Wobsah / Contents

Robert Langer:
Deutsches Buch und wendisches Heftchen. Die Rolle der Staatlichen Kreisfachstelle für Volksbüchereiwesen Bautzen bei der Zurückdrängung des Wendischen im Dritten Reich
S. 3
(The German Book and the Wendish Pamphlet. The Role of the State District Office for Public Libraries in Bautzen in the Repression of Wendish in Upper Lusatia during the National Socialist Period)

The history of the State District Office for Libraries in Bautzen (1928–1946) clearly reflects the regional political events of the first part of the 20th Century. The German Reich possessed with Upper Lusatia an external frontier to Czechoslovakia and an internal frontier to the Wendish area, still today a bilingual area of Lusatia, and was therefore in two senses frontier territory. The official task and personal ambition of the head of the district office, Kurt Marx, was to promote the German language and cultural heritage in the Wendish villages of the district of Bautzen; this aim was of necessity accompanied by the repression of the Wendish language. He ensured that during the Nazi period all Wendish/Sorbian literature was removed from the school and local libraries of Saxon Upper Lusatia, along with all officially banned literature. Marx saw this as an important step in the battle for a German culture, which would only tolerate the Wends, if they declared themselves to be loyal citizens of the German state and its culture. He regarded state education as a means to force Wends to become part of the nation, by which he meant the German nation. He used state funds to build up the libraries and contacts to the state administration with its ‘Wend Department’ to achieve his goal at an official level. As a result, the battle for the German book turned into a battle against Wendish.

Michael Richter:
Beschlagnahmt, vernichtet, verlagert, verschollen. Die Odyssee wendischer Literatur im Zweiten Weltkrieg
S. 21
(Confiscated, Destroyed, Removed, Lost. The Odyssey of Wendish Literature in the Second World War)

In the context of the suppression of Wendish identity by the National Socialists the banning of Domowina activity in 1937 set in motion a phase of intentional ‘Germanisation’ of the Wends involving a denial of their ethnic identity. From 1940, however, the dominant view in the NS leadership developed into one, which regarded the Wends not as Germans but as ‘inferior Slavs’. In both phases, if for different reasons, the whole of Wendish literature was confiscated with a view to destroying it. While up until 1940 it was a question of destroying references to the Wends as Slavs, from May 1940 the literature of the Wends was supposed to be withdrawn from circulation, before those parts of the Wendish population, who were regarded as being ‘incapable of being germanised’, were to be deported to the General Government of Poland.
As the change in policy was to remain secret until the ‘final victory’, no interruption in the confiscation of Wendish literature was discernible. Both phases were however linked to two different institutions. While the ‘Wend Department’ in the office of the regional government played a decisive role until 1940, from 1940 the ‘Publication Office’ in Berlin-Dahlem took over responsibility, initially under the Interior Ministry, but from 1944 it came under the direct control of the Reichsführer of the SS.

Ladislav Futtera:
Mužský, 5. července 1933. Příběh jedné manifestace (2. díl)
S. 36
(Mužský Hill on 5 July 1933. The History of a Demonstration (Part 2))

The second part of this paper deals with the aftermath of the demonstration on Mužský Hill. Immediately afterwards the Czech press constructed a common image of the demonstration. When in October 1933 the general assembly of the League of Nations rejected the memorandum agreed during the demonstration, which demanded the recognition of the Sorbs as a nation with extensive cultural rights, the members of the Society of Friends of Lusatia in Czechoslovakia tried to give a new interpretation to the demonstration, presenting it as a general demonstration in favour of the Sorbs and against the Nazi regime. The demonstration was mentioned later in Czech Sorbian Studies as the most powerful gathering in support of the protection of Sorbian rights in the Inter-war period. In September 1945, twelve years later, a rally in memory of this demonstration was organised in Mnichovo Hradiště, which demanded that Lusatia be integrated into Czechoslovakia.

Piotr Pałys:
Jugosłowiańskie charakterystyki serbołużyckich działaczy narodowych z lat 1946–1947
S. 49
(The Representatives of the Sorbian National Movement (1946–1947) seen from a Yugoslav Point of View)

The Yugoslav Military Mission to the Allied Control Commission in Germany made contact with the Sorbs at the begin-ning of 1946 and supported Sorbian concerns as far as was possible. In addition, the Military Mission provided the Yugo-slav Ministry of Foreign Affairs with information about the Sorbs and the situation in Lusatia. They gave detailed descrip-tions of the activities of the representatives of the Sorbian national movement, which was fundamentally split into two factions. Their analysis of the Sorbian national movement was strongly influenced by their ideological viewpoint. As a result, the representatives of the Domowina were assigned to the “progressive” wing, as they worked closely together with the German Communists and the Soviet occupying power. The members of the Sorbian National Committee were, by contrast, regarded as “reactionary”. Nevertheless, Yugoslavia was the only state, which actively supported the separatist aspirations of the Sorbs, which were pursued in equal measure by both the Domowina and the National Committee. As a consequence, senior political functionaries from Yugoslavia invited representatives of the Domowina and the National Committee to discussions in Belgrade and Berlin on a number of occasions.

