Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T12:07:12.689Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - The Language Ideology of Silence and Silencing in Public Discourse

Claims to Silencing as Metadiscursive Moves in German Anti-Political Correctness Discourse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2019

Amy Jo Murray
Affiliation:
University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Kevin Durrheim
Affiliation:
University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Get access

Summary

This chapter deals with the unsaid as a discursive strategy in antipolitical correctness discourse, where the unsaid is framed as something that can be said and needs to be said but is prevented from being said through silencing and taboos. Antipolitical correctness discourse is described as a language ideological debate. This metadiscursive debate involves notions of language taboos, denial of voice and representation, accessibility, and limitations of public discourse. It thereby negotiates issues not so much of language use, but of national identity, democratic representation, and purported cultural hegemony with the aim of changing public discourse. The strategy of claiming to be silenced to increase the acceptability of contested propositions rests on the extent to which silence is at odds with public discourse in modern mass democracies. Its functions will be exemplified using the example of the antipolitical correctness discourse perpetuated by Germany’s New Right. The chapter also aims to show how analyzing metadiscourse can on the one hand be a fruitful way for empirical textual analysis of the unsaid and on the other hand also provides scope for studying the language ideology of silence.

Type
Chapter
Information
Qualitative Studies of Silence
The Unsaid as Social Action
, pp. 165 - 185
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achino-Loeb, M.-L. (2006). Silence: The currency of power. New York; Oxford: Berghahn.Google Scholar
Anthonissen, C. (2003). Challenging media censoring. In Martin, J. & Wodak, R. (Eds.), Re/reading the past. Critical and functional perspectives on time and value (pp. 91111). Amsterdam; Philadelphia: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Behrens, M., & von Rimscha, R. (1995). Politische Korrektheit in Deutschland. Eine Gefahr für die Demokratie. Bonn: Bouvier.Google Scholar
Benthien, C. (2006). Barockes Schweigen. Rhetorik und Performativität des Sprachlosen im 17. Jahrhundert. München: Fink.Google Scholar
Black, E. (1988). Secrecy and disclosure as rhetorical forms. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 74(2), 133150.Google Scholar
Blommaert, J. (Ed.). (1999). Language ideological debates. Berlin; New York: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Blommaert, J. (2005). Discourse. A critical introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bull, P. (2003). The microanalysis of political discourse. Claptrap and ambiguity. London; New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Cameron, D. (2000). Good to talk? Living and working in a communication culture. London; Thousand Oaks; New Delhi: Sage.Google Scholar
Chouliaraki, L. & Fairclough, N. (1999). Discourse in late modernity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Clayman, S. (2007). Speaking on behalf of the public in broadcast news interviews. In Holt, E. & Clift, R. (Eds.), Reporting talk. Reported speech in interaction (pp. 221243). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Couldry, N. (2010). Why voice matters. Culture and politics after neoliberalism. Los Angeles: Sage.Google Scholar
Coupland, N., & Jaworski, A. (2004). Sociolinguistic perspectives on metalanguage: Reflexivity, evaluation and ideology. In Jaworski, A., Coupland, N. & Galasiński, D. (Eds.), Metalanguage. Social and ideological perspectives (pp. 1551). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Erdl, M. F. (2004). Die Legende von der Politischen Korrektheit. Zur Erfolgsgeschichte eines importierten Mythos. Bielefeld: transcript.Google Scholar
Galasiński, D. (2003). Silencing by law. The 1981 Polish ‘performances and publications control act’. In Thiesmeyer, L. (Ed.), Discourse and silencing. Representation and the language of displacement (pp. 211232). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Garbutt, J. (2018). The use of no comment by suspects in police interviews. In Schröter, M. & Taylor, C. (Eds.), Exploring silence and absence in discourse. Empirical approaches (pp. 329357). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Groth, K. J. (1996). Die Diktatur der Guten. Political correctness. München: Herbig.Google Scholar
Herman, E. (2006). Das Eva-Prinzip. München; Zürich: Pendo.Google Scholar
Herman, E. (2007). Das Prinzip Arche Noah. Münche; Zürich: Pendo.Google Scholar
Herman, E. (2010). Die Wahrheit und ihr Preis: Meinung, Macht und Medien. Rottenburg: Kopp.Google Scholar
Herman, E. (2012). Das Medienkartell: Wie wir täglich getäuscht werden. Rottenburg: Kopp.Google Scholar
Hoffmann, A. (2007). Der Fall Eva Herman. Hexenjagd in den Medien. Grevenbroich: Lichtschlag.Google Scholar
Kailitz, S. (2008).Die politische Deutungskultur der Bundesrepublik Deutschland im Spiegel des ‘Historikerstreits’. In Kailitz, S. (Ed.), Die Gegenwart der Vergangenheit. Der ‘Historikerstreit und die deutsche Geschichtspolitik’ (pp. 1437). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.Google Scholar
