Slovene in the Linguistic Landscape of Austrian Carinthia: Utopian re...

Austrian Carinthia has recently marked two important anniversaries regarding Slovene as a minority language. The first one was the 100^th anniversary of the 1920 plebiscite, after which a major part of historical Carinthia became part of the Republic of Austria and Carinthian Slovenes were divided from other Slovenes south of the border. The second was the 50^th anniversary of the 1972 “Ortstafelsturm”, a violent removal of German-Slovene topographic signs from the public space of Carinthia, carried out by German-speaking Carinthians who did not approve of bilingual signage. Because of these almost dystopian circumstances, the popularity of the language drastically decreased in Carinthia, which eventually led to the invisibility of Slovene in the public space. However, after a political compromise and the installation of bilingual topographic signs in 164 municipalities in 2011, the linguistic landscape started to change. This paper investigates the presence and function of Slovene in the present-day linguistic landscape of Southern Carinthia, with a focus on its use in the symbolic re-appropriation of the space in which Slovenes have been living for centuries. The study employs an ethnographic approach of analysing the linguistic landscape, in which data was collected through photographic observation, interviews, and acquiring printed and online materials. Interviews have been conducted with farmers, restaurant owners, mayors, and representatives of cultural associations, bilingual schools, and other institutions. In addition, the analysis also includes maps and printed materials related to various projects, mostly financed by the European Union. The findings point to an ongoing process of a silent re-appropriation of the public space, by which Slovene is becoming more visible in Southern Carinthia. As the number of speakers has significantly decreased, the function of Slovene in LL is mostly symbolic and utopical, but it points to a (growing) acceptance of the Slovene cultural heritage by the German-speaking majority.