Goro Christoph Kimura:
Wuznam nałožowanja serbšćiny w cyrkwi za jeje zachowanje. Přikładowa studija z katolskeje wosady
S. 56
(The Significance of Language Use in the Church for the Maintenance of Sorbian. A Case Study of a Catholic Parish)

In contrast to language shift, language maintenance appears to be a static phenomenon. However, this paper displays language maintenance as a process by applying Language Management Theory. By applying a case study from a Catholic Sorbian parish in eastern Germany it can be shown that the Sorbian language is maintained in the church not just as a tradition, but through numerous minute interventions at different levels. Given the crucial importance of the church as a central public space for the language, we could assume that without such managing activities in favour of Sorbian, it would not be possible to maintain the Sorbian language in this region.

Walter Wenzel:
Die slawischen Stammesnamen Neletici und Nudzici
S. 69
(The Slav Tribal Names Neletici and Nudzici)

It is well known that in every language tribal and landscape names provide us with some of the earliest examples of voca-bulary passed down to us. Ernst Eichler has closely examined forty archaic formations from the Old Sorbian language area with regard to their origin, structure and meaning in a special study. Two of these are given new interpretations here: Neletici, the name of four different Slav tribal areas, is interpreted as deriving from the late Proto-Slavonic [Nelětici] ʻpeople of the Nelětʹʼ; [Nelětʹ] is an ancient, apotropaic forename. The most likely explanation for Nudzici is that it comes from late Proto-Slavonic [Nudʹźici] ʻpeople of the Nudʹźaʼ; [Nudʹźa] is, however, not to be understood as a nickname for a poor person in need, but as an old wishing name, whose basic meaning occurs in Proto-Slavonic [nuditi] ʻto force, compelʼ, indicating a person, who is able to defeat his opponent in battle. In conclusion, three place names from near the river Saale are examined, which all derive from the late Proto-Slavonic tribal name [Chъrvati] ʻKroatenʼ and today are called Korbetha.

Inge Bily:
Personennamen in altsorbischen Ortsnamen zwischen Saale und Bober/ Queis: Skizze eines Personennamenbuches
S. 75
(Personal Names in Old Sorbian Place Names between the Rivers Saale and Bober. Outline of a Book of Personal Names)

Although much good research has already been done on personal names in the former Old Sorbian contact area, there has been a lack until now of a reference work in the form of a guide, which brings together Slav personal names reconstructed from place names in an easily accessible form. Until now, these personal names, which often represent the only proof of a personal name in this field, can mostly only be elicited from the evaluation sections or indexes of the relevant books of place names. Valuable comparative material for research on both Slav personal names as well as for further work on Slav place names can be gained by working on Slav personal names, which have been reconstructed from place names from the former Old Sorbian contact area. This material is based on old forms of evidence, which in a few cases go back as far as the Tenth Century. Using this material as a basis, it is possible to develop detailed analyses and highly resilient syntheses in relation to both personal and place names. Starting from the desire to fill the gap described above, we have taken on the task of producing a guide to Slav personal names, which have been reconstructed from place names in the former Old Sorbian contact area. This article describes the conception, outline, as well as the structure, of the guide and presents one example.

Steffen W. Groß:
Der Mehrwert des Hybriden. Die hybridologische Forschungsperspektive im Kontrast zum Ansatz der Bikulturalität
S. 89
(The Additional Value of Hybridity. The Hybridological Research Perspective Contrasted with the Bicultural Approach)

Any attempt to understand cultural phenomena, or the causes and consequences of a given aspect of human endeavour, inevitably depends upon the concepts and categories, the methodological assumptions that are implicit in the design of the research programmes that are employed. In the humanities, much more than in the natural sciences, the methodologies of research programmes compete against one another for influence: they prove their efficacy, their interpretive and explanatry power through competition. When a new methodological framework emerges, and claims validity, even superiority, we must assess what more it has to offer: does it reach parts that established methodologies do not? Does it enable us to perceive, comprehend, and utilize additional, perhaps previously unconsidered, phenomena? Will it be possible to analyse certain relationships more thoroughly than before, and, henceforth, to understand them better in their complexity? And, if so, how can such an “additional value” be reasonably conceived and measured? This paper attempts to offer a rational interpretative framework for the assessment of hybrid research programmes, and more widely the comparison of research methodologies.

