Abstract
Due to the fact that Germany and Poland are both members of the Schengen Treaty, the role of the political borders between these two states has been reduced to a minimum. On account of the four freedoms, debordering processes have enabled the creation of borderscapes - places of transition, where time and space interact (7) and where cultures and languages underline a cross-border hybridization (6). The aim of this paper is to present the linguistic behavior and communication strategies of Polish inhabitants on the German-Polish borderland. It presents the partial results of the research project which is being conducted on the Polish side of the German-Polish border. The analysis is focused on the communication strategies of the inhabitants of German-Polish borderscapes (on the example of Slubice inhabitants) and aims at answering the question about bordering (with reference to language choice and use) or debordering of communication as an everyday practice in German-Polish communication.
Highlights
The fact that Germany and Poland are both members of the European Union and signatories of the Schengen Treaty reduces the role of the political borders between these two states to a minimum
The aim of this paper is to present the linguistic behavior and communication strategies of the Polish inhabitants of the German-Polish borderland, based on the example of the inhabitants of the border town of Słubice
The analysis conducted in this study focuses on answering the following questions: What are the language relations between Poles and Germans? What are the communication strategies of the inhabitants of German-Polish borderscapes? Do interlocutors tend to put clear borders in their communication with reference to language choice and use, or is debordering an everyday practice in German-Polish communication?
Summary
The fact that Germany and Poland are both members of the European Union and signatories of the Schengen Treaty reduces the role of the political borders between these two states to a minimum. On account of the four freedoms (free movement of goods, capital, services, and people), debordering processes have enabled the creation of borderscapes where cultural and linguistic diffusion may take place. The aim of this paper is to present the linguistic behavior and communication strategies of the Polish inhabitants of the German-Polish borderland, based on the example of the inhabitants of the border town of Słubice. These become manifest in the residents’ choice of language. Regional policy should support a “lingua culturalis instead of (cultureless) lingua franca” [1, p.14]. German should be for Poles, and Polish for Germans the linguae culturales. Dependent on the communication strategy towards the others (in the case of this study – towards German inhabitants) the communication in borderlands may be an example of bordering or debordering processes
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