DEMO: GERMAN IN MOTION. LINGUISTIC TRACES OF GERMAN IN URBAN SPACES WITH AUTOCHTHONOUS MINORITIES. THE CASE OF TRANSYLVANIA

Abstract

Drawing on the societal multilingualism of Transylvania – where Romanian serves as the official language and German and Hungarian are recognized as autochthonous minority languages – this article explores the potential of the Linguistic Landscape (LL) approach for analyzing urban written discourse in multiethnic regions. The LL approach proves particularly fruitful for documenting the visibility of German as a minority language in the context of ethnic and cultural diversity, as well as for reflecting on its current status. The paper aims to demonstrate how LL can contribute to greater awareness of minority languages and more positive perceptions of linguistic diversity in multiethnic areas. This will be illustrated through the example of a project focusing on visual-linguistic traces of German in Sibiu/Hermannstadt, the cultural center of Romania's autochthonous German minority. The empirical recording of the visible presence of German as a historical regional and minority language in public spaces is relevant for preserving the identity of the remaining German minority in the region. The project is therefore also understood as a valuable contribution to understanding linguistic and cultural diversity within the context of historical multilingualism.