restrict ourselves here to linguistic discrimination only. A tangible transition to Czech in multi-generational family communication was brought about by other factors äs well. Among the most important are ethnically mixed marriages, which were quite common at that time, resulting from the postwar demographic Situation. No matter what factors influenced individual linguistic competence, the consequence was that many Germans were losing, had already lost or had never acquired competence in German. Related to this is that they were losing, had already lost or had never acquired German ethnic awareness - in other words, they were becoming Czechs. See the following example: (14) A: (I wanted) to ask you how- when you were saying that the kids in German famiiies can still er er the identity of the German family was preserved, or what? B: no no they're not getting. that's just er the problem. you see. äs they don't- äs mum doesn't speak German with them any longer. A: um B: äs actually- their mother tongue is that Czech, ... (Mr. S., Liberec, about the present Situation)
7. Concluding remarks Our research shows that in the territory of the Czech Republic the relation of ethnic categories and languages is category-constitutive. The specific form of - 10.1515/mult.2000.19.1-2.37 Downloaded from PubFactory at 08/09/2016 02:51:10PM via Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Universitätsbibliothek
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this categorial feature also sums up the dominant notion of the central type of local communicative behavior. The contact between these two ethnic communities within one country, however, has led to the appearance of a number of particular communicative situations which are more or less at odds with this dominant idea. I have attempted to cover these deviant cases in four other logical possibilities, derived from the common, i.e., undifferentiated, conception of bilingualism äs a mere 'two-language' Situation. As the presented samples of biographical stories show, however, such Schemata cannot be overestimated and understood äs anything more than just an outline to simplify the structure of the account. The reality reflected in the narrators' Statements is no doubt far richer. To conclude I would like to tackle a temporal dimension which has been more or less hidden in the generalized scheme. I am aiming for a summary of the linguistic evolution of the German minority äs revealed by the narratives investigated. On this level of abstraction we can claim that the dynamics of the Situation after World War II consisted of some apparent assimilation tendencies. Schematically, the global evolution was äs follows: first Oermans speak German', then Oermans speak both German and Czech', and fmally Oermans speak Czech'. (15) A: and so then we brought the Association of Germans, (.) in Czechoslovakia into existence, (.) after extensive TV appeal, (..) it appeared many of them registered, (..) and it was interesting that (..) er that er er they had raised their voices from regions where Germans had never lived in the past, B: hm hm A: so this was the inner expulsion its confirmation, and in fact more than 80 percent (.) of the letters were written in Czech. (.) it means they had registered they had declared themselves Germans somehow mentally, but they could no longer (write,) B: hm A: because because ((cough)) no wonder, er when a German family came into a village, (.) where only Czech ones lived, (.) and and er B: hm A: (..) always one showed (it) showed them when while you speak German, you will have difficulties, then parents (..) themselves didn't want their children to continue, and the children themselves didn't want to either. (..) äs for example I had a wife, she (.) spoke German also, (.) she was from a mixed marriage, from the very beginning we spoke German with our children. (.) well right it worked till a certain point, (.) er until they went to school. (.) and then the children came home and said we don't want to speak German any longer, (.) be- 10.1515/mult.2000.19.1-2.37 Downloaded from PubFactory at 08/09/2016 02:51:10PM via Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Universitätsbibliothek
Ο η ηοη-seif-evident relationships between language and ethnicity 51 cause they keep telling us we are fascists. (.) (right,) (.) (in) in the books it was ( ) simply so, Germans and so on they were fascists. ... (Mr. P., Prague, narration focus: first the 1990s, then approximately the 1950s or 1960s) The example illustrates some basic features of the process of assimilation and its results, and there is no reason why we should expect that the Situation in the 1970s and 1980s was different (see Mrs. A.'s narrative in example [13]). There is obviously the question of what is happening with the global linguo-ethnic development presented in this paper after the social changes in 1989. Is there a change in its orientation? The likely answer is: probably not. Our research suggests that there cannot be a radical change which, for example, could be witnessed in Poland in the 1990s (see Wicherkiewicz 1996). The truth is, without a doubt, that the instrumental value of German in the Czech Republic has increased, which can also be observed in the local German minority members. Following our respondents' narratives, however, this fact does not seem to impact the ethnic processes under review.
Appendix A: Transcription conventions ?
rising Intonation falling Intonation , continuing Intonation : lengthening of the previous syllable a very short, still audible pause a longer pause a long pause a cut-off of the prior word or syllable items enclosed within single parentheses are in doubt no words could be distinguished in the talk enclosed within single parentheses ((cough)) in double parentheses there is a comment by the transcriber [ ] the onset and the ending of simultaneous talk of two Speakers (overlap) = subsequent utterance follows without an audible pause (latching on) X Speaker who could not be identified the utterance continues but this part is omitted in the extract presented from the transcript out italics indicate emphasis - 10.1515/mult.2000.19.1-2.37 Downloaded from PubFactory at 08/09/2016 02:51:10PM via Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Universitätsbibliothek
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Notes *
This study was supported by grant no. RUK5/95 from the Charles University and grant no. 7CZPJO48495 from the Swiss National Science Foundation. I am grateful to Eva Stehlikovä, Olga Smidovä, Miklos Kontra, Ivan Leudar, Tamah Sherman, and Juliet Langman for their helpful comments at various stages in the development of this paper. 1. See Appendix A for transcription conventions. The recorded Interviews were transcribed according to the conventions developed in conversation analysis (see, for example, Psathas 1995) and then translated from Czech, or German, into English. The English translations strive to preserve, to a maximum degree possible, the specific features of the original recordings and the original transcripts. The spoken character and the spontaneity of origin of the analysed data are responsible for the appearance in the presented samples of a number of features which - from the point of view of the traditional norms - are ungrammatical, or substandard (especially in syntax). 2. In parentheses there are identifications of individual narrators, localities where they live or lived and, if not obvious, the temporal focus of their narratives. This especially enables us to relate the conclusions of the research along a temporal dimension.
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On non-seif-evident relationships between language and ethnicity 53 Nekvapil, Jifi, Eva Stehlikovä and Olga Smidovä 1997 Öesti Nemci nebo nemecti Öesi? [Czech Germans or German Czechs?]. Praha: Vyzkumnä zpräva ke grantovd uloze RUK 5/95. Psathas, George 1995 Conversation Analysis. The Study of Talk-in-lnteraction. Thousand Oaks/London/New Delhi: Sage. Sacks, Harvey 1972 On the analyzability of stories by children. In Gumperz, J. and D. Hymes (eds.), Directions in Sociolinguistics. New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 325-345. Stehlikovä, Eva (ed.) 1997 Öesti Nemci nebo nemecti Öesi? [Czech Germans or German Czechs?] (= Biograf. Casopis pro biografickou a reflexivni sociologii. 10-11). Prague: Charles University, Institute of Sociological Studies. Stevenson, Patrick 1997 The dynamics of linguistic and cultural Identification on the central margins of Europe. Sociolinguistica. Internationales Jahrbuch für Europäische Soziolin$««71*11,192-203. Wicherkiewicz, Tomasz S. 1996 Ethnic revi val of the German minority in Poland. International Journal ofthe Sociology of Language 120, 25-38.
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