3.1 Language Ideologies and Language Criticism: Definitions and Research Perspectives

Abstract

This foundational article will provide an overview of the concept of (language) ideology as it is used in this Handbook. Language ideologies are firmly embedded in socio-cultural factors and are definitively related to language itself and its function in constructing group identity. Therefore, not every form of ideology that may be encoded in or through language will be addressed in this Handbook, but only those ideologies related to language. In line with Kroskrity (2004), we define language ideology as a cluster concept comprising five separate dimensions, as is found in numerous other definitions of language ideology. In this foundational article, we will also discuss the various research traditions practiced within the philologies, along with the concepts established within these that deal with the study of linguistic knowledge and language attitudes, including an elucidation of how these differ from one another. One of these established concepts is language criticism, which we define here as the practice of subjective metalinguistic reflection. We will also address how this relates to language ideologies. Finally, within the framework of the comparison of European languages, we will also selectively address the topic of metaphors as condensed forms of the expression of language ideologies.