BGHS.NEWS

Interdisciplinary Dialogue "Language, Culture, and Academia"

The relationship between languages and cultures has many facets in academia. This was impressively demonstrated by interviews conducted by BGHS coordinator Clara Buitrago with ten international BGHS doctoral researchers at the beginning of 2024. The Interdisciplinary Dialogue of the BGHS, which took place in June under the title "Language, Culture, and Academia", took a closer look at some of them. With translator Sandra Lustig (Hamburg), linguist Ingrid Piller (Hamburg) and historian Lisa Regazzoni (Bielefeld), three experts on the topic sat on the podium and discussed their own confrontations with the internationalisation of universities, English as an academic lingua franca and German as a language of science in a knowledgeable, entertaining and lively manner.

"Wir riefen Arbeitskräfte, und es kamen Menschen.“ (We called for workforce, and people came.) (Max Frisch)

Moderator Sabine Schäfer (Executive Manager of the BGHS) introduced the discussion with the observation that internationalisation is a hot topic for universities, but that the debates are primarily about gaining reputation for the universities and that international academics' own experiences and expectations hardly play a role. Ingrid Piller used her book "Life in a New Language" to provide an insight into her many years of research into foreign language acquisition and social participation in Australia. According to this, religious communities in particular manage to convey a sense of belonging by accepting people as they are and thus enabling them to find a new community even without perfect language skills. She posed the question of what secular institutions such as universities could learn from churches or mosques in this respect. Lisa Regazzoni talked about her personal experiences when she came to Germany during her philosophy studies to learn to read Hegel in the original. Living in a shared flat enabled her to feel a sense of belonging. But she also pointed out how painful it is to feel that you can't be yourself because you can't express yourself well in a foreign language. Ingrid added that universities and other institutions are not good at seeing newcomers as full human beings who not only have to learn a new language, but also things like bureaucracy, and recalled Max Frisch's saying " Wir riefen Arbeitskräfte, und es kamen Menschen” (We called for workforce, and people came). Sandra spoke about her everyday life as a translator at the University of Hanover, where she translates administrative texts, among other things. The problem with these texts is that they are also difficult for Germans to understand. Administrative staff who might be able to answer questions are often reluctant to do so in English because they don't want to give wrong information or simply don't speak English well enough. She raised the question: What is actually the role of the university in this regard and what does it mean to be international?

"English carries as much culture as any other language in the world"

Sabine reported that in the interviews with international BGHS doctoral researchers, the impression arose that they perceive English as a culturally 'neutral' language, as the lingua franca of science. Sandra confirmed that English is now the international language of science, but she also emphasised that "English carries as much culture as any other language in the world". It's not just about the language, but also about where you come from and what knowledge you bring with you. Ingrid added that the recognition of English language skills is organised hierarchically, as sociolinguistic research on language ideologies shows. Speakers of British and American English are at the top of the hierarchy, followed by settler colonies such as Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and perhaps South Africa. Then come the former British colonies where English is the official language, but where people are generally bilingual, i.e. speak at least one other language, e.g. in the Philippines or Nigeria. Only then does the rest of the world follow, where English is learnt at school. Ingrid pointed out that different speakers are valued differently and therefore have different levels of legitimacy. A kind of linguistic shadow structure develops in institutions with regard to reputation, which also applies in science. She reported on her own research project, in which she and her colleagues analysed which academics are cited most frequently in the field of applied linguistics. The results showed that 70% of citations are attributed to academics from the English-speaking world, 15% from Europe and a further 15% from the rest of the world, including China. This means that the reception of English-language publications also depends on the origin of the researchers. Sandra added that there is also a lot of good scientific literature that is not available in English and is therefore not recognised. This is where translators come into play.

À propos translation

Ingrid pointed out that translation is not just a question of (foreign) languages, but that there are many types of translations, e.g. translations of academic research results into everyday language in order to reach a broad audience. Other communication channels then play a role, such as podcasts or videos. For example, she and her colleagues set up the website "Language on the Move", in which they present applied sociolinguistic research in a generally understandable way. The website also contains a podcast in which young researchers talk to each other about their current publications (Chats in Linguistic Diversity). In this way, resources that (international) doctoral researchers bring with them can be used. Sandra added that you have gained a lot of experience and skills if you have managed to survive in a new language. And interdisciplinary exchange also requires translation work. Lisa addressed another problem with translations: she pointed out that words and terms have a genealogy and a network in which they were and are used. In other words, terms have been used before and carry a part of this usage with them. And that is difficult to reproduce in a translation. Sandra reported on her translation of the book "Enduring Enmity. The Story of Otto Kirchheimer and Carl Schmitt" by Hubertus Buchstein (2024) and the English-language glossary of words that were charged with special meaning in Germany during National Socialism, which she compiled for this purpose. She emphasised that it is important to understand the context in which a text is set and to translate it for an audience that knows nothing about it. You have to ask yourself: "What do I have to explain to my audience for the target language and what did the author not have to explain to their audience in the source language?"

German as a creative and precise academic language

In the last part of the discussion, Lisa took up the cudgels in favour of German as a language of science. She reported on the great influence that some special features of the German language have on her research. She referred to two aspects. Firstly, the German language enables creative word creations through the formation of compound nouns, i.e. the combination of two or more nouns, and the addition of prefixes and suffixes, which makes it possible to express thoughts very precisely. This is not possible in this form in Italian or French, for example. Secondly, she is fascinated by the dual nature of the German language. There are pairs of words, one of which comes from Germanic and one from Latin, e.g. Denkmal and Monument. However, these are not used synonymously, but differently, because they each have their own history. Her entire academic work is based on this dual nature, which is why the German language is the most important working language for her as a philosopher and historian.

It was an incredibly varied and entertaining exchange. This was due to the exciting topics , but above all to the great guests on the podium, who wonderfully linked their personal experiences with their work.