Grožnja in odgovornost v medijskem diskurzu o nacionalnem jeziku

slovenian

2009

volume 19, issue 2

Zgodovinsko društvo za južno Primorsko
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

The main reflection of this paper could be summarized into the following statement: the topoi of threat and responsibility are firmly incorporated into the structure of Slovene ethno-linguistic identity. This thesis contradicts the scientific presumptions of the paper concerning the mentioned topoi, which represent discoursive strategies - that is more or less intentional plans of achieving communication objectives. In the paper, the topoi of threat and responsibility were identified through analysis of discourse in commentaries from the Saturday supplement (Sobotna priloga) of Delo newspaper, monitored in two three-month periods preceding the Independence Plebiscite (23rd December 1990) and the referendum on entering the EU (23rd March 2003). The sample was selected by considering the basic communicological criteria: the question of media influence, their readership and ownership. In the beginning, the author positions the problem of topoi into the debate on the symbolic and performative role of language. She outlines the developmental path of the inclusion of national language into the repertory of national symbols and, with the aid of the performativity concept (the so called creating of reality), presents the topoi as a discoursive strategy of creating a relation of values among social phaenomena.In the case of the Slovene as a national language the topoi of threat and responsibility function as a unity, namely, if we accept the preposition of threat, someone has to take responsibility for resolving the situation at hand. The author tries to show, that the above topoi have arisen on the basis of historical antagonisms, in particular the experiences of Slovene national community within the context of larger political entities and majority languages. In the period before the plebiscite in 1990, the relevant argumentation emphasiyed the exclusiveness of the Slovene language, which contributed to the conviction that there is no sense in forming political alliances with "incompatible" cultural communities. In the period preceding the referendum in 2003 one would expect a lower rate of occurrence of argumentation arising from the topoi of threat and responsibility, as the editorial policies of the newspaper in question were distinctly pro-European, however, the analysis of the material did not show any significant differences between the structures of argumentation in both periods discussed. Therefore, we can assume that, when it comes to language, the topoi of threat and responsibility are markedly present in the structure of Slovene ethno-lingustic identity regardless of their various contexts. Upon considering the findings of a wider-scope research discussed in Bergoč 2008a, which pointed out the use of argumentation based on the sense of linguistic vulnerability in the context of articles in 2003 discussing culture and the entire corpus of Slovene literature sensu stricto, the author elaborated a thesis, that the potential problem of Slovene language was placed into its traditional hermetical context of Slovene literature. In this way it had been stripped of its political charge, persuasive potential and any potential influence on the results of the referendum on entering of Slovenia into the EU.

10.11.2011