Remigration - A look behind the scenes of the vote for the Unword of the Year 2023

Linguistic Colloquium 
University of Duisburg-Essen
Tuesday, May 28, 2024, 4:15 p.m.
Room R11 T04


Every year, a jury of linguists and media professionals selects the "Unword of the Year". Some see it as a form of politically motivated, ritualized outrage, others see it as a necessary contribution to educating people about the connection between power, discrimination and language. The attention that the unword attracts every year is accompanied by professional and public discussions about the sense and nonsense of the campaign, whether it creates something good or hardens the fronts. Using the example of the last elections for the Unword of the Year and frequently asked critical questions, the lecture reflects on whether and to what extent unwords can be justified linguistically, to what extent the election is popular science, what it achieves, what can and cannot be achieved with it. It will provide an insight behind the scenes of language criticism between linguistics, the public, discourse sensitization and shitstorms.

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