Objectives of the Colonial Linguistics Research Group

The relationship between language and colonialism has been dealt with only sparcely within linguistics, although a great number of data relevant to this topic are availble in archives and libraries (partly undiscovered and unused).

It is the aim of the research group colonial linguistics to fill this gap. Their members share the assumption that linguistic phenomena of the colonial period can only be explained satisfactorily by taking into account their historical contingencies.

The new, interdisciplinary research program of the group includes the systematic collection, organization and interpretation of all relevant linguistic phenomena associated with colonialism.

The critical reappraisal of the colonial past from a linguistic perspective is just as important as the study of the linguistic consequences of colonialism in the present. To this end, both the languages of the colonized peoples as well as the role and development of the languages of the colonisers (especially German) are taken into account.