Jean-Rémi Carbonneau:
Die konvergierende Entwicklung von Staat und ethnolinguistischer Mehrheit in Frankreich, Deutschland, Kanada und Spanien
S. 97
(The Convergent Development of the State and the Ethnolinguistic Majorities in France, Germany, Canada and Spain)

Civic and ethnic nationalisms are merely abstract theoretical models that help us to understand the actions, reactions and claims of ethnolinguistic groups against the background of identity conflicts in a multinational state rather than fixed givens to describe either majority or minority groups in an essentialist fashion. This article deals with the relation between these two ideal types and the grey area between them. It questions the civic foundations of four Western nation-states that are commonly seen as modern archetypes of popular sovereignty, and aims to demonstrate the convergence of state institutions with the interests of ethnolinguistic majorities in their respective nation-building processes. The article addresses first the theoretical underpinning of the civic-ethnic debate in political science, while special attention will be given to unequal power relationships between majorities and minorities. It goes on to talk about the practical consequences of this relationship for historical minorities in different state contexts: first in the French unitary state, then in Germany, Canada and Spain, three countries with distinctive federal structures, although Germany significantly differs from the other two, since the federal state structure never played a role in empowering national minorities, as the case of the Lusatian Sorbs illustrates. Nevertheless, as in France and Germany, national majorities’ claims to hegemony remain one of the main challenges for historical minorities in Canada and Spain.

Materialije / Miscellaneous

Edmund Pech:
Das kirchliche Leben der evangelischen Sorben in Schlesien während der Weimarer Republik. Aus Berichten der Kirchenvisitation in den Gemeinden Schleife und Nochten-Tzschelln
S. 118
(The Church Life of Lutheran Sorbs in Silesia during the Weimar Republic. From Reports of Church Inspections in the Parishes of Schleife and Nochten-Tzschelln)

During the Imperial period the Sorbian language was exposed to extensive repressive measures in the ecclesiastical province of Silesia. Together with other measures, the ban on confirmation instruction in Sorbian by the Lutheran Consistory in Breslau was a contributory factor. It was possible for this restriction to be lifted after the First World War. In addition, the pastors and cantors received supplementary payments from 1920 onwards, called a “Wend allowance”, to compensate them for the additional linguistic burden. At the beginning of the 1920s there were 17 parishes within the Lutheran Consistory in Silesia, in which sermons were still delivered in Sorbian. However, the increasing lack of Sorbian candidates for ecclesiastical office presented a large problem. The number of new Sorbian pastors went down significantly despite financial subsidies from the Lutheran Consistory in Breslau for Sorbian language courses and grants for theological students. At the end of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s a large number of Sorbian Lutheran pastors in Prussian Upper Lusatia were in line for retirement, without it being possible to find suitable new Sorbian candidates for the positions, which became vacant.

Jubilej / Anniversaries

Dietrich Scholze-Šołta:
Dr. Franc Šěn pjećašěsćdźesatnik
S. 134

Wopominanje / Obituaries

Tadeusz Lewaszkiewicz:
Prof. UG dr hab. Małgorzata Milewska-Stawiany (1962–2015)
S. 138

Walter Wenzel:
In memoriam Prof. Dr. Hans Walther (1921–2015)
S. 140

Rozprawa / Conference report

Stephanie Bierholdt:
„Digitalisierung von Wissen. Chancen und Herausforderungen“. Workshop am Sorbischen Institut, 18./19. Juni 2015, Bautzen
S. 143

Recensije / Reviews

Hartmut Zwahr:
Trudla Malinkowa (Hg.): Jan Kilian (1811–1884). Pastor, Poet, Emigrant. Sammelband der internationalen Konferenz zum 200. Geburtstag des lutherischen Geistlichen. Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag 2014, 491 S.
S. 146

Cordula Ratajczak:
Katharina Elle: Von Geiz bis Gastfreundschaft. Analyse eines Stereotypsystems am Beispiel der Oberlausitzer Sorben. Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag 2013 (Lětopis 60, Sonderheft), 184 S.
S. 149

Zdzisław Kłos:
Grażyna Barbara Szewczyk (Red.): Serbołużyczanie wobec tradycji i wyzwań współczesności. Język – literatura – kultura. Katowice: Wydawnictwo Naukowe „Śląsk“ 2012, 241 S.
S. 151