Two guest lectures by
Professor Ernst Håkon Jahr
University of Agder, Kristiansand
Language planning in a historical sociolinguistic perspective: the case of Modern Norwegian
Thursday, 21 February 2008, 16:45, room 601, Coll. Novum
Friday, 22 February 2008, 16:15, room 601, Coll. Novum
Abstract
In 2005, the Norwegian parliament terminated an almost 100 year-old endeavour to ‘solve’ the unique linguistic situation in Norway with two national written standards of the same language. Parliament had from the early 20th century pushed hard for a one-standard solution through language planning. It implied a unification of the two written standards which had been established during the 19th century when the then new Norwegian nation (from 1814) pursued a written idiom to serve – in the words of national romanticism of the time – as a worthy expression of the Norwegian nation, but also as a standard suitable for a modern society.
The 2005 decision thus represents the end of a long language planning period. It accepts, for the time being, that Norway will continue to entertain two parallel and formally equal written standards of Norwegian – linguistically extremely close but each of them representing important sociolinguistic and cultural differences and values.
My lectures will give an account and analysis of the sociolinguistic experiment represented by Norwegian language planning of the 19th and 20th centuries.
