Language Diversity in the Late Habsburg Empire

What is it about?

This book's aim is to offer the first comprehensive overview of language diversity for the entire territory of the Habsburg Monarchy, placing emphasis on the experiences and encounters at urban frontiers and the linguistic policies and practices in transition.

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Why is it important?

The Habsburg Empire often features in scholarship as a historical example of how language diversity and linguistic competence were essential to the functioning of the imperial state. Focusing critically on the urban-rural divide, on the importance of status for multilingual competence, on local governments, schools, the army and the urban public sphere, and on linguistic policies and practices in transition, this collective volume provides further evidence for both the merits of how language diversity was managed in Austria-Hungary and the problems and contradictions that surrounded those practices.

Perspectives