„Die Genossen sollen auch Auffassungen überprüfen, die die Sprache als Hauptproblem betrachten“. Sorbische Sprache als Politikfeld der Domowina in der DDR

Abstract

“Comrades are required to review attitudes which regard the language as the main problem.”
The Sorbian Language as a Political Issue for the Domowina in the GDR

Problems relating to the maintenance and use of the Sorbian language always played a prominent role in the work of the Domowina. On the one hand the Sorbian language was regarded as an essential element in Sorbian identity, but on the other hand the attempts by the Domowina as an organization to support the language were subordinated to the political and ideological constraints imposed by SED policy. The languages policy of the Domowina described in this piece is divided into three phases. Up to the middle of the 1950s the dominant positions were those which interpreted issues of language as the basic problem of the nationalities policy (“Lusatia will become bilingual”). Up to the end of the 1960s it was more the case that problems relating to the Sorbian language were downplayed. From the 1970s the leadership of the Domowina gave greater attention to the interests of the Sorbian language again in view of the decline in the everyday use of the language in both parts of Lusatia, which was becoming evermore apparent.