cover next page > title: Language, Politics, and Society : The New Languages Department : Festschrift in Honour of Professor D.E. Ager author: Ager, D. E. publisher: Multilingual Matters isbn10 | asin: 1853594873 print isbn13: 9781853594878 ebook isbn13: 9780585273129 language: English subject Sociolinguistics, Language and languages--Study and teaching. publication date: 2000 lcc: P40.L298 2000eb ddc: 306.44 subject: Sociolinguistics, Language and languages--Study and teaching. cover next page > < previous page page_i next page > Page i Language, Politics and Society < previous page page_i next page > < previous page page_ii next page > Page ii Multilingual Matters Analysing Political Speeches Christina Schäffner (ed.) Managing Language Diversity Sue Wright and Helen Kelly-Holmes (eds) Chtimi: The Urban Vernaculars of Northern France Timothy Pooley Community and Communication Sue Wright Encyclopedia of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism Colin Baker and Sylvia Prys Jones Ethnicity in Eastern Europe: Questions of Migration, Language Rights and Education Sue Wright (ed.) European Television Discourse in Transition Helen Kelly-Holmes (ed.) Ethnicity in Eastern Europe: Questions of Migration, Language Rights and Education Sue Wright (ed.) European Television Discourse in Transition Helen Kelly-Holmes (ed.) 'Francophonie' in the 1990s: Problems and Opportunities Dennis Ager Identity, Insecurity and Image: France and Language Dennis Ager Language, Culture and Communication in Contemporary Europe Charlotte HoffMan (ed.) Language and Conflict: A Neglected Relationship Sue Wright (ed.) Language Policy and Language Issues in the Succesor States of the Former USSR Sue Wright (ed.) Mass Media in the Asian Pacific Bryce T. McIntyre (ed.) One Country, Two Systems, Three Languages: A Survey of Changing Language Use in Hong Kong Sue Wright and Helen Kelly-Holmes (eds) A Reader in French Sociolinguistics Malcolm Offord (ed.) Please contact us for the latest book information: Multilingual Matters, Frankfurt Lodge, Clevedon Hall, Victoria Road, Clevedon, BS21 7HH, England http://www.multilingual-matters.com < previous page page_ii next page > < previous page page_iii next page > Page iii Language, Politics and Society The New Languages Department Festschrift in Honour of Professor D.E. Ager Edited by Sue Wright, Linda Hantrais and Jolyon Howorth < previous page page_iii next page > < previous page page_iv next page > Page iv Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Language, Politics and Society: The New Languages Department: Festschrift in honour of Professor D.E. Ager Edited by Sue Wright, Linda Hantrais and Jolyon Howorth Includes bibliographical references and index 1. Sociolinguistics. 2. Language and languages-Study and teaching. I. Ager, D.E. II. Wright, Sue. III. Hantrais, Linda. IV. Howorth, Jolyon. P40.L298 2000 306.44-dc21 99-054925 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 1-85359-487-3 (hbk) Multilingual Matters Ltd UK: Frankfurt Lodge, Clevedon Hall, Victoria Road, Clevedon BS21 7HH. USA: UTP, 2250 Military Road, Tonawanda, NY 14150, USA. Canada: UTP, 5201 Dufferin Street, North York, Ontario M3H 5T8, Canada. Australia: P.O. Box 586, Artarmon, NSW, Australia. Copyright © 2000 Sue Wright, Linda Hantrais, Jolyon Howorth and the authors of individual articles. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. Typeset by Solidus Ltd, Bristol. Printed and bound in Great Britain by the Cromwell Press Ltd. < previous page page_iv next page > < previous page page_v next page > Page v Dennis E. Ager Professor of Modern Languages Aston University, 19711999 < previous page page_v next page > < previous page page_i next page > Page i Language, Politics and Society < previous page page_i next page > < previous page page_vii next page > Page vii Contents Introduction Sue Wright and Jolyon Howorth ix Acknowledgements xv Contributors xvii 1 Strange Encounters in the Fourth Dimension: Foreign Language Study As a Voyage of Exploration Michael Townson 1 2 Living There: Jewish Identity and Culture in Germany after the Holocaust Eva Kolinsky 16 3 The Fugitive, the Transport, the BBC and Mass Murder: A BBC Broadcast about Gassings in Auschwitz in June 1944 Mark Roseman 26 4 Business Élites in France: Reflections on the Continued Exercise of Power Mairi Maclean 40 5 'Le Retour Du Civil' in French Political Culture Gino Raymond 56 6 The City as Narrative: Representations of Paris in French Cinema (1930-1990s) Susan Hayward 64 7 The Front National in the 1990s: From Consolidation to Crisis James G. Shields 72 8 Franco-British Relations and the European Common Foreign and Security Policy: From Cooperation to Integration? Jolyon Howorth 85 9 Metaphors and Trains of Thought: Spotting Journey Imagery in British and German Political Discourse Andreas Musolff 100 10 From Contexts to Concepts: Comparing Social Policy Inputs and Outcomes in Europe Linda Hantrais 110 < previous page page_vii next page > < previous page page_viii next page > Page viii 11 Communicating Across Divides: lingua francas in Europe Sue Wright 119 12 Sociolinguistics in a Classless Society? Frank Knowles 129 13 Real-World Contexts for English Spelng Studis Christopher Upward 140 < previous page page_viii next page > < previous page page_ix next page > Page ix Introduction Sue Wright and Jolyon Howorth The thirteen essays in this volume are dedicated to Professor Dennis Ager on his retirement. Their range is eloquent testimony to the catholicity and openness of Professor Ager's approach to what was originally called 'Area Studies'. They celebrate the diversity over which he presided as head of the French department and head of the faculty of Modern Languages in the period 19711998. Dennis Ager was one of the instigators of a new style of modern languages department in which literary criticism played a lesser role and where contemporary politics and society replaced them as the main focus of study Although a linguist by training, he was convinced that a new approach was required in language departments with inputs from across the whole range of disciplines clustering under the umbrella of the social and human sciences. Another innovation was the belief that this scrutiny would be undertaken entirely in the language of the society studied. Since language acquisition was often linked to the study of texts on the same subjects, the distinction between language classes proper and study of the society was blurred; there were no longer two strands to a languages degree. This model has been refined and elaborated over the years, but the philosophy remains essentially the same as that developed in the mould-breaking innovations of the 1970s to which Dennis Ager contributed so influentially He not only advanced theory tested out in his own department and in his own classes, but was also instrumental in promoting the associations which spread the new ideas and socialised academics into the new culture. All the authors in this present volume are, or have been, members of the faculty at Aston. Dennis Ager had an outstanding gift for spotting talented young researchers and, as the list of former Aston staff demonstrates, succeeded in building up and constantly replenishing a department which acted as a crucible for many of the teachers and scholars who currently lead the field both at Aston and in other departments throughout the country Above all, he knew how to encourage his staff to give of their best, both in teaching and in < previous page page_ix next page >