Kämper, H. (2002). Sigmund Freuds Sprachdenken. Ein Beitrag zur Sprachbewusstseinsgeschichte. In Cherubim, D., Jakob, K. & Linke, A. (Eds.), Neue deutsche Sprachgeschichte. Mentalitäts-, kultur- und sozialgeschichtliche Zusammenhänge (pp. 239251). Berlin; New York: de Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kämper, H. (2012). Aspekte des Demokratiediskurses der späten 1960er Jahre. Konstellationen – Kontexte – Konzepte. Berlin; Boston: de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Kilian, J. (1997). Demokratische Sprache zwischen Tradition und Neuanfang. Am Beispiel des Grundrechte-Diskurses 1948/49. Tübingen: Niemeyer.Google Scholar
Mittmann, T. (2008). Vom ‘Historikerstreit’ zum ‘Fall Hohmann’: Kontroverse Diskussionen um Political Correctness seit Ende der 1980er Jahre. In Hölscher, L. (Ed.), Political Correctness. Der sprachpolitische Streit um die nationalsozialistischen Verbrechen (pp. 60105). Göttingen: Wallstein.Google Scholar
Niven, B. (2001). Facing the Nazi past. United Germany and the legacy of the Third Reich. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Owzar, A. (2006). Reden ist Silber, Schweigen ist Gold. Konfliktmanagement im Alltag des wilhelminischen Obrigkeitsstaats. Konstanz: Universitätsverlag Konstanz.Google Scholar
Peters, J.D. (1999). Speaking into the air. A history of the idea of communication. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Petry, F. (2016, November 9). Die Political Correctness ist am Ende. Junge Welt. Retrieved from https://jungefreiheit.de/debatte/kommentar/2016/die-political-correctness-ist-am-ende/Google Scholar
Reisigl, M., & Wodak, R. (2009). The discourse-historical approach (DHA). In Wodak, R. & Reisigl, M. (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (2nd ed., pp. 87121). London: Sage.Google Scholar
Röhl, K. 1995. Deutsches Phrasenlexikon. Politisch korrekt von A bis Z. Berlin: Ullstein.Google Scholar
Sandkühler, G. (2008). Die sprachpolitische Auseinandersetzung: Historische und politische Grundlagen der Political Correctness in der frühen Bundesrepublik. In Hölscher, L. (Ed.), Political Correctness. Der sprachpolitische Streit um die nationalsozialistischen Verbrechen (pp. 1859). Göttingen: Wallstein.Google Scholar
Sarrazin, T. (2014). Der Neue Tugendterror. Über die Grenzen der Meinungsfreiheit in Deutschland. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlagsanstalt.Google Scholar
Scharloth, J. (2011). 1968 – Eine Kommunikationsgeschichte. München: Fink.Google Scholar
Schirrmacher, F. (Ed.). (1999). Die Walser-Bubis Debatte. Frankfurt am Main: Insel.Google Scholar
Schröter, M. (2013). Silence and concealment in political discourse. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Schröter, M., & Taylor, C. (2018). Introduction. In Schröter, M. & Taylor, C. (Eds.), Exploring silence and absence in discourse: Empirical approaches (pp. 121). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Schwarz, M. (2009, October 17). ‘Wie moderner Terrorismus’ Interview with André Lichtschlag. Junge Freiheit. Retrieved from https://jungefreiheit.de/debatte/interview/2009/wie-moderner-terrorismusGoogle Scholar
Spitznagel, A., & Reiners, B. (1998).Geheimhaltung in der Folklore und persönliche Geheimhaltungserfahrung (pp. 109–138). In Spitznagel, A. (Ed.), Geheimnis und Geheimhaltung. Erscheinungsformen – Funktionen – Konsequenzen. Göttingen: Hogrefe.Google Scholar
Staas, C. (2017, February 1). Political correctness. Vom Medianphantom zum rechten Totschlagargument. Die sonderbare Geschichte der Political Correctness. Die Zeit. Retrieved from www.zeit.wde/2017/04/politicial-correctness-populismus-afd-zensurGoogle Scholar
Thomann, J. (2007, October 10). Rausschmiss bei Kerner. Wie Eva Herman den Fernsehtod starb. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved from www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/rausschmiss-bei-kerner-wie-eva-herman-den-fernsehtod-starb-1490687.htmlGoogle Scholar
Thurlow, C., & Moshin, J. (2018). What the f#’$!: Policing and performing the unmentionable in the news. In Schröter, M. & Taylor, C. (Eds.), Exploring silence and absence in discourse: Empirical approaches (pp. 305328). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Verheyen, N. (2010). Diskussionslust. Eine Kulturgeschichte des ‘besseren Arguments’ in Westdeutschland. Göttingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht.Google Scholar
Verschueren, J. (1985). What people say they do with words. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Von Hodenberg, C. (2006). Konsens und Krise. Eine Geschichte der westdeutschen Medienöffentlichkeit 1945–1973. Göttingen: Wallstein.Google Scholar
Walser, M. (1998, October 11). Experiences while composing a Sunday speech. Retrieved from German history in documents and images, http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=3426Google Scholar
Wodak, R. (2015). The politics of fear. What right-wing populist discourses mean. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Woolard, K. A. (1998). Introduction: Language ideology as a field of inquiry. In Schieffelin, B. B., Woolard, K. A. & Kroskrity, P. V. (Eds.), Language ideologies: Practice and theory (pp.2086). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Zerubavel, E. (2006). The elephant in the room. Silence and denial in everyday life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Zimmer, D. E. (1993, October 22). PC oder: Da hört die Gemütlichkeit auf. Die Zeit. Retrieved from www.zeit.de/1993/43/pc-oder-da-hoert-die-gemuetlichkeit-aufGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×