Abstract
This chapter draws on texts generated throughout the lifetime of the European Union to underline how its relationship to, and understanding of, language and culture has changed. It argues that the changes have been influenced by both academic debate and political considerations.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Heller (2011c), among others, rejects the understanding of languages as whole systems bounded and linked to specific territory. While her stance does not relate to formal linguistics such a position does create profound problems for many aspects of linguistics.
- 2.
Balibar (2004:221) makes the point that a ‘collective identity … is certainly not a mythical image that can be forcefully imposed on reality by inventing this or that historical criterion’.
- 3.
Cultural diversity only becomes a key descriptor for the centrality of plurality in EU discourse after competence in the area of culture achieved by the EC was consolidated in Article 128(1), and the contribution of the Amsterdam Treaty to 151(4). The focus on cultural diversity was consolidated outside the EU through the UNESCO declaration of 2001, the Convention on Cultural Diversity of 2006, and the Council of Europe’s 2001 Declaration on Cultural Diversity.
- 4.
The EU chose ‘unity in diversity’ as its mantra in 2004.
- 5.
This point was central to Benveniste’s (1966) insistence on a constitutive subjectivity in language.
- 6.
However there are departments within the EC that make concerted attempts to practice some degree of equality across the three languages, using a different language on different days for example.
Bibliography
Adoninno, P. 1985. A people’s Europe. Report from the ad hoc Committee. Bull. EC 1985 supp 7/85, 3.1.
Balibar, E. 2004. We the people of Europe. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Bellamy, R., D. Castiglione, and J. Shaw (eds.). 2006. Making European citizens: Civic inclusion in a transnational context. London: Palgrave-MacMillan.
Benhabib, S. 2002. The claims of culture. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Benveniste, E. 1966. Problèmes du Linguistique Générale. Paris: Gallimard.
Bourdieu, P. 1990. The logic of practice. Cambridge: Polity.
Council of Europe 1992 European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages. Strasbourg.
Coupland, N. 2010. Language, media and social change. In Performing the self, ed. K. Junod and D. Maillat. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.
European Commission. 1985. Completing the internal market: White Paper from the Commission to the European Council (Milan, 28–29 June 1985). COM(85) 310, June 1985.
———. 1987. A fresh boost for culture in the European Community. COM (87) 603 final, Bull. EC,1987, supp. 4/87.
———. 1988. A people’s Europe. Communication from the commission to the European parliament. COM (88) 331/final, Bull. EC, 1988, supp. 2/88.
———. 1995. Education, training, research: Teaching and learning: Towards a learning society. White paper.
———. 1999. OJEC 19/1.
———. 2005. A new framework strategy for multilingualism. European Commission, COM (2005) 596 final.
———. 2007. Communication on a European agenda for culture in a globalizing world. COM (2007) 242 final, Bull.EC, 5/07.
———. 2008b. Multilingualism: An asset for Europe and a shared commitment. Communication from the Commission to the European parliament, the council. The European and social committee of the regions. COM(2008)566 final.
———. 2008c. Inventory of community actions in the field of multilingualism. Staff Working Paper, Brussels, DGEAC.
———. 2009. Opinion of the European economic and social committee on multilingualism. Official Journal, C 077, 31/03/2009 P. 0109 – 0114.
European Council. 1974. Resolution of the Ministers of education on co-operation in the field of education. Official Journal of the EC, C 98/2 of 20 August 1974.
———. 1983. Solemn declaration on European Union. Bull. EC., 1983, 6/83.
———. 2000. Presidency conclusions. Lisbon European Council. 23 and 24 Mar 2000.
———. 2004. Presidency conclusions. 17/12/2004 Nr: 16238/1/04 REV1 on citizenship. Brussels.
European Parliament. 1974. Resolution on measures to protect the European cultural heritage. OJC(1974) 62/5.
———. 2006. Decision No 1855/2006/EC of the European parliament and of the council establishing the culture programme (2007–2013), OJ [2006], L 372, pp. 1–11. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/summits/lis1_en.htm; http://ue.eu.int/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/00100-r1.en0.htm
Florida, R. 2002. The rise of the cultural class. New York: Basic Books.
Foucault, M. 1994a. Dits et Ecrits. Paris: Galimard.
——— 1994b. The punitive society. In Essential works of Foucault 1954–1984, ethics, vol. 1, ed. P. Rabinow, 22–37. New York: The New Press.
Geertz, C. 1973. The interpretation of cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Heller, M. 2011c. Rethinking sociolinguistic ethnography: From community and identity to process and practice. In Multilingualism, discourse and ethnography, ed. M. Martin Jones and S. Gardner, 24–33. London: Routledge.
Kramsch, C. 1993. Context and culture in the teaching of languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kryzanowski, M., and R. Wodak. 2010. Hegemonic multilingualism in/of the EU institutions: An inside-outside perspective on the European language policies and practices. In Mehrsprachigkeit aus der Perspektive zweier EU-Projekte: DYLAN meets LINEE, ed. Cornelia Hu lmbauer, Eva Vetter, and Heike Bühringer, 115–135. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Labrie, N. 1993. La construction linguistique de la communauté européenne. Paris: Honore Champion.
Laclau, E. 1992. Universalism, particularism and the question of identity. October 61: 83–90.
Maalouf, A., et al. 2008. A rewarding challenge: How the multiplicity of languages could strengthen Europe. Proposals from the group of intellectuals for intercultural dialogue set up at the initiative of the European Commission, Brussels. EC
MKW. 2001. Exploitation and development of the job potential in the cultural sector in the age of digitisation. Report to DG employment and social affairs. Brussels. EC. European Studies Working paper 52. Department of Government, Harvard University.
Nelde, P., M. Strubell, and G. Williams. 1996. Euromosaic: The production and reproduction of European minority language groups. Brussels: EC.
Risager, K. 2006. Language and culture: Global flows and local complexity. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Walters, W., and J.H. Haahr. 2005. Governing Europe: Discourse, governmentality and European integration. London: Routledge.
Weiler, J.H.H. 1981. The community system: The dual character of supranationalism. In Yearbook of European Law, ed. F.G. Jacobs, 267–306. Oxford: Clarendon.
Williams, G. 2005. Sustaining language diversity in Europe. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
——— 2010. The knowledge economy, language and culture. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Williams, G., Williams, G. (2016). EU Discourse. In: Language, Hegemony and the European Union. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33416-5_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33416-5_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-33415-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-33416-5
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)