Controversies Surrounding Language Policy and the Integration Process of Russian Germans in Germany

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the impact that public and political discourses on the issues of language and ethnicity in Germany have on integration. It suggests that a combined effect of factors such as the traditional concept of ‘Germanness’, peculiarities of Russian Germans' ‘cultural identity’ and certain aspects of German language policy with respect to resettlement have prompted the emergence and development of discourses that are linked to the deficiency of social contacts between Russian Germans and native Germans. This paper focuses on the Russian German–native German discourse that is an intrinsic part of such contacts. It argues that broad political and social contexts influence the process of interaction indirectly by becoming part of the interlocutors' knowledge. Fieldwork provides empirical evidence for such an influence. A number of communicative settings are analysed in depth, using results of in-depth interviews, observations and authentic conversations. On the basis of this analysis, the current paper demonstrates how the discourses that stem from controversies in the language policy can interfere with face-to-face interactions between Russian Germans and native Germans in various social settings at the microlevel and therefore have an impact on the way Russian German–native German discourse is shaped.

Keywords:

• migration
• language policy
• discourse
• face-to-face interaction
• ethnic Germans
• social knowledge