Growing interest in the history of linguistics in recent years has focused attention on the origin and development of key concepts in modern linguistic thought. German linguists played key roles in that development - so much so that by the end of the 19th century Germany had emerged as the undisputed centre of European linguistics. The history of linguistics is often thought of in terms of a progression from the speculative and normative concerns of the 18th century (linked with names like Herder and Gottsched) to the avowedly scientific programmes of the 19th century associated with Franz...

In this work, the author seeks to demonstrate that an important component of European fascist thought was derived from linguistics, not least the notion of an Aryan people with an original language and homeland. In Nazi Germany, linguistic fascism took the form of a cult of the mother-tongue, expressed in a horror of linguistic assimilation and a xenophobic assertion of German language rights. Jews were considered to lack a healthy relationship to the German language and therefore to threaten the bond between the Germans and their language. This account of the academic politics of the Nazi...

Language, Meaning and the Law offers an accessible, critical guide to debates about linguistic meaning and interpretation in relation to legal language. Law is an ideal domain for considering fundamental questions relating to how we assign meanings to words, understand and comment on texts, and deal with socially and ideologically significant questions of interpretation. The book argues that theoretical issues of concern to linguists, philosophers, literary theorists and others are illuminated by the demands of the legal context, since law is driven by the need for practical solutions